Hunting

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Find Quality Deer Hunting On Public Land

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Let’s be honest. Most public-land hunting is tough. In this pressure cooker, game animals learn how to embarrass hunters at an early age—or they wind up venison. But public hunting areas can still offer a quality experience if you’re willing to look at things a little differently. Your search must take you deeper than the first access site, and you must gear your strategies toward keeping the deer you find as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. If you blow them out, you may have a hard time finding another good situation.

In this article I’m going to help you find the kinds of places where whitetails are acting naturally and are therefore huntable, and I’m going to offer a few strategies that allow you to hunt them without being detected.

Pattern The Other Hunter First

To be effective on public land you need to scout out the habits of other hunters with the same intensity you scout out the movement patterns of deer.

For example, before we moved I hunted a public area along the Mississippi River bluffs composed of a giant block of woods and ravines—with a few Iowa cornfields thrown in for good measure. The way my friends and I hunted that should get you thinking. There are no roads through the middle of the public area. Most hunters enter from the access points on the upper side, off a gravel road that is two miles from the bluff edge. Of course, the walking is a lot easier along the ridge tops, but to get all the way to the bluffs they have to cross several ravines. Few ever bothered.

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Knowing this, we accessed the area from the river side—from below, parking along the Great River Road and climbing up several hundred feet of steep bluff. We had this slice of paradise completely to ourselves and took some nice bucks there. Believe it or not, I had permission to hunt many thousands of acres of private land in that area as well, but I still hunted the public land because it was better. Hmm, better than private? Now I have your attention.

I have another little trick. Through the years I’ve worked out an agreement to cross private ground to reach out-of-the-way pieces of public land in two other locations. In both cases I had to establish a relationship with the landowner before he granted me permission to cross (helping with chores has been a good way to gain this favor and to make a lifelong friend). Even then, I had to cross only at certain times and in certain places to keep from interfering with hunters on the private land.

The time has been well invested, as I’ve seen some of my biggest bucks in these places—and few other hunters. There is still good hunting on public land, but you have to be willing to go the extra mile, sometimes literally, to find it.

Look For Diamonds In The Rough

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Most states have enough public land that you have multiple options within driving distance of your home, but keep in mind that most of it will be overrun with other hunters—especially on opening day. The sleuth work required to reduce three counties to a single ambush site is nearly as much fun as the actual hunting itself.

First, get a quality sportsman’s map of your state. These are readily available at sporting goods stores or online. These maps are an invaluable first resource. Having the roadways present is important because they will reveal much about the accessibility of the area.

Study the maps for those counties within driving distance of your home with an eye out for just the right set of conditions. Key on anything that serves to restrict access or makes one spot seem less favorable in the eyes of other hunters.

For example, a public area composed of marsh and woodlands is a much better prospect than one composed only of woodlands, especially if the marsh is large. The marsh, with its islands and humps, offers the possibility of overlooked security cover that would require hip boots, waders or even a boat to hunt properly. Most other deer hunters will look right past that public area.

Look for rivers big enough to float a canoe that flows through remote portions of a public area. The canoe is more trouble than most other hunters want to tackle, and serves as an excellent way to put distance between yourself and the crowds. The idea is to get into undisturbed corners where the bucks are going to head once the shooting starts.

BEST PUBLIC LANDS IN THE MIDWEST

Manistee National Forest (Michigan)

Located in west-central Michigan, the Manistee National Forest is a popular destination for hunters from several states. This is beautiful big woods country where I’ve spent many days with rod and gun in hand during my four years in Michigan. Drainages of fabled steelhead and salmon rivers, such as the Pere Marquette, Little Manistee and White, provide the broken terrain that makes up this 535,000-acre forest.

Shawnee National Forest (Illinois)

Southern Illinois is home to the 250,000-acre Shawnee National Forest. The Shawnee is scattered among private landholdings. This creates tremendous edge cover as timbered blocks adjoin agricultural fields. The terrain varies from rugged, timbered slopes to rolling, grass-covered fields.

Strategy: Hunting pressure within the Shawnee is moderate to heavy during the state’s gun season (shotgun only), but with a little homework you can still find undisturbed pockets. Look for small, isolated blocks of forest that other hunters overlook. Stand hunting is the most popular method. You will find the highest deer densities, and the best trophy potential, in Union, Pope, Johnson and Jackson counties.

Wayne National Forest (Ohio)

With approximately 220,000 acres of primarily forested terrain, there are plenty of places in the Wayne National Forest to get away from other hunters. The forest is broken up into three units.

Strategy: If you’re willing to do some walking you can escape much of the pressure. Access is from county and state roads, with all Forest Service roads closed to vehicles. Plan to get in deep and wait for deer pushed your way by those hunting closer to the roads. Bucks age 3-1/2 years and older make up 10 to 15 percent of the total antlered harvest.

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge (Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin)

I used to duck hunt this area religiously. There were almost no deer hunters using the refuge then, though I’m sure there are a few more by now. But the refuge contains 200,000 acres (about half of which is water) bordering Iowa alone, and nearly that much to the north sandwiched between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Some years we saw incredible volumes of deer sign (and some good bucks).

Strategy: It’s simple…use a boat to get away from other hunters (if necessary), then find a funnel between two pieces of water that connects larger blocks of timber (there are literally thousands of these spots scattered throughout this region).

Richard J. Dorer Memorial State Forest (Minnesota)

This widely scattered public hunting area is home to many good bucks with lots of opportunities. Primarily located in the state’s Mississippi River bluff country, this area has a typical mix of rugged, wooded bluffs and draws, as well as ridge top fields. It is highly interspersed among private landholdings, so there is plenty of available food for the deer.

Strategy: Your best bet is to find small overlooked pockets of public forest surrounded by private land. The 28,000-acre Whitewater Wildlife Management Area is another good bet.

Mark Twain National Forest (Missouri)

The 1.5-million-acre Mark Twain National Forest is the perfect place for a wilderness whitetail hunt in the southern Midwest. The forest is broken up into seven units. Due to the availability of farm crops, the deer density is highest in the 17,000-acre Cedar Creek unit; all other units have only moderate densities.

Strategy: Hunting pressure is highest along the edges of these wilderness areas, but moderate as you go deeper into the backcountry. Surprisingly, hunter density is also lower in the more accessible sectors of each forest unit.

Most public-land hunters will not travel more than a quartermile from their vehicle. Rugged terrain is one reason, the fear of getting lost is another. As soon as the going gets tough, they stop and sit down on the nearest log. If you’re willing to push on, you can find areas that are lightly hunted. When studying your maps, look for rugged terrain, such as a series of deep draws or even a mountain. If the map has contour lines, you can tell a lot from a quick study. If not, a leisurely drive past the area (or even a camping trip) will reveal much about the lay of the land.

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When hunting a large remote section of National Forest or portion of a huge refuge system, staying found is important to your peace of mind. Invest in a good GPS unit. Hand-held GPS technology has become much more affordable in recent years. You can now buy a good unit for under $100.

Surprisingly, the other end of the spectrum also offers good opportunities. Small blocks of public land nestled among private sections are also worth checking out. Most other hunters will think the area is too small to be worth the work and will look right past it. The potential of the small area to produce deer depends a lot on the type of private ground that surrounds it. If the land has a fair amount of cover and is located in a good deer area, you should see action all season long.

Public Land Strategies

It is extremely important that you get into position early and unobtrusively. Just like the bucks you’re hunting, sneak through low spots in the terrain. Use creek bottoms and ravines to keep out of sight. Use the wind to your advantage as you travel to your stand. Don’t let your scent blow in the direction you expect deer to come from or you won’t see a thing. Let the other hunters make the mistakes. Public land hunting is a contest. The hunter who gets into the best position first and stays the longest without spooking deer will be the winner.

Special Seasons Offer An Opportunity

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Opening morning of the regular firearms season is the most exciting and long-awaited moment of the whole year. That said, there are other times that actually produce better public-land hunting. Bow season, with its reduced hunter numbers, offers many excellent opportunities. The woods are much less crowded, and in many places the bucks follow textbook behavior—making and checking scrapes, chasing does and coming to calls. You’re not likely to find that during the regular firearms season on public land east of the Rockies.

Hunter success rates are lower on public land than on private, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be among the consistently successful. Remember the old saying, “Ten percent of the hunters take 90 percent of the deer”? That statement was probably first spoken by a public land hunter. To join that elite group you have to hunt hard and smart, but you also have to do your homework.

A recognized expert in archery and bowhunting matters, Heartland USA contributor and regional editor Bill Winke may have his own private honey holes in his home state of Iowa, but that doesn’t preclude him from employing successful whitetail guerilla tactics on regional public lands.