Kettle Moraine State forest

[tgreeno]

I'm just wondering how many here hunt the Kettle Moraine State forest? Just curious how many beasts are roaming the kettles. I hunt the north.

[dan]

I live near the southern kettle but don't hunt it much cause it gets a lot of pressure.

[Nocturnal]

I've hunted both north and south. Lots of people out there. Joggers, bikers, hunters, nature walkers, ect.... Tough place to take any deer, but they are there. Best advice I can give is expect the deer to come off private properties, especially during the gun season when things get really crazy. 3 years ago my buddy and I drove to northern kettle. And he had a family banging pots and pans and bangin cattle bells together to scare the deer. I heard the ca motion but he saw it. He got up to walk away and hey followed him. He text me explaining what was going on. Needless to say We called it early that day. Hunter harassment at its finest.

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[Nocturnal]

Didn't read that you hunted the north. Have you had any crazy expierences with people out there?

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[tgreeno]

I do not go anywhere near it during gun season! Bowhunting only. It's taken me a few years to figure out where the people aren't!

Last year I'm over a ridge from the road. About 9:30am I hear a gunshot from the road. Then a group of 5 or 6 deer coming running my direction from the road. 2 weeks before gun season.

[Nocturnal]

I do not go anywhere near it during gun season! Bowhunting only. It's taken me a few years to figure out where the people aren't!

Last year I'm over a ridge from the road. About 9:30am I hear a gunshot from the road. Then a group of 5 or 6 deer coming running my direction from the road. 2 weeks before gun season.

Oh wow!! It's not a place to be poaching. Beautiful country there though. Yeah I haven't had the best experiences over there, an I'm sure it's taken you awhile to figure things out. One of those situations where you have to figure the people out first and deer second. Your right too about staying out during gun. That's when I mostly made the trip there.

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[Jeff G]

I've hunted the southern part. To have success you have to go where the people won't go.

[VilasCo]

I hunt the North unit. Lots of yahoos out there but lots of deer also (compared to the big woods). I gun hunt the Kettles on occasion and with all the hunters I am amazed any deer survive. My brother has a lot of crazy stories about gun hunting out there. He heard a group of drivers approaching and then a bunch of gun shots. Driver 1 yells: "what were you shooting at?" Driver 2 replies: " Nothing, I was just shooting".

[Dewey]

I hunted the northern Kettles for many years since it's fairly close but not as much in the last few years. Pretty hard to get away from people there as the forest is always busy. Good bucks in the tougher to get to areas where there are less people but finding those spots is tough. Every time I thought I was remote I ran into 3 more hunters. I enjoy it over there much more during the late bow season when everyone else quits for the year. By far my favorite time to hunt there.

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[tgreeno]

To have success you have to go where the people won't go.

That is my plan 100% of the time, whatever ground I hunt!

[Dewey]

Big bucks are there if you look hard enough. Here are some pics with scouting notes I took about 4 years ago deep in a cedar swamp.

This tree was 7' in diameter and the center of the rub was 43"




This tree was part of the same cluster of rubs all within 10 yards of each other.


This tree was slightly larger than the first one at 8 1/2" in diameter and the marks were about chest high at 49".



After looking around a bit I found this bed and thinking this is a primary bed due to the location. This was a very large bed and measured 55"


This bed looked to be a little older but had plenty of hair in it.

[tgreeno]

I've seen some similar type sign. I've hunted it 4 years now.

The key for me is, I'm able to hunt during the whole season. So I rarely hunt there during the weekends.

[ihookem]

I have been hunting the northern unit for about t5 yrs now. I shot one buck and passed a few small does. You can try to go where the hunters aren't. Good luck though. Your best bet seems to be early bow when many are fishing, weekdays are better. Mornings have a lot less cars in the lots. Windy rainy days seem better cause it keeps a lot of people out of the woods. Last year I was on the stand for 1/2 hr. Here comes a deer already. Nope, some older dude comes by and stands there for several minutes 30' from me. He is looking all over but never sees me. This stuff happens on nice October , sunny afternoons. I say forget it then. The hunting is very poor in most cases. I have scouted at least 100 mi. and it is not good. Like Dewey's pictures show, there has to be some big bucks there but I dont see them. Very hard to hunt there but it is only 10 mi. from home and still see more deer than in Price co. big woods. I still hunt there cause it is some of the nicest land around . Nice big white pines, big old oak trees, marshes and rivers, creeks. Nice land for sure though.

[matt1336]

When I've found water, tough swamp and Catails I've found deer in the kmsf. There are some big deer taken out of these properties every year.

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[tgreeno]

There are definitely some nice deer there. It's taken me a couple years to get a handle on it. I've shot a buck & 3 doe's in 4 years. I've had multiple opportunities at small bucks also over the years.