Ohio late october

[Northcarolinian]

Im planning on going to ohio on the 22nd till the 27th, was wondering what you guys think the best strategie would be, its gonna be hill country with big hardwoods on public. Im sure ill have to get down there and adapt to whats going on but as far as a base plan I was thinking i would start out hunting the leeward side of the ridges hoping some bucks were cruising pre rut. I think some bucks will be but im afraid its going to be mostly the younger ones. Anyone think i should consider setting up on bedding off the finger ridges or just try to hunt some funnels and saddles and leeward sides of the ridges. Im not looking for the oldest buck in the woods but would be happy with a 3 yeart old buck. how would you guys go about it for that time period in october?

[Ack]

Don't think you need to jump in a tree as soon as you get there, unless it's for observation.

Use your first day or two for scouting....find the deer first, then food and bedding, and hunt it accordingly.

That's a little early for sitting in cruising areas unless you get some cold temps in the mornings.

[Mgaspari]

I have lived and hunted in Ohio the last twenty years. The deer herd is not what it used to be, older bucks on public are very hard to come by. I run about 30 cameras, I set them up usually in December and then hunt them out October/ November time frame. I am lucky to have 2-3 mature deer on them. Everything that jumps out on a map to you will also jump out to every other guy from the Carolinas, Michigan, Indiana, New York and Vermont. So if that’s what your plan is you will be able to meet up with a lot of other “out of state’ers”. My best advice for you is late October can be great but look for public that isn’t traditional public land - everybody and their brother is going to out walk the rest of the pack in Wayne National Forest, Woodbury or the other big public parcels. Can it be done there? Sure but the best publc is the ones that don’t scream hunt me to every guy dreaming of an Ohio buck.

[brancher147]

Don't think you need to jump in a tree as soon as you get there, unless it's for observation.

Use your first day or two for scouting....find the deer first, then food and bedding, and hunt it accordingly.

That's a little early for sitting in cruising areas unless you get some cold temps in the mornings.

I agree. Find the deer and sign and setup accordingly. Scout with your bow if in the woods. I haven’t been in a few years since we stopped seeing deer after all the pressure. But one of my biggest mistakes was not scouting enough when I did go.

[csoult]

Everything that jumps out on a map to you will also jump out to every other guy from the Carolinas, Michigan, Indiana, New York and Vermont

Hey, don't forget us PA guys!

[Mgaspari]

Everything that jumps out on a map to you will also jump out to every other guy from the Carolinas, Michigan, Indiana, New York and Vermont

Hey, don't forget us PA guys!

Don’t have any PA guys that hunt where I do. Absolutely nothing against out of state guys; at least they put some effort in, unlike the locals.

[Jdw]

Primary scrapes near bedding are good in that timeframe.

[Budgetbuck1]

Primary scrapes near bedding are good in that timeframe.

I have hunted that time frame in Ohio on public and I agree with this post. I also agree that the deer herd is not what it once was in Ohio. Last time I hunted public in Ohio in Late October I had the woods to myself and saw the more deer than I ever saw in November. Good Luck. There will be lots of scraping going on around the doe bedding areas. I saw bucks bedding on the edges of doe bedding areas within 100 yards of a primary scrape there a few years ago. They were going straight to the primary scrape right at last light.

[cspot]

Everything that jumps out on a map to you will also jump out to every other guy from the Carolinas, Michigan, Indiana, New York and Vermont

Hey, don't forget us PA guys!

Us PA guys are considered locals in Ohio.

[cspot]

My experience is you won't see a ton of hunting pressure that week as that really ramps up starting about the end of OCtober thru the gun seasons. Like mentioned above any of the classic setup locations are likely to receive some pressure. Finding stuff that doesn't show up well on the map is likely better. Also if this is your first time hunting Ohio a lot of people think Ohio because of having some big bucks killed there would be comparable to Iowa for mature buck #'s. There isn't a mature buck behind every tree. Also Ohio recently went thru a herd reduction mode so the deer population is pretty low especially on large public areas. That is why they changed the regs for antlerless on public ground as they simply got overharvested. I have far more deer where I hunt in PA than what there is where I hunt in Ohio. That being said I am enjoying the challenge of hunting the public big woods.

[Northcarolinian]

Thanks for the info, this will be the 3rd time I've hunted ohio. There are just as many deer at home no doubt but I've seen some bruisers on all of my trips but they were all in November. I was thinking the hunting pressure wont be too bad that time in october but I doubt the bucks will be cruising. Going to try to find hot sign by bedding. Will be coming back Nov 26 as well.