Worth hunting public land?

[KidMoe]

So i have done a bit of scouting some public areas while grouse hunting and i've found some seemingly nice spots to deer hunt. My question is it even worth trying to hunt public land within 2 hours of the cities? is it just a sea of orange? would i get crowded out of the woods?

I have the opprotunity to go with some people, stay at their cabin, and hunt public land north of duluth. However, their mentality on hunting and the amount of work their willing to put in make me question if it's what i want to do.

I have about a week to make up my mind. i'd appreciate any advice or experiences hunting public land.

[Coach1310]

Hunting public land is a crapshoot. You can spend a ton of time scouting and getting to know the area. You can look for weeks to find a spot that looks unhunted only to see orange here and there when it gets light on opening day. That is just the way it is with public ground. My advice, if you want to find an area void of a lot of hunters, is to look for a couple of things. #1. smaller tracts of public land off the beaten path. Big chunks of public land that are on or near main thouroughfares are bound to get pressured. #2. Try to find areas that are closed to ATV's and are walk in only. One of the areas we hunt has was designated Non-ATV last year and that definitely decreased the pressure.

The bottom line is, you have to just take it for what it is. It is completely unpredictable, but it doesn't mean you can't have success. I would suggest sitting later into the morning than most hunters and hunting mid day. Hunters going in for lunch and coming out for the evening sit will push deer around, you just need to be out there to capitalize on it.

[mixxedbagg]

I'm not a deer hunter, so I really don't know much about this, but I'm wondering if you might want to consider getting in early on a special deer permit at a Minnesota State Park for next year. Access is limited by number of permits at some of the parks, so your competition would be limited. Unfortunately, that doesn't help you this year.

[fishuhalik]

i would absolutely hunt it, just make sure since its your first time in the area have a backup backup backup backup spot! also, get to know the guys in the area. for one you dont know what kinda people they are, and ive found that its alot easier to just find out where the other parties are and try to come to some kind of mutual agreement on where everyones gonna be, both for easier hunting and safety.

[fishuhalik]

i would absolutely hunt it, just make sure since its your first time in the area have a backup backup backup backup spot! also, get to know the guys in the area. for one you dont know what kinda people they are, and ive found that its alot easier to just find out where the other parties are and try to come to some kind of mutual agreement on where everyones gonna be, both for easier hunting and safety.

[bogwalker]

My problem hunting public land is that you can spend years finding the right spot only to have other hunters follow your trail / tracks and take over the area next year.

[student]

The trip to Duluth sounds like something I would try. MIght be able to learn a lot. Besides, hunting with friends is way more fun than hunting any public land by yourself.

[fishuhalik]

My problem hunting public land is that you can spend years finding the right spot only to have other hunters follow your trail / tracks and take over the area next year.

i would love to have a couple hundred acres all to myself to hunt, but since finances dont allow (some day!) im stuck on public, just like most. im just glad we have as much public land as we do, alotta states have little to none.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

As long as you are willing to work for it, you'll do very well on public land. I'm not exaggerating when I say 90% of hunters will be within a few hundred yards of the roads. We get to the woods a couple hours before the rest of the crowd, and hike for at least an hour to get to our spots. I've shot 4 deer in 3 years, including a dandy 9 pointer that is on the wall, on public land. Never have seen another hunter.

[R. Miller]

My party and I have taken many nice deer out of public land during the years. So yes, it'd be worth your while to hunt it if you've already scouted it and it looks good. You'll have to put up with people, that's a given. I've harvested some nice bucks that came right by me so rutted up and chasing does a mere ten to twenty minutes after some yahoos walked by me. it can be very good but I also understand the frustration with "sea of orange" etc.

[panthrcat]

also, get to know the guys in the area. for one you dont know what kinda people they are, and ive found that its alot easier to just find out where the other parties are and try to come to some kind of mutual agreement on where everyones gonna be, both for easier hunting and safety.

we found out the hard way that this method doesn't work well. We went and visited a party of guys who moved into the area we had our camp, and we come up with a "game plan" to respect each other, and set some boundaries, well opening morning didn't go as we had hoped.

as for "public" land, we call it "crown land" here in ONtario, and the amount of hunters has really discouraged me from heading out opening weekend. In fact I told my hubby that I refuse to take holidays for it. (hence us both going out in November this year) We have had more negative confrontations with hunters claiming that they "own" spots. I don't like the conflict and feel like I'm always looking over my shoulder for blaze orange, it almost ruined it for me. My hubby went out of his way to find an area of "crown land" that doesn't have the hunting pressure that our old hunting spots had, he's been up already a few weekends, and reassured me that the hunters are at a minimum. If the truth be known, I would rather hunt when the temperatures are cooler and snow is a bonus!!

Sue

[96trigger]

It can be good, it can be great later in the week when hunting pressure subsides also. It might be worth a try if its off the beaten path and is an area where you don't think you will see a lot of activity. Deer in public land are used to seeing people, and used to seeing pressure, they can sit tight and let people walk right by. If you are patient and can wait, it might pay off.

On the other hand, if its a one time invitation from your friends, you might not want to pass it up. It might not be as bad, or could be worse, than what you expect. The public land wil still be there next year.

[bogwalker]

I agree.

[fishuhalik]

panthrcat, i've dealt with both kinds, I know what ya mean. in the area we spend the majority of our time the people aren't willing to share/be reasonable, but i've got a couple other spots that the parties are much more willing to work with us and come up with a hunting game plan. it can definitely go both ways.

[panthrcat]

panthrcat, i've dealt with both kinds, I know what ya mean. in the area we spend the majority of our time the people aren't willing to share/be reasonable, but i've got a couple other spots that the parties are much more willing to work with us and come up with a hunting game plan. it can definitely go both ways.

yes very true, we usually get "railroaded" by guys the travel a long ways to get here, and for that reason they seem to think that if they camp at an area it's theirs due to time and money invested. it borders on the edge of "arrogance" and that can be a tough racket. we were hunting in the area we set our with this camp I mentioned in the above post, an area that we deemed as 'safe' for our party, we come across 5 of them on quads, moving quickly, passing us on quads, with loaded guns across their laps. can you say dangerous??? we pulled out.

we have had some good experiences too, with local guys, who we have worked together with to take a moose, I guess that's the way it goes huh? personally, I would rather hunt in an area where there are no concerns.

about 4 years ago, we had a father and his 2 boys (licenced) scoop us before dawn one morning (it was opening morning) and they got into a spot and parked their truck (don't ask me how in the world they got their truck in this spot as it was gumbo clay) but at any rate, they waited for us to go in with our quads, and after that I had a young fellow follow me into an area I was going to sit. he was only about 30 yards behind me, until I stopped and asked him what the he11 he was doing!!

[brittman]

Deer camps have all types. Some cannot sit that long - others all day. Some want a trophy buck, others any buck, some a good eating doe, and others could probably care less if they get a deer. Health, age, physical condition, weather all impact effort. Good deer camps often have the guy who does not kill many deer, but is working hard to keep the camp in shape. They camp cook is always appreciated. When deer are killed, it is also great to have a helping hand with the drag out and hang up.

Can't tell if you are being "nice" in describing your friends. Some groups of hunters unfortunately follow the PETA stero-types of hard drinking / partying types that are really just getting away from the wife and job. Sunday they could be hung over or still to drunk to even bother hunting. The same can be said for golf groups some are golfing 36 holes a day, while other groups may never actual hit a ball.

So if your friends north of Duluth are really hunting, but just don't hunt hard does not mean you have to go easy. You can certainly sit in your stand longer or if the property is big enough - still hunt.

[Riverratpete]

Either way, I have always hunted public land..couple observations.(1)You may want to stay away from areas that have very high doe permits, (2) Start hunting on Sunday or Monday after a lot of the goof balls leave and the deer come back out of hiding, some of our best hunts have been a few days AFTER opener (3)Its a bit of a [PoorWordUsage] shoot till you can figure out where people are (4) Get a GPS, get off the beaten path and away from ATV trails as much as possible (5) Use a portable stand so you can move when needed. Over the years we have taken quite a few "Trophy's" so it can be done. And one more thing, you will have interactions with other people, so bring a big bag of patience and a sense of humor. Its all good.

[panthrcat]

and any day in the bush hunting is wayyyyyyyyyyy better than a day at work.

be safe out there guys 'n gals!!!

I'm heading out this afternoon for a glorious weekend of hunting!!!

[Double D]

We hunt right next to public land. We have good hunting so I know the public land does too. It amazes me how few people are there during the week. Basically you could have a half section of land to yourself for 5 days, and only a few show up the second weekend. We hunt it but usually not until Monday when everyone is gone.

DD

[Bear55]

Solid advice all around. Like someone else said public land can be a [PoorWordUsage] shoot and whatever happens it's best to go in with a good attitude and don't let anyone rattle you because over time you will run into some complete idiots.

Those willing to work harder to get away from the crowds and hunt harder usually have much better "luck". If you spend some time scouting for that spot you might be able to find a great piece of land to hunt. I have some overlooked hunting spots that are right next to the road and others miles back that I save for once the pressure kicks in. There is one spot where I seriously have 3 square miles to myself, most of it is nasty swamp but there are some good bucks that hide out back there and I never see any hunters. Also don't be afraid to canoe across a lake or down a river to find an untouched honey hole.

[SartellMN]

Every time I have hunted public land, opening morning has always been very successful. Even with all the people running around, I have always seen deer moving on their normal patterns opening morning. So, my advice is hunt opening morning for sure.

If you have the ability, you will get a deer if you spend a lot of time sitting and waiting. Even when I was hunting very well used and abused areas, I would inevitably see a deer crossing the road right by where I was sitting about 2 minutes after I walked out. If I had the patience, I would have been more successful.

[KidMoe]

I really appreciate all the advice folks! After doing a little more scouting (grouse hunting) i think i'm gonna take my buddy's up on their invite for opening weekend. However, that doesn't mean i can't try the public land during the week and for the second weekend. like someone said "it could be better or it could be worse" As far as my comment about my buddies, they don't really hunt "hard". I think i'll just get up earlier and get further into the bush then everyone else.

Thanks!!