Hunting Forum

I am looking for some good advice from some seasoned hunters on public land. I currently do not have private land to hunt on since I moved just over a year ago.  All of the the land I have to hunt on is public, and to make matters worse it is all at least 45 minutes away from my house.  I currently hunt 2 different public lands, both managed by the same FWA in Eastern Indiana.  Both spots feature primarily large CRP fields, while the larger of the two properties does have some crop fields.  I will attach a couple links for aerial footage of both properties in case someone feels ambitious enough to look and give advice from them. I should mention these spots are located S and SE of Muncie, IN. (Wilbur Wright FWA and Modoc WMA)

http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5427.htmv

One last thing for everyone who is looking for a quality laugh.  While hunting the larger of the two areas last week, I decided that I would take a good friend hunting for the first time.  We got out to this land and checked in over an hour before shooting light.  When we got back to the area we chose to hunt, there was one other truck parked back there hunting a different woods across the road.  I decided we should get about 1/2 mile away from the road and start to hunt some transition areas. While we were walking in we noticed a couple treestands set up without hunters in them.  So we walked around them and set up about 100 yards away (keep in mind this is bow season).  We noticed someone through the trees behind us was in a different treestand adn was flashing his light at us to let us know where he was, about 150 yards away.  The morning progresses without seeing a single deer.  As we started our walk back past the stands we noticed there was another stand setup less than 40yds away from that particular one. thinking nothing of it we continued on to the truck to leave.  Upon arrival at the truck we noticed a note placed under the wiper that read, "Where you had your blind is next to two of my stands. I hunt everyday, find another area. You had to see me going to my stand and you ruined my long drive. Stay away, Thanks." Keep in mind that this is public land, my buddy and I were the first ones to arrive to hunt on this side of the road, it was more than an hour before shooting light (>1.5hours before sunrise), and we were all in dark camo.  Just thought I would share this little note with everyone, just in case you were wondering if you were the only one that has ignorant people hunting the same grounds.  Happy hunting to all.

I hunt public land all the time. Mainly the Jackson-Bienville Wildlife Management Area in North Central Louisiana.

I drive 1 hour to get to where I hunt the most. I have several spots to hunt because I drive around the area to see

where other hunters are hunting. In lieu of hunting for 2 days ie. a Tuesday and a Friday. That lets me know where not to hunt.


Then look at the area on a program like Google Maps or Mapquest.com and find the lay of the land and any old logging roads, home

places, cutovers, and possible feeding and bedding areas. Then scout out what you find. Easy enough but somewhat time consuming

but you'll then have your spots staked out. Good luck and good hunting.

Papaw Jim

 

 

 

That link didn't work for me. It sounds like you're in pretty much the same boat as me. I have gotten frustrated with the small area I hunt that's private land because of all the pressure and fact that all the other hunters seem to want to intentionally mess me up. When I did I didn't really care for at as it was so big and if I went I always went with someone and they had different ideas about scouting (not looking at a map first and just driving/walking around until they found a "good" spot). My advice would be to find a remote area where you don't have to cross through someone to get to. I realize it's public and you have just as much right to be there as them, but it will be a lot more enjoyable if you don't have to deal with getting notes like these all the time. If the guy had such a long drive he could have waited for you to come out and talked to you like a man, but most won't do that. We were hunting one time about 20 yds from a property line of private lands and a guy left a note saying we couldn't legally do that (I checked and he was wrong) and that we "shot every deer we saw" which we hadn't even shot a deer out there yet which just pissed us off when all he had to do was come talk to us. His complaint was how close we were to another stand (one that never got used) that was also only 20 yds from the property line. He claimed they couldn't find the key to it so they didn't move it. Eventually he even resorted to putting a dead coyote by the same tree he left the note on and claimed he placed corn all down the property line so we were illegally hunting over bait. We left him a return note that said, "You need to bring more corn we've never seen so many deer over here. Thanks".

I drive about 2 almost 3 hours to northern Oklahoma. Thanks to a canoe I can paddle across a cove and save myself walking 3 miles to my stand location.

I have found plenty of jerks both on public and private land. One time my brother and I were hunting private land for turkey and the guy just over the property line I guess had to go to work stood up and made the most noise he could to ensure he scared every turkey out of there, in fact he purposly walked thru some hens on his side of the line. But I have also met some very nice people on public land as well.

i apologize about the link not working. If you click on it and type in 'where to hunt' in the search bar, it is the first link that pops up. The land is in east central Indiana (south of Muncie). The land name is Wilbur-Wright Fish and Wildlife Area. You are able to zoom in. If anyone looks at this and has questions please let me know

Just to let you know , that's an "old school" hunter ethics thing going on there . He said I'm here and you said so what . Used to be that a hunter that finds he has encroached upon an already posted hunter yields at least a couple hundred yds. for archery . Yes you have every right to be there and the note speaks poorly of that guy , but just sayen .
Had that happen to me several times  with guys coming in and never ruffled my feathers , in rifle several got to see down my deer . FYI you never know if the other guy already did his homework too .

I saw his stand there and it was unoccupied so I assumed it was good to hunt the area. And since he went even further into the woods and a couple tree lines further, so that was when I knew I was ok. I couldn't help but to laugh at his ignorance. Was that laughter out of line or should I have laughed harder?