Small pieces of public
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Small pieces of public
So this is my first question post. I have been reading for a while and most guys talk about scouting public and it seems to be big land (over 1000 acres). In NY where I live most public land is divided into small pieces of a couple hundred acres with well roads through the middle so it has easy access. Wondering if you would scout or hunt this different since even the back of the property is relatively easy to get to. I am finding hunter sign in the easy spots but wondering if I can use the same features or if I should focus more on overlooked spots close to access.
- tgreeno
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Re: Small pieces of public
You need to find the spots that other don't/won't go! It doesn't matter if it's right next to the road, or in the furthest corner. It may be thick, it may be wet or it may just be overlooked. I think overlooked spots on small pieces can be very good.
Also, mature bucks love to bed where they can monitor the access point of the property. By either sight or scent.
Also, mature bucks love to bed where they can monitor the access point of the property. By either sight or scent.
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- 218er
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Re: Small pieces of public
I hunt a lot of 200ish acre wildlife management areas. I start by scouting aerials online and pick some spots to check out. After walking the property you see where other hunter sign is and if the spots you thought would be good are worth it. I think of finding spots others won’t go by the hassle factor. On larger parcels a straight up 45 minute walks gets you away from the crowd. On smaller parcels it could be a 50 yard trudge through thigh deep muck while wearing waders or a 200 feet elevation change ridge. Realistically a lot of smaller parcels might lack overlooked huntable spots or they may be very limited given certain winds.
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- DaveT1963
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Re: Small pieces of public
I think it comes down to how much public land is available… in some States like where I hunt in Texas there is no public land that gets "overlooked" but there are spots that do. With kayaks, ebikes, lighter gear, it isnt always the furthest spot either. The good news is the majority of hunters just naturally do the same thing so patterning them is a heck of a lot easier than patterning deer IMO. Pattern the hunters, go where they don't, and you will pattern the bigger bucks by default.
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Re: Small pieces of public
Let's just say I found what looks like a slam dunk spot within a hundred yards of a major interstate on a piece of public land. Who wants to hunt next to the freeway?
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- rfickes87
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Re: Small pieces of public
716whitetails wrote:So this is my first question post. I have been reading for a while and most guys talk about scouting public and it seems to be big land (over 1000 acres). In NY where I live most public land is divided into small pieces of a couple hundred acres with well roads through the middle so it has easy access. Wondering if you would scout or hunt this different since even the back of the property is relatively easy to get to. I am finding hunter sign in the easy spots but wondering if I can use the same features or if I should focus more on overlooked spots close to access.
I wounded a 140 class buck in November a few years back on a tiny piece of public, back before i knew about the huntingbeast. This area was maybe 8 acres in size. it was just dumb luck for me to even see him. it was so pressured there that i was going into hunt my normal tree and another guy was in my tree so i went for a walk and found about 20 scrapes all in this one area almost on the boundary line so i set up right there for an evening hunt and he came walking thru at 2:30 in the afternoon. he was 80 yards from the main road. if you'd look at a map of that property, no one in their right mind would hunt it b/c its so close the road but it was real thick and there was a steep drop off that lead down off the property so no one would bother going back in it. since learning about the beast i realized there is good bedding there and he would have watched cars go by. come to think of it i have never gone back to hunt it and really wondering why, lol
bucks to not care about property size. Just have to have the mindset about where they aren't being harrassed.
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- greenhorndave
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Re: Small pieces of public
d_rek wrote:Let's just say I found what looks like a slam dunk spot within a hundred yards of a major interstate on a piece of public land. Who wants to hunt next to the freeway?
Me!
Nice find!
As to the original question... Now, it wasn't big bucks, but the last two places I scouted had ridiculous number of doe beds close to the roads in thick stuff. Not nasty thick, but enough to be hidden. These particular properties get a lot of pressure and foot traffic. There are tree stands all over the place, but not in these areas. They go where people don't.
Last edited by greenhorndave on Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- oldrank
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Re: Small pieces of public
Deer don't know how big a piece of public land is. If the terrain has what they want they will use it.
Figure out how they use it. Figure out how other hunters use it. Exploit weaknesses of both.
Figure out how they use it. Figure out how other hunters use it. Exploit weaknesses of both.
- Wolfie417
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Re: Small pieces of public
I shot my best buck on a 100 acre public land patch with 2 roads going through it. It's very close to 3000 acre of public so it's very overlooked. It's not about the amount of land for me, rather the amount of suitable habitat that is not getting pounded by hunters.
- may21581
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Re: Small pieces of public
tgreeno wrote:You need to find the spots that other don't/won't go! It doesn't matter if it's right next to the road, or in the furthest corner. It may be thick, it may be wet or it may just be overlooked. I think overlooked spots on small pieces can be very good.
Also, mature bucks love to bed where they can monitor the access point of the property. By either sight or scent.
I couldn't agree more. One of my favorite spots to hunt sets up this way. Shot my biggest buck to date when he was bedding in this manor. I firmly believe that's why weekdays are dynamite due to low hunting pressure and getting to your stand much earlier than normal for evening hunts is super critical on public. Dont be afraid to park down the road a little ways even if there is a parking lot right in front of the spot your heading to. A door closing can be heard pretty far away by those deer. Sometimes the bucks pattern the hunters not the other way around.
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- thepennsylvanian
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Re: Small pieces of public
As others have said small public lands can hold mature deer. It just has to have what that deer needs. Thing you need to remember is that most hunters want to kill there deer in the quintessential deer woods! Meaning that small unpressured lands could hold a nice buck even if it doesn't have every single check mark that you would expect for a buck. Simply because the lack of pressure can make up for lack of travel cover or things like that!
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