new to public land. what to look for?

[deermaster1]

all my hunting has been on a tiny 5 acre parcel, and a tradgang member (THANK YOU ALWAYS89!!) told me about a piece of land near where i live that is state owned only about 40 miles alway from my house.  when checking that out, i found another area that is only about 30 miles away.  i have never really had to scout before, due to how small the 5 acres was.  but this winter after gun season, i will be having to scout the newly discovered land.  my parents will be getting me a gps for christmas, so along with using it for duck hunting, i can now use it for marking sign and stand sites.  my question is, after i find deer trails when i scout late this winter, will the deer be using them in the early season next fall?  how do i figure on where the deer will be in the early season, when i i have to go by is the active late season sign?  
one piece of land is about 400 acres, and the other is about 2500.  i have looked at both of them on google earth, and always89 gave me some points to set stands on one piece, and i have found some promising spots on the other piece.  i guess the only question is, how do i figure on where the deer will be in the early season, when all i have to go by is late season sign?

[dirtguy]

Deermaster,

You've got some fun in store.  What could be better than walking around the woods looking for sign?  I just started hunting this year and public land is all that available right now.  Though I'm still a rookie, I have learned a little.

The short answer is you can't really tell with certainity where they'll be early next season.  You'll have to scout it next summer/early fall.  The scouting I did before the season enbaled me to see deer early in the season...but their patterns have changed, so I scouted again last Sunday.  I look at this as having to build up a store of knowledge about the landscape and food sources which is fun to do.  It's hard to beat wlaking around the woods.

[John Scifres]

Find where they eat.  Find where they bed.  Find the travel routes between those areas.  Find terrain or landcover features (or maybe human access points) that will funnel or concentrate their movements.  Find a tree stand or ground blind location and then verify all this next late sumemr/early fall.  When the season opens, learn how pressured the deer are and where people might be pushing them.  

Unusual or unorthodox approaches are often necessary on pressured public land.  Areas only accessed by water or by crossing water (I have stowed waders near a river crossing before) are great.

[Apex Predator]

Buck rubs will tell you where the bucks are staging during bow season next year.  Identify bedding areas and hardwood stands.  Narrow it down in the late summer before the season opens by looking for soft mast (berries and fruit trees).

[waiting4fall]

If you want to risk it, game cameras would be a tremendous help.With that being said, i feel one of the best things you can do is scout post season. I'm exclusively a public land guy also. It can be tough, but very rewarding also.

[doeboy]

deer.lol.

[Swamp Pygmy]

Late season scouting is what is important. TRUST ME. I'm feeling it because I didn't do enough of it last year.

For early season they are eating grasses and fruits and stuff, and can be hard to pattern, but even if you do pattern them (assuming you bowhunt all year) after the first month or several frosts, whichever comes first they'll stop eating fruits and start eating masts. They'll start feeling their oats and looking for women, changing up routine.

Don't worry much right now about early season. As it gets colder and colder more vegetation dies and the deer trails, rubs, and scrapes will be easier to find. GPS mark them and after season follow them to where they go. Both bed and feeding and search for where other trails connect leading to feeding or bedding. Set up stands at these funnels. They leave bedding to feed at night, and return in the morning. Bed at night, breakfast in the morning. Remember that. (hunt deer beds for evening hunts, and look for them leaving feeding grounds in the mornings)

Worry about early season a month or so before season. They won't be eating the same stuff after a frost and they get out of bachelor groups. Good luck.

[Tom Anderson]

How do you tell where deer bed?

Actually, I'll start a new thread about this.

[JimE.IV]

Deer Sign, food sources, well worn runs and trails...All irrelevant after 3 weeks of heavy hunting pressure.  You might see that stuff and know where it all is but it is useless to you when the sign is made and the feeding areas are being hit after dark.

Typically on Public land I am familiar with, Parking and Access points are limited/restricted to certain areas.

Find out where everyone parks....Go to the opposite side.  Have someone drop you off so you access the least pressured areas and get there well before light and be prepared to spend the whole day...Don't be surprised to see more activity during the mid day when everyone is heading out for lunch or to take a mid-day napp.

Thats just my expirience.

[DeerSpotter]

On public land, you have to put in that extra effort, and think like the other guy "doesn't"

Most are lazy, the most they go in as a mile or maybe 3/4 mile, if you have a "islands" like we do here in Minnesota on some of the public land thet are called " oak islands " some have a lot oak trees on them, and if you can get yourself some chest waders.  You've got a gold mine, as most guys won't go to that extent.  There's one place where I go, and I've got the place all to myself, because you have to go through a lot a water.  The downside is, when you get one, you have to bring it back through that water.

Look for the thickest and heaviest stuff, that's where they bed, and then look for a food source.  Public land is all I've hunted, except for last year, I had private land, but out of the 30 years I've been on 98% been on public land and you can't use cameras, you can, but you take the risk of them being stolen, and what they can steal sometimes they break it or destroy it.  But the key of using the cameras would be going in deeper than other people normally would.  And like someone else said it's rewarding, but it is work.

Carl

[JimE.IV]

Originally posted by DeerSpotter:

if you have a "islands" like we do here in Minnesota on some of the public land thet are called " oak islands " some have a lot oak trees on them, and if you can get yourself some chest waders.  You've got a gold mine, as most guys won't go to that extent.  

Man, that sounds like a blast!!!

Sounds a little dangerous also???  I mean wadding in the dark?  Have you lost any animals in the water?

[DeerSpotter]

No, I use a ice house sled it is about a foot deep, and pretty nice for transporting equipment.

And I don't go to any area that I haven't been to before, the way I found out about it, three years ago I found some islands, they had a lot of oak and food for them, it was late November, I thought I was safe, so I walked across on the ice, I got almost ½ mile to the island and the ice started breaking, if that don't get your heart pumping, especially when you don't have chest waders on.  I didn't go through, I made it back to the mainland, but when I got there, there was another guy sitting on the shore, with mud clear up to his chest, he didn't make it.

From that point on I paid attention to the islands, I've been chasing one huge buck for about two years now, they're wise, and the doe's are large, but their sharp and witty.  But it sure is a lot of fun, you see some of the biggest deer, when you get busted, Bummer.  There's one place we call the "ditch" and everything is on the other side of it.  Even if you get a deer on the other side of the ditch, and it isn't on an island, it's one heck of a tough drag, because everything is so thick.  But it's still a lot of fun, well most of the time.  The best thing I like about it, the average Joe won't go there.  Most of the time you see one person all day long.

Carl

[Killdeer]

PM me the location...I wanna know if I have hunted where you will be. I am a public land hunter too.

Killdeer

[deermaster1]

thanks for all the responses.  hey killdeer, you pm box is full, couldnt send it.

[Bill Turner]

Everyone knows Killy hunts in West Va. She wouldn't be a threat to a VA hunter. Ha! Ha!
That lady works at it and she is a fairly accomplished writer to boot. I can see the headlines to next years story right now, "Hunt the Islands for the Big Bucks", complete with pictures of your favorite hunting spots. Just kidding of course. Killy has to much class to do something like that. She wouldn't print the pictures or tell the exact location. You can be sure of that.

[Killdeer]

I think there's room now...  

[GingivitisKahn]

In addition to figuring out where they eat and bed, you want to know where they escape.  When my son and I hunt during the week (lower pressure), we tend to ambush travel routes between food and beds, but on the weekends - forget that.

When lots of folks are out, you want to be where the deer go to get out of the limelight.  The good news is that hunters are easier to pattern than deer are.  :-D

[BlkDog]

I try to get away from the others hunters most of time.  I look oaks, preferablly white oaks, close to some form of cover.  Also try to identify bottlenecks, saddles, ...any type of terrain  that will funnel their movement.  These funnels are the stand sites that will produce year after year.