Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

This forum section is for the select few who believe in hard work and refuse to “Buy” success.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


Josh_S
500 Club
Posts: 861
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2015 6:30 am
Location: western PA
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby Josh_S » Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:39 pm

Boogieman1 wrote:I primarily hunt small parcels but I am curious what constitutes as being BIG WOODS? I mean is there a certain amount of acerage that is required, where it no longer is just woods but it's now big woods? Or is it certain terrain or lack there of that makes a feller have himself some big woods?

I hunted thousands of acres of continuous thick mesquite brush as a kid. We called it brush country, is this pretty much the same thing as what is referred to as big woods? I keep reading about these big woods and realized I don't have the slightest clue what a big woods exactly is. Someone educate me por favor.....


I asked the same question a couple years ago viewtopic.php?f=4&t=39475


User avatar
Boogieman1
500 Club
Posts: 6590
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:18 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:47 pm

Josh_S wrote:
Boogieman1 wrote:I primarily hunt small parcels but I am curious what constitutes as being BIG WOODS? I mean is there a certain amount of acerage that is required, where it no longer is just woods but it's now big woods? Or is it certain terrain or lack there of that makes a feller have himself some big woods?

I hunted thousands of acres of continuous thick mesquite brush as a kid. We called it brush country, is this pretty much the same thing as what is referred to as big woods? I keep reading about these big woods and realized I don't have the slightest clue what a big woods exactly is. Someone educate me por favor.....


I asked the same question a couple years ago viewtopic.php?f=4&t=39475

Thanks! I'm like the guy from Iowa, anything over 60 acres is some wilderness big woods lol
Life is hard; It’s even harder if you are stupid.
-John Wayne-
User avatar
brancher147
500 Club
Posts: 1414
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:46 am
Location: West Virginia
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby brancher147 » Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:34 am

Boogieman1 wrote:I primarily hunt small parcels but I am curious what constitutes as being BIG WOODS?


I have been kicking this question around recently...I read the old thread, and agree that big woods is relative to it's surroundings. For me hunting in WV or VA national forest, big woods public is unbroken timber where you are hunting deer that have never seen a crop field and survive exclusively on naturally occurring food sources. And there is usually no cell service. But some big woods private I hunt, deer will spend the summer in crop fields, so it is definitely relative to surroundings.
Some do. Some don't. I just might...
User avatar
Dewey
Moderator
Posts: 36727
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:57 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby Dewey » Sun Jul 22, 2018 3:42 am

Josh_S wrote:
Boogieman1 wrote:I primarily hunt small parcels but I am curious what constitutes as being BIG WOODS? I mean is there a certain amount of acerage that is required, where it no longer is just woods but it's now big woods? Or is it certain terrain or lack there of that makes a feller have himself some big woods?

I hunted thousands of acres of continuous thick mesquite brush as a kid. We called it brush country, is this pretty much the same thing as what is referred to as big woods? I keep reading about these big woods and realized I don't have the slightest clue what a big woods exactly is. Someone educate me por favor.....


I asked the same question a couple years ago viewtopic.php?f=4&t=39475

That thread pretty much explains what bigwoods is. Thought I remembered a thread about this.

The map Hawthorne provided is right on. I have been in most of those areas that are dark green and they are no doubt what I consider true bigwoods.

Image
User avatar
magicman54494
500 Club
Posts: 4188
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:05 pm
Location: central and northern WI
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby magicman54494 » Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:24 am

big woods is anything that is larger than small woods.
I thought everyone knew that. :roll: :roll:
User avatar
Boogieman1
500 Club
Posts: 6590
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:18 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Sun Jul 22, 2018 9:32 am

Thanks for the clarification! Was just curious cause my state is broke down in regions one being Cross Timbers and Piney Woods. Didn't no if Big Woods was a actual region up there or just some actual big wooded properties.
Life is hard; It’s even harder if you are stupid.
-John Wayne-
User avatar
headgear
500 Club
Posts: 11625
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:21 am
Location: Northern Minnesota
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby headgear » Sun Jul 22, 2018 11:02 am

True bigwoods is endless, its just woods for miles and it doesn't matter, there are certainly roads and trails but nothing but woods for more miles than you could ever walk in a day. With that said there is nothing wrong with people calling a nice size chunk of woods bigwoods because that might be the biggest chunk of woods around. It all depends on what you know.
User avatar
magicman54494
500 Club
Posts: 4188
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:05 pm
Location: central and northern WI
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby magicman54494 » Sun Jul 22, 2018 11:08 am

Boogieman1 wrote:Thanks for the clarification! Was just curious cause my state is broke down in regions one being Cross Timbers and Piney Woods. Didn't no if Big Woods was a actual region up there or just some actual big wooded properties.


You are welcome. I was kinda teasing but also kinda serious. "big woods" is a very loosely used term. I think true big woods is like the boundry waters area in Minn where there are no trails or roads for more miles then you could walk in a day. The areas I hunt in WI an d the U. P. are pretty much solid woods but it is pretty broken up by roads at least every 3 miles and trails in between them. It is hard to find a place where you are ever more than a mile from some form of road or trail.
User avatar
creepingdeth
500 Club
Posts: 951
Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2016 2:09 pm
Facebook: Huh?
Location: So. metro Mn
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby creepingdeth » Sun Jul 22, 2018 11:35 am

In MN...I like low and wet. When the deer seem to vanish about the 2nd wk. during rifle, they tend to hide in the swamps, especially the ones I'd like to shoot. Have yet to bowhunt north...yet :mrgreen: .
Yesterdays common sense is no longer common
crossfitcarpenter
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:41 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby crossfitcarpenter » Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:49 am

Autumn Ninja wrote:I guess you could call me a southern hunter, I can be in MO, IL, IN, KY or TN in about an hour and a half from my house. Can be in OH in 4 hours. I hunt all types of terrain like hills, farms, swamps, river bottoms, old strip mine land...Though I have access to 1000's of private acres, I only hunt public land.

Why not hunt the private as well?
User avatar
Tim H
500 Club
Posts: 2811
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2017 3:37 am
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090396597022
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby Tim H » Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:00 am

magicman54494 wrote:big woods is anything that is larger than small woods.
I thought everyone knew that. :roll: :roll:


Oh deer. :think:
User avatar
rfickes87
500 Club
Posts: 1076
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 4:27 am
Location: PENNSYLVANIA
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby rfickes87 » Wed Jul 25, 2018 4:10 am

Dewey wrote:
Josh_S wrote:
Boogieman1 wrote:I primarily hunt small parcels but I am curious what constitutes as being BIG WOODS? I mean is there a certain amount of acerage that is required, where it no longer is just woods but it's now big woods? Or is it certain terrain or lack there of that makes a feller have himself some big woods?

I hunted thousands of acres of continuous thick mesquite brush as a kid. We called it brush country, is this pretty much the same thing as what is referred to as big woods? I keep reading about these big woods and realized I don't have the slightest clue what a big woods exactly is. Someone educate me por favor.....


I asked the same question a couple years ago http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopi ... =4&t=39475

That thread pretty much explains what bigwoods is. Thought I remembered a thread about this.

The map Hawthorne provided is right on. I have been in most of those areas that are dark green and they are no doubt what I consider true bigwoods.

Image


Wow! I like that map! I've hunted all around PA and I can say for sure that map is dead on!

Getting back to the initial question of this thread, Dewey I read the intro and You and Slayer and Dan all like swamps. Here in PA we won't have them hardly. But what we do have out in the big hilly woods is old clear cuts/thickets that have been cut and then allowed to mature into thick nasty stuff that you need to get down and crawl and twist/turn/swim thru. Stuff that makes you want to cuss and swear, lol. These areas stick out like a sore thumb too on aerials, you'd think since they're a deer magnet that they would also be a hunter magnet but they're not. Guys would rather sit on a hillside where they can see as far as they can in open woods. I sit in areas where I can only see 20 yards.
"Pressure and Time. That's all it takes, really. Pressure, and time..."
User avatar
elk yinzer
500 Club
Posts: 1229
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2017 5:39 am
Location: Central PA
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby elk yinzer » Wed Jul 25, 2018 4:17 am

rfickes87 wrote:
Getting back to the initial question of this thread, Dewey I read the intro and You and Slayer and Dan all like swamps. Here in PA we won't have them hardly. But what we do have out in the big hilly woods is old clear cuts/thickets that have been cut and then allowed to mature into thick nasty stuff that you need to get down and crawl and twist/turn/swim thru. Stuff that makes you want to cuss and swear, lol. These areas stick out like a sore thumb too on aerials, you'd think since they're a deer magnet that they would also be a hunter magnet but they're not. Guys would rather sit on a hillside where they can see as far as they can in open woods. I sit in areas where I can only see 20 yards.


Nailed it. Better advice has never been given for PA hunting.
Treasurer, United Bowhunters of PA
https://ubofpa.org/membership-3
Josh_S
500 Club
Posts: 861
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2015 6:30 am
Location: western PA
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby Josh_S » Wed Jul 25, 2018 5:12 am

elk yinzer wrote:
rfickes87 wrote:
Getting back to the initial question of this thread, Dewey I read the intro and You and Slayer and Dan all like swamps. Here in PA we won't have them hardly. But what we do have out in the big hilly woods is old clear cuts/thickets that have been cut and then allowed to mature into thick nasty stuff that you need to get down and crawl and twist/turn/swim thru. Stuff that makes you want to cuss and swear, lol. These areas stick out like a sore thumb too on aerials, you'd think since they're a deer magnet that they would also be a hunter magnet but they're not. Guys would rather sit on a hillside where they can see as far as they can in open woods. I sit in areas where I can only see 20 yards.


Nailed it. Better advice has never been given for PA hunting.


Exactly why my 3 pin sight is now a 2 pin sight. Wish I had a dollar for every time a green briar limb pulled my hat off. It's just another advantage of going mobile...nobody is going to drag a permanent stand through that stuff, so you're probably putting in the first sit of the season.

I think a lot of PA rifle turned archery hunters in hill country set up permanent stands in wide open hardwoods where they have seen bucks travel through on deer drives...probably not gonna work for a natural pattern in daylight
chase
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 4:25 am
Status: Offline

Re: Big Woods Public - Your favorite areas

Unread postby chase » Sat Aug 25, 2018 1:27 am

I can only speak for the area I hunt. Although most of my hunting is in SW Bluff country of Wisconsin, I do enjoy my MI tag in the vast expanse of the western UP. Here I am looking for "big body size" deer. Its constant scouting in motion, since the area has wolves, and the deer movement is affected by the wolf movement,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I always hunt drainage systems, in this country,,,,, the feeder creeks are the key, a overall look from the top, will show this area, with all of these creeks like arteries, and the bucks follow this type of country.

I look at the Ottawa National Forest, and 70 percent of it, is void of deer, that is due to mgt, and the food source. lots of food choices by the creeks and spring seepages......................

last week brook trout fishing in all that humidity, I found a honey hole, that I had to explore. cattle trails, of deer prints, and rubs off the charts, but again, its like a needle in a haystack, since looking from the outside, you would never have found it. again, water is the key, in my humble opinion.

I also agree with publiclandhunters post...............


  • Advertisement

Return to “Public Land Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests