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Ohio Public Land Hunt

upstatehunter

By upstatehunter,
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upstatehunter Newbie

upstatehunter

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We are planning a trip to Ohio this coming fall for there gun season.  Has anyone ever been there and hunted public land, a do it yourself hunt.  Will be 8 guys total.  Any recommendations on this.  Also the Ohio DNR is sending me maps and other info on land access and license information.  Thanks

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Buckmaster7600 Mentor

Buckmaster7600

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Public land is tough! If it wasn't with such a large group I would highly suggest making a trip in the spring and door knocking. Public land in Ohio get some insane pressure for gun season. The hotel I stay at usually has 30 or 40 trucks from out of state for gun season and the state land most of them are hunting is only like 800acres.

From what I have saw from hunting out there for 5 years now is that ever nice buck I have saw come of state land is during bow season.


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Doc Proficient

Doc

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Check out https://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/Portals/wildlife/pdfs/publications/hunting/Pub 5304_DeerSummary_FINAL.pdf

That page has  harvest numbers from a previous season along with some top county locations and numbers. From what I can see there you might want to leave the rifle at home and take the crossbow. Combined archery numbers are higher than the gun numbers. At least that's my take on it. Check it out and see what you think. It's hard to say because of the short gun season compared to the massive archery season.

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Adkhunter1590 Newbie

Adkhunter1590

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I'm headed to Ohio next week for the late muzzy season. We hunt public land and I can tell you first hand that there is ALOT of hunters in the woods during any of the firearm seasons.

We hunt a chunk of public land that's 15 thousand acres and still run into a lot of people if we don't go far enough back. With 8 guys your going to want to hunt either Wayne national forest or another very large chunk of land. Which there are several to choose from.

The deer herd seems to be thinning in Ohio the last 5 years. If you lurk around some Ohio hunting forums, you'll see many people griping about declining deer populations and that it's getting harder each year to find a big mature buck. That's not to say that Ohio doesn't have big bucks, but it seems the quality nor quantity are what they were 5-7 years ago.

If your going there with high intentions of shooting a massive buck, prepare to leave empty handed. If your going with the large group to have fun more than anything, you'll be glad you went regardless of deer taken.

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upstatehunter Newbie

upstatehunter

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3 hours ago, Adkhunter1590 said:

I'm headed to Ohio next week for the late muzzy season. We hunt public land and I can tell you first hand that there is ALOT of hunters in the woods during any of the firearm seasons.

We hunt a chunk of public land that's 15 thousand acres and still run into a lot of people if we don't go far enough back. With 8 guys your going to want to hunt either Wayne national forest or another very large chunk of land. Which there are several to choose from.

The deer herd seems to be thinning in Ohio the last 5 years. If you lurk around some Ohio hunting forums, you'll see many people griping about declining deer populations and that it's getting harder each year to find a big mature buck. That's not to say that Ohio doesn't have big bucks, but it seems the quality nor quantity are what they were 5-7 years ago.

If your going there with high intentions of shooting a massive buck, prepare to leave empty handed. If your going with the large group to have fun more than anything, you'll be glad you went regardless of deer taken.

We are going for fun.  It will actually be my stag party as I am getting married December 2nd.  We are looking at 3-4 days.  Im juist as happy taking a doe as I am a massive buck (well horns do get a little more excitement but happy either way).

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Buckmaster7600 Mentor

Buckmaster7600

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We are going for fun.  It will actually be my stag party as I am getting married December 2nd.  We are looking at 3-4 days.  Im juist as happy taking a doe as I am a massive buck (well horns do get a little more excitement but happy either way).



Don't do it you'll regret it after, see if you and the guys can still go hunting tho!


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NFA-ADK Rookie

NFA-ADK

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Had me rolling, lol.

14 minutes ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

 

 


Don't do it you'll regret it after, see if you and the guys can still go hunting tho!


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8 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Post of there week right there...lol

 

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gjs4 Newbie

gjs4

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Gun season anywhere is full of gun hunters and if you think Ohio is going to be much different than here it's likely going to break your heart. Unless you want to pack way the f back in on huge ground- you'll just see your neighbors and piles of corn all over down there. Impatience will lead to drives in the first hour. Brush up on your Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish bartering skills as well.


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dbHunterNY Proficient

dbHunterNY

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20 hours ago, phade said:

There are power/gas lines but let's be clear, you're not going to find a lot of easy ground for 8 people that isn't also overcrowded. WNF eats people for lunch...


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you can get around but this sums it up pretty good.  it holds some monsters but there's lots of area to for them to hide and some it can be pretty gnarly.

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Adkhunter1590 Newbie

Adkhunter1590

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Gun season anywhere is full of gun hunters and if you think Ohio is going to be much different than here it's likely going to break your heart. Unless you want to pack way the f back in on huge ground- you'll just see your neighbors and piles of corn all over down there. Impatience will lead to drives in the first hour. Brush up on your Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish bartering skills as well.


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Shouldn't see many if any piles of corn on state land. Baiting is only legal on private land in Ohio these days. I think they changed that law within the last couple of years if I remember correctly. But there's always those couple idiots who do it regardless. I only saw one bait pile on public land 3 years ago. With the amount of land we've covered over the last couple of years I'd say that's pretty good.

Ohio public land can absolutely have some gnarly areas. A lot of it can be pretty much impossible to hunt or even walk. This is why we started bringing 4 wheelers to get back away from the guys walking from the roads. Also helps to find the most secluded access points. It can be hard but it's doable.
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Doc Proficient

Doc

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3 hours ago, Adkhunter1590 said:


Ohio public land can absolutely have some gnarly areas. A lot of it can be pretty much impossible to hunt or even walk. This is why we started bringing 4 wheelers to get back away from the guys walking from the roads. Also helps to find the most secluded access points. It can be hard but it's doable.

 

 

You are allowed to use 4 wheelers on public land????

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Adkhunter1590 Newbie

Adkhunter1590

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You are allowed to use 4 wheelers on public land????


Some of it yes. Ohio's ATV laws are pretty much a huge grey area. There are areas of some public lands that have designated atv trails, Wayne national forest is one of those places. Other areas only state that motorized vehicles must stay on the trails already in place. After witnessing multiple others using atvs at the area we go, and the lack of any signs saying it's against the rules, we started using ours. The website for the public land we hunt doesn't state anywhere that atvs are prohibited, only that "all motorized vehicles" remain on designated trails. And with the abundance of two track atv trails all over the 15 thousand acres, it's pretty safe to assume it's alright.
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gjs4 Newbie

gjs4

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My guess is anyone who is posting the question the on killing great bucks in Ohio public on the HuntingNY forum is going to struggle with relationship of expectations versus reality anywhere/everywhere


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Adkhunter1590 Newbie

Adkhunter1590

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My guess is anyone who is posting the question the on killing great bucks in Ohio public on the HuntingNY forum is going to struggle with relationship of expectations versus reality anywhere/everywhere


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It's no different than the guys who travel to Kansas and eat tag soup and get upset because they didn't see 20 160inch or bigger bucks. There are big bucks out there, just not behind every tree like the tv shows make it out to be.

Without spending big money on high end outfitters, you obviously need to lower expectations when hunting public land in any state.

Less than 24 hours from now I'll be on my way to Ohio. Cold front is moving in tomorrow and bringing a couple inches of snow. Hopefully this gets the deer moving. Ohio tag is either sex so I'm going with mentality of "it's brown, it's down". I'm not waiting for a big buck, more meat for my freezer will make me happy. Just getting away for 5 days is the only satisfaction I need.
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upstatehunter Newbie

upstatehunter

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16 hours ago, gjs4 said:

My guess is anyone who is posting the question the on killing great bucks in Ohio public on the HuntingNY forum is going to struggle with relationship of expectations versus reality anywhere/everywhere


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Never once did I say I was expecting to kill a great buck.  that is YOUR opinion of thought not mine. 

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