Tactics For Hunting Public Land

by Bill Winke • July 29, 2011 • 3 comments

Hunting public land can be a challenge for any bowhunter. Number one, you need to find areas that are not being pressured heavily. If you can’t, you will not be able to hunt natural movement patterns.

Look for the most remote and inaccessible areas. Most people are not willing to work hard enough to get to such areas. Examples are spots that require a boat to access or require a long walk or a climb up a steep bluff. I know there are some public areas in many states that fall into these categories.  Once you find such areas, you should be able to use typical hunting strategies that you read about on this website.

If you can’t find low pressure spots, you have no choice but to pattern the other hunters and rely on forced movement from the deer. Figure out where the other hunters enter the cover, how deep they hunt and then get in ahead of them.

Enter by a different route so you don’t alert the deer.  Plan to hunt escape routes, funnels between where the hunters are coming from and the nearest sanctuary, possibly nearby private land.  Simply put, you just set up where the deer are most likely to exit and let the other hunters drive them to you.

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3 Responses

  1. Dave Baldwin

    Thanks Bill for taking us "regular Joes" public land concerns to heart. I'll add another element to hunting public ground. I live 25 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA but I work in the city and I have a number of small patches of standing timber that I scout and hunt between my office and my home. I do have a few stand sets in a few of those, one being about 100 acres on the backside of an industrial/warehouse park near the Ohio River. I slip in (actually park my truck in the far end of a comany's parking lot) after work, change into my camo and hit the trail head about 4:30 pm and I don't start out til well after dark. I have killed numerous bucks back in there including one of the biggest I have ever put on the ground…167" total- 25" inside spread- 13 point with a 5" drop tine right by his left eye. And thankfully, there aren't many guys that even know that place exists…that I know of. And I don't ever talk specifics with any of my hunting co-workers or friends!

    On July 29, 2011 at 5:37 pm • Reply
  2. Doug D.

    I'm like Dave, When hunting Public Land setting up in unlikely spots most people would'nt hunt will bring you deer. I've hunted 2 spots 65yrds off a main road on state land and killed at least 2 deer a year bowhunting. Seems like everybody drives right by because it's not deep enough in the woods. Also look for smaller state owned land that can be bowhunted but not firearms. You might be surprised what you find. Mo. has a ton of state land you can hunt.

    On September 8, 2011 at 4:54 am • Reply
  3. gary

    Hello' I will be hunting public land in Illinois the week Nov.22 It is hilly, it is a limited draw hunt, this is the week after Ii. 1st gun season. Any thoughts, I have heard talk about north-south or east-west ridges. Any input would be very helpfull.

    On October 26, 2011 at 9:01 pm • Reply