Distant public lands (out of state)

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cornfedkiller
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Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby cornfedkiller » Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:47 pm

Whats your technique/strategy? In the other thread someone said Spysar and Dor were excellent at this (and Ive seen some of the deer Dor as put down!). Anyways, what is your tactic for stuff like this?

Im guessing alot of aerial scouting, but do you still hunt beast-style? Pinpointing bedding areas and hunting the deer there, or do you have to change your tactics a bit when you dont know exactly where the beds are and which beds they are in?

The places you go and have success..have you been there multiple times and know the land pretty well (which I assume makes a big difference), or are these properties you have never been to?

What tips do you have?


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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby PLB » Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:57 pm

Aerial maps are a great starting point. But just like here. you need to do some spring scouting in that state. Or give yourself some extra days to scout during your trip if its not feasible or too far to go on a scouting trip. If there are agricultual fields, you can ride around and get a feel for how the deer are enering and exiting the field before you move in for the kill. You don't want to be beating down these public areas during season stinking them up. Thru maps and a little glassing and driving around, you can eliminate alot of area that is not productive and concentrate on the best areas for your ambush. Also i would contact bioligists and the forest service in that state and talk to some people familiar with the area.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby Dor » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:22 pm

I employ a mobile technique for locating good public ground when hunting out of state. We typically print out double digit aerials from double digit areas spread across a huge area. Then it is just a matter of traveling and not getting stuck in a rut. The worst thing you can do is continue to do something that is unproductive. If it isn't happening or sign is not to our liking we move on. No sense wasting time in marginal areas.

The beauty of this is you cover a ton of ground and eventually find spots that are top notch. Once you locate a great area it tends to stay great for some time (not always but generally). Add it to your and you can go to the bank every year. Most of our NR hunts are during the absolute peak of action so we rely on more rut based strategies as bucks are on there feet.

Obviously once you locate areas and begin to key them year after year you learn them more in depth and less effort is required to shoot top end animals.

That said I don't think its impossible to hunt an area sight on seen and be successful. The plethora of aerial/topography you can pull of the internet from your couch are HUGE in selecting spots that are likely travel corridors b/w bedding units. Well knowing this might not give you the exact location of mature buck bed....it is enough to tilt the odds in your favor during the rut if you are willing to hunt most of the day once your suspicions of sign have been confirmed.

Hope that made some sense. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I'd guess Eric employs a similar technique.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby blackwolf » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:25 pm

I scout them on a spring trip, locate funnels, rutting movement, feeding areas. I hunt rut Oct 25-Nov 15 so really not concerned with bedding, just rut traveling areas.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby Dor » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:33 pm

Also, it sometimes pays to target areas that have multiple clusters of public ground so you can get more bang for your buck to so to speak in your scouting. However, sometimes that chunk way out of the way is worth a stop too.

Like anything in life hunting is for the DO'ers. If you refuse to do it or try to do it.....well, you DON'T. It's that simple. :mrgreen:
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby Dor » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:37 pm

blackwolf wrote:I scout them on a spring trip, locate funnels, rutting movement, feeding areas. I hunt rut Oct 25-Nov 15 so really not concerned with bedding, just rut traveling areas.

This is huge. Spring scouting isn't required (we dont typically do it for out of state hunts), but sure helps.

The main thing I overlooked as less experienced hunter was how these travel routes are related to the bedding areas. Especially for the mature bucks..so the more you can decipher the better you can plan that bucks rut travel.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby muddy » Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:04 am

So Dor you're saying that for the most part you guys never set foot on the areas you hunt out of state until the day you arrive?

I must admit, your out of state trips have really impressed me over the years and have always been curious how you decided to go where you went. If I'm reading correctly you just looked for a bunch of likely looking places and went in blind the first year or so, took mental notes, and eventually got the honey holes figured out?
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby Dor » Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:56 am

muddy wrote:So Dor you're saying that for the most part you guys never set foot on the areas you hunt out of state until the day you arrive?

I must admit, your out of state trips have really impressed me over the years and have always been curious how you decided to go where you went. If I'm reading correctly you just looked for a bunch of likely looking places and went in blind the first year or so, took mental notes, and eventually got the honey holes figured out?


Pretty much. Sometimes we will go on one early hunt/scout trip in early Oct for a 3-4 day weekend to get a feel for the areas. At that time we would try to cover almost ALL of them. Spring would be a better time to do in depth scouting, but we arent interested in the details (yet) when still in location mode. Sometimes this "cover" is as simple as driving by. As we all know, if the bucks aren't there-you can't kill them.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby 76chevy » Thu Jan 27, 2011 5:14 am

what states are you guys hunting public on??

what type of terrain?? farms, marshes, hill country?
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby Tadmdad » Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:57 pm

Dor wrote:I employ a mobile technique for locating good public ground when hunting out of state. We typically print out double digit aerials from double digit areas spread across a huge area. Then it is just a matter of traveling and not getting stuck in a rut. The worst thing you can do is continue to do something that is unproductive. If it isn't happening or sign is not to our liking we move on. No sense wasting time in marginal areas.

The beauty of this is you cover a ton of ground and eventually find spots that are top notch. Once you locate a great area it tends to stay great for some time (not always but generally). Add it to your and you can go to the bank every year. Most of our NR hunts are during the absolute peak of action so we rely on more rut based strategies as bucks are on there feet.

Obviously once you locate areas and begin to key them year after year you learn them more in depth and less effort is required to shoot top end animals.

That said I don't think its impossible to hunt an area sight on seen and be successful. The plethora of aerial/topography you can pull of the internet from your couch are HUGE in selecting spots that are likely travel corridors b/w bedding units. Well knowing this might not give you the exact location of mature buck bed....it is enough to tilt the odds in your favor during the rut if you are willing to hunt most of the day once your suspicions of sign have been confirmed.

Hope that made some sense. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I'd guess Eric employs a similar technique.


Dor, I agree with your post...your spot on

I hunt Northern big woods and employ mobile techniques every year. When hunting a new area, use many aerials and topo's then start narrowing down areas to find productive spots, will usually start by highlighting areas within 1/2 mile of trails and access points, and eliminate those areas.

Then will identify, funnels, pinch points, travel corridors such as new clearcuts, beaver ponds, ridge intersects, forced exposure areas and go in to check these areas out, cover alot of ground to find where you want to be. The first few years I will do a bunch of tracking and still hunting locating productive areas. I think 90% of the deer will be in 10% of the country, becomes process of elimination and effort. If your hunting with buddies compare observations, after awhile a pattern will start coming together.

Each year becomes a building block for next years hunt, once you find a number of different spots, you can go back year after year. Each year it can be different, some of your spots will be good, some won't, but it becomes much easier when you have choices. I've found that usually the first time I hunt a spot is the most productive.

I see many DIY out of state hunters get stuck on a certain spot or tactic because they have had some success in the past, and when it doesn't return results consistently, it's for some reason out of there control. Using many tactics and locations and playing a deer habits and tendencies in your favor, especially during rut, consistency is a by product of effort.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby blackwolf » Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:03 pm

What makes spring scouting so invaluable is that you can check topos ahead of time, go in and mark all good spots with gps, brush out a few good spots, then go back in the fall to hunt all you have to do is spot check your gps spots for sign without causing much disturbance or leaving scent all over. What I do is have 4-5 main stands all ready except putting the stand up inplace. If legal, I go in Aug or Sep, and actually put the stand in place in a couple of the spots I know will be good. So when I arrive in then end of Oct I can immediately hunt and do no extra walking around. I also hunt no spot that requires going thru suspected bedding grounds. The last thing I want to do is "push out" the area does, they are my bait.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby Dor » Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:41 am

76chevy wrote:what states are you guys hunting public on??

what type of terrain?? farms, marshes, hill country?

Mainly I've hunted WI, MN, IA and KS.....but have dabbled in a bunch of other states as well. IL and AL were the toughest hunts....but then again I wasn't all that mobile when I went to those states.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby blackwolf » Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:37 am

I am hunting N. Wis and N. Minn near International Falls
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby Spysar » Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:11 am

Dor made a great post, and it sounds like I do similar things. Same with Tadmdad.

Some things that have helped me:

Internet hunting connections.That's why I love these forums. Just have to be able to weed out the BS.

Take a chance. Nothing will happen if you sit around dreaming about doing it someday. Just do it.

Contact States DNR. They'll send you all sorts of stuff for free.

I look for a spot with the most public land. I will drive up to an hour from where I'm staying to get to a spot. If you pick a good central location, you should be able to drive to several public spots.

Remember that there are other places beside Pike county Illinois to kill nice bucks. Look for a less popular whitetail state, and learn about it.

There is more than just state owned public land. Seek out other sources of huntable land. Examples: Army Corp of Engineers, reservations, power company land, paper company land, land enroled in tax breaks, walk in areas....

Get to where other people can't get. Sometimes a couple of ravines will do it, or hip boots, or a boat...

You won't make it unless you have a positive attitude.

Don't keep all your eggs in one basket. Have as many spots as you can for any condition that might come. If conditions are crappy for hunting, they are usually good for scouting...
A buck will see you three times, and hear you twice, but he's only gonna smell you once.
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Re: Distant public lands (out of state)

Unread postby Bucky » Fri Jan 28, 2011 1:02 pm

I just started trying some out of state stuff now that I have a steady income and a little bit of vacation time. My process is the same as if I were hunting in state (WI). #1 is find an area with certain terrain features that will hold older class/trophy animals. #2 is access in that area - the easiest is public access. The extra mile and where I like to think outside the box is looking for special access areas - many were listed above by SpySar, others require a special permit/license etc that can easily be done ahead of time but takes a little extra planning/effort. #3 IS U GOT TO WANT IT - like anything in life, it is just not going to happen for you. You have to make it happen. Self confidence in your hunting style and a positive attitude can be key assets. #4 It is not all about the trophy, to me it is about the adventure. So get some buddies together that you can trust and have a good time with your adventure. Pick a spot, research, research, research, make a plan and go for it.

Often when the going is tough... going deep, freezing cold, rain, dragging an animal 1-2 miles back the vehicle, lack of sleep, long drive, etc... my good hunting buddy and I will say over and over "U Got 2 Want It"
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