Finding decent public land

[justdirtyfun]

Learning is fun, like your first experience in the bedroom. Mistakes will be made but no going back either.

Beware of "the wind". That alone can fill a year or more of practice, experiences and pitfalls. On this site people give it the respect that is needed to succeed. We will share and get you up to speed. I like walking in a park or non hunting area and observing when and how a deer smells me . Don't just take the weather man's forecast and make plans.

All of the comments on learning a specific area well could be misleading. By late summer we back off, late winter we hit it hard and generally during season we only go to specific places considering wind, ground scent, other hunters etc.
Best wishes and if you want to "see" the wind I can send you milkweed fluff. Pm if interested.

[mipubbucks24]

This deer season will be my first as a hunter. I don't really know any other hunters. I guess I just hang out with the wrong crowd haha. I am looking for any advice or resources that you fine hunters have on locatin decent public land to hunt on. I am not sure what to look for when scouting public land. I am not sure on the proper hunting etiquette when picking a spot to hunt on public land. I have a lot of questions on this topic but I don't want to just fill this post with a list of questions. So I am starting with any resources that you can point me to on this topic. I have searched the internet but cant seem to find what I am looking for. Thanks in advance for your help.

Are you looking in Indiana or Michigan? I can't give much advice for Indiana, but within 50 miles of the SouthBend area there is public in Michigan. I would classify it as mediocre, reason being is most are small parcels 40 - 80 acres with lots of access. Hunters can reach almost any spot on the properties. In the last couple years I have just started to get on bucks, most small, but there are deer, basically take everything that Dan teaches and you will start to find them. If you want bigger chunks probably 70-80 miles north but I have not hunted so I can't give any advice. Only way to really learn is just put time in scouting and hunting.

[Lockdown]

Great thread for learning that's for sure. I skimmed the posts and some of what I'm going to say has already been said.

Definitely follow JoeRE's advice and buy Dan's DVDs. They alone will help you figure out which public pieces are better than others just by looking at them on an aerial.

Get away from other hunters. Pressure kills movement, be it doe or big buck. Crossing water hazards, hoofing steep hills, etc is what you need to do in high pressure states.

Make sure to ask yourself why. Why didn't you see any deer today? Are you hunting sign that's being made at night (meaning you're too far from bedding.). Were the conditions not favorable for movement?

Keep a journal. If you hunt and scout hard each year there's no way you can remember everything. The minor details make a huge difference. The more of them you can remember/log, the shorter your learning curve will be.

Get yourself a decent stand and sticks. You get what you pay for and the good stuff like Lone Wolf, XOP, Muddy, etc will last decades. Not only that but hunting with equipment that doesn't frustrate you makes the hunt that much more enjoyable.

Have fun with it. Learn to enjoy Mother Nature for what it is. Killing a deer is icing on the cake.

Also, you live and die by the wind. Pay close attention to it.

[headgear]

As a first time hunter so much of what we talk about here will be over your head a little bit but not a big deal, in the years to come you will leapfrog many other hunters in the woods because you can skip over all the junk gear and tactics and focus on good stuff. With that said just get out in the woods, any woods, and learn the area a little bit. See where the trails are and see if you can't find some places deer might like to bed during the day. Next practice shooting so if/when you get a chance at one you up your odds to be successful. Next just try and put yourself in a spot to see and shoot some deer, any old deer. My first with a bow was a fawn and I was proud as heck to shoot that deer and I still am.

Finally have fun and enjoy the woods, some of my most memorable hunts were ones where I never saw a deer but saw many other wonderful things out in the woods, wolves, bears, owls trying to take my head off, lots of fun stuff out there and really nothing to be worried or scared about. Final top, try not to let them smell you or catch you moving and good things will happen.

[Wlog]

Like headgear mentioned, practice with your bow as much as possible. Don't take risky shots. Wounding deer is the worst feeling you will ever have as a Hunter. Take your time and make your shot count. You need to be confident with your weapon. But the flip side of that is you need to be able to move on if you do make a bad shot and learn from it. Everyone has missed. It's part of hunting but it stings. Hunting small game with your bow would be great preparation. Get out and stalk some groundhogs this summer.

[Waymore]

Be mobile. When I was younger I hung a stand and hunted it over and over. I finally realized my best sits were the first

Pretend that everyone is trying to hunt you down and kill you. Where would you hide?

The majority of sign is done at night.

[sim22mie]

Pay attention human sign more than anything. It's taken me 2-3 years of stubbornness on the main spot I hunt to figure this out. A great "looking" area should be null and void when there is high human traffic in that area. Why was I stubborn, no idea, but wasted a lot of sits on what "looked" great with food, etc. Don't overlook areas either. I found what looks like a buck honey hole this spring in an area I've never walked through. Not sure why I've never scouted this spot out before, but I didn't. Boots on the ground in the spring is huge.

[whitetaildna]

There's already been a ton of great info posted in this thread. You were smart by coming here, as this is a great place to learn. My biggest piece of advice is to soak in as much information from different guys as possible and then start applying that information in the field. There are countless ways to go about deer hunting, and everyone does something a little different. Figure out what works for you through trial and error, and understand that nothing is going to come easy.

[BloodyArrow]

This deer season will be my first as a hunter. I don't really know any other hunters. I guess I just hang out with the wrong crowd haha. I am looking for any advice or resources that you fine hunters have on locatin decent public land to hunt on. I am not sure what to look for when scouting public land. I am not sure on the proper hunting etiquette when picking a spot to hunt on public land. I have a lot of questions on this topic but I don't want to just fill this post with a list of questions. So I am starting with any resources that you can point me to on this topic. I have searched the internet but cant seem to find what I am looking for. Thanks in advance for your help.

Are you looking in Indiana or Michigan? I can't give much advice for Indiana, but within 50 miles of the SouthBend area there is public in Michigan. I would classify it as mediocre, reason being is most are small parcels 40 - 80 acres with lots of access. Hunters can reach almost any spot on the properties. In the last couple years I have just started to get on bucks, most small, but there are deer, basically take everything that Dan teaches and you will start to find them. If you want bigger chunks probably 70-80 miles north but I have not hunted so I can't give any advice. Only way to really learn is just put time in scouting and hunting.

I know it would be cheaper to hunt Indiana since thats where I live but the only hunters I really know live and hunt Michigan, so I may end up hunting there too. I am ready to put boots on the ground scouting. Just confusing getting started for a novice. I am ready to learn what to look for in a piece of land and what to look for regarding signs of life on the land. I am sure I will make mistakes. Not expecting perfection thats for sure. Thanks for your willingness to share.

[BloodyArrow]

WOW!!! I am overwhelmed by all of the great advice you guys are offering. Thanks so much. I am looking forward to enjoying the woods and learning as I go forward. I am interested in filling my freezer and I look forward to the challenge of finding a way to do that in the woods. Seriously, thanks for all of the great advice. Happy Happy Happy!!

[Tylerrewa]

Not sure if it was mentioned already but some county parks and recreation departments allow archery hunting on county parks either open to all or by draw, look into that and you could find a piece that often goes "under utilized" by other hunters.

Get familiar with your equipment and practice with whatever weapon you plan on using so that when you get a chance at a deer you can take full advantage

Lastly find some other friends LOL

[IkemanTx]

Read everything in the "all time best tactical threads"
Aside from that and what the others have said...

One thing I had a hard time understanding in seasons past was paying close attention to the level of browse in areas I was scouting. If you stumble into a small pocket of heavily browsed vegetation with good cover, it very well could be daytime staging. Deer don't feed where they don't feel comfortable. Analyze why they are comfortable there. Is it because they only show up after dark, is it because it has good cover, is it hard for hunters to get to, is it close to bedding....?

if you observe an animal doing something, always ask yourself "why". That word will teach you a lot.

[Bowhuntermnsd]

Read everything in the "all time best tactical threads"

I couldn't agree more! I have hunted my whole life and have obtained a lot of useless (and incorrect) knowledge. I'm new to hunting beast style, but I can tell you that if you want to truly "hunt" this is the site to be on. A lot of us are learning right beside you, regardless of how many deer we've taken in the past. The differences between being lucky and good can be learned on a lot of these posts. You're on the right track!