Pennsylvania public land challenge!

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ArkieArcher
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby ArkieArcher » Tue Oct 27, 2020 11:33 am

NorthwoodsWiscoHnter wrote:B91E1D0B-B3F7-4866-9DF3-43D242B132BE.jpeg


Man you Wisconsin guys are big ol boys or Jeff is a smaller dude lol


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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby Buckshot1822 » Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:48 pm

elk yinzer wrote:
SidewayZ wrote:I heard Dan say, "There seems to be pockets of where the deer are." Thats hunting the northeast mang!
.


If there is one sentence that can encapsulate big woods hunting, this is it, but to refine it, there are pockets of deer and there are pockets of deer where you might find the deer you are looking for.

These guys are shooting at basket racks because they know what they're up against. When you have to search through a haystack you don't have time to look for a needle. Going outside the midwest has really exposed the scope of the haystack.


Exactly. Im not far from you at all. And there is so much terrain that should be good, but isnt for one reason or another. I hiked 12 miles round trip yesterday scouting stuff that should have held a decent amount of deer, but it doesnt appear to for whatever reason. They covered it briefly in todays video, but there is literally oaks everywhere, and they are typically mixed enough that some everywhere have at least a few acorns. And there is cover everywhere, in the form of clear cuts and endless seas of mountain laurel or rhododendron. It's not necessarily that the deer density is super low, the deer are just very nomadic and travel a lot.
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1STRANGEWILDERNESS
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby 1STRANGEWILDERNESS » Wed Oct 28, 2020 1:18 am

Ahh the vast wilderness. The woods they’re in is so much different than the wilderness I roam yet it’s so much the same. You may cover miles and miles thinking there are no deer then you hit a pocket and you see a dozen or more. I don’t have to worry about endless oaks though. Endless cedar, endless spruce, endless tamarack, occasional maples mixed in. That about sums it up. Doesn’t make it any easier :lol:

One of these days when I’m done getting my but kicked in these swamps I’ll go north and see if I can’t get my but kicked in the Upper Michigan hills. It’s intriguing all that goes into hunting the big hills..
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed Oct 28, 2020 1:28 am

You cannot overcome home field advantage in a week. It's one of the reasons I admire a guy like Andy May and the hunting public guys. To be able to go into a new area and get on good animals is not easy, especially in a week. I have NO DOUBTS at all, that any of those hunters in this challenge would get it done consistently if it was their home turf. And not all areas are created equal. Some states the best habitat (for daytime hunting) is on PUBLIC land. In some states, the majority of public land is crap. Anyone that kills a buck consistently, in new, big woods areas has my attention. I think these guys do a great job on these public land shows.
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby Huntress13 » Wed Oct 28, 2020 2:22 am

I was just thinking about the differences in geographical areas and the effectiveness of calling. Zach and the THP boys tend to use calls a lot and I'm wondering if the PA guys on here have much success with calls typically in their area? In the Day 4 video Zach calls to a buck they had seen and the buck didn't come back. It seems like in the vidoes out west they seem to have more success with it. Or its just a matter of timing.
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby csoult » Wed Oct 28, 2020 2:57 am

I've never had any success calling in PA. In fact, I've only seen them go the other way.
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Thesouthpaw
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby Thesouthpaw » Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:01 am

csoult wrote:I've never had any success calling in PA. In fact, I've only seen them go the other way.

I've actually called in quite a few bucks in PA, but its almost always been during the rut with a doe bleat, after seeing the buck, I've never blind called one in. I've had very little success with a grunt tube in PA.
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby d_rek » Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:31 am

Thesouthpaw wrote:
csoult wrote:I've never had any success calling in PA. In fact, I've only seen them go the other way.

I've actually called in quite a few bucks in PA, but its almost always been during the rut with a doe bleat, after seeing the buck, I've never blind called one in. I've had very little success with a grunt tube in PA.


Been my experience here in Michigan as well. Blind calling will occasionally net you a small buck who is curious. I have used a doe grunt effectively - called in a 2.5yr old which was my first bow buck - but that was after I laid eyes on him. I have used the can effectively too, and called in several curious does and bucks with it. Buck grunts have gotten me nowhere. I can count on one hand the number of times i've even heard a buck grunt here in Michigan. Does I hear grunt to their fawns much more frequently.
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby jmickey » Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:39 am

I don’t do it as much anymore but I have killed a few bucks with a grunt tube in PA. Couple 2.5 and a few 3.5. The one 3.5 i grunted after he hit a lone apple tree in bedding after getting up. He was working his way along the inside edge of some brush and I needed A clear shot so I hit the grunt tube as a late effort and it brought him right back to me. This was on Oct 25th. I also blind grunted a 5.5 year old 140” to me but he ended up busting me because I was set up too low in a tree. It was Nov 3rd and I was set up on the edge of thick doe bedding under a dropping white oak. I actually just watched a heard of 6 or so doe hit the acorns and enter the bedding area. After losing sight of them for 5 mins I hit a series of grunts in different directions and before I could grab my bow he charged out of the doe bedding right above me and busted me in the tree while reaching for my bow. I ended up killing that 140” any way first day of rifle. This was on public land.
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby Huntress13 » Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:41 am

Thesouthpaw wrote:
csoult wrote:I've never had any success calling in PA. In fact, I've only seen them go the other way.

I've actually called in quite a few bucks in PA, but its almost always been during the rut with a doe bleat, after seeing the buck, I've never blind called one in. I've had very little success with a grunt tube in PA.


This has been my experience in NY as well. Which is what got me thinking about it watching the episode. I did call one in once using both bleats and grunts.
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Thesouthpaw
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby Thesouthpaw » Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:50 am

Huntress13 wrote:
Thesouthpaw wrote:
csoult wrote:I've never had any success calling in PA. In fact, I've only seen them go the other way.

I've actually called in quite a few bucks in PA, but its almost always been during the rut with a doe bleat, after seeing the buck, I've never blind called one in. I've had very little success with a grunt tube in PA.


This has been my experience in NY as well. Which is what got me thinking about it watching the episode. I did call one in once using both bleats and grunts.

I typically get the buck's attention with a grunt, since my can call is pretty quite. Once I have his attention, I typically don't grunt anymore.
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pa_archery_nut
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby pa_archery_nut » Wed Oct 28, 2020 5:28 am

So I'm very much a novice. I grunted in a young buck a couple nights ago - blind calling mind you. Grunting in a mature deer - from my experience seems to be a completely different animal. What I think - and again - I could be totally wrong. But if your buck/doe ration is skewed towards Doe and there are plenty of them for a mature buck to breed - I think that mature buck tend to care less about the fighting and wasting of energy and there is no need to fight. Just my thoughts.

Also - I'm a PA guy. Absolutely love the PLC and I truly enjoy the different styles and takes that are displayed by the group participating. Thank you guys!
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Kraftd
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby Kraftd » Wed Oct 28, 2020 5:49 am

THP guys do seem to use calling a lot but also very strategically and with good set-ups. Blind calling to older bucks that can get downwind of you, which they almost always will, is just alerting them. If you can set-up so the only way they can check it out is to come through in range due to downwind obstruction, it can work. Decoying can also be a key to this, and they use dekes a lot too.

Also, imo, if you see a buck that isn't coming your way already, imo there is no harm in throwing a call or two at him. I've had enough turn and come to always make the last ditch effort. That has been the case on a couple of the calling sequences in the videos too. I have plenty ignore it or even speed up, but they were generally already too far or moving away so not generally worried about it. Now if I'm in a known core area and think I can still be on the buck and he's likely to stick in that area, I may be less aggressive.
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1STRANGEWILDERNESS
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby 1STRANGEWILDERNESS » Wed Oct 28, 2020 6:11 am

I haven’t heard grunts much in my life. Usually if I did it was during a chase. Short, higher pitch, hyper type grunts I guess. I try to copy that with my mouth. I haven’t used a grunt tube most my life. Not sure if I sound better than the tube or not.. it sure does help a lot if you get some ground noise.

I’ve grunted or rattled in a handful in MI blind calling but generally doesn’t work. I’ve noticed in the bigwoods I’ve gotten several responses and as someone else mentioned. The deer gets downwind and it’s over without even laying eyes on em. Those I imagine to be something wi some age on em
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kurt
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Re: Pennsylvania public land challenge!

Unread postby kurt » Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:17 am

It looks to me that the Hunting public style of hunting. The run/stalk after them mobile even beyond mobile treestand/saddle would make calling more affective. Calling from one spot isn't that realistic and works less often doesn't matter where you are.


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