2007 Southern Indiana Bowhunt

[Curtiss Cardinal]

Still planning on attending.

[John Scifres]

I did not make it down for a scouting trip.  Between sports and scouts and church and the stormy weather, we bailed out.  I'm still going to make it down there before the hunt though.

[Curtiss Cardinal]

I am thinking about driving over sometime soon.

[NightHawk]

John,

 I'm planning on going down this weekend (saturday or sunday (after church) ) if you'd like to go call me at 317-502-2513

                        Joe

[luv2bowhunt]

Alright, you guys head down there and find me a great spot and put the name "luv2bowhunt" on the tree  :D

I can't wait for this hunt, really looking forward to meeting you guys and getting some quality hunting time in.

Kevin.

[Voodoofire1]

Guys just got word that Mr. Vic may be coming to visit the last week or so in Oct. might just bring him down, if it's ok.
 Joe don't forget your GPS!  

[John Scifres]

I'm not sure what's going on Sunday but I may be able to make it Joe.  I teach Sunday School 'til 10:15 or so. I'll call.

[b.glass]

I would love to come with my son, but I think I have to work that weekend. I sounds great!!!

[Minuteman]

Well, Joe John did ya get down there or not?
 Whats the mast crop looking like? Find any good staging areas? How far do you have to walk to get outside the camping area
/no hunting zone?
 Wife ain't too happy about me coming on account of my recent trip to Montana. I'm gonna show up anyway on friday and prolly spend the night and part of the day Saturday. Don't know bout hunting though. Depends on whether or not I got my 2 in the freezer by then or not.

[NightHawk]

Didn't get to go. John called and left a message but I got called into work and couldn't get down there

[Curtiss Cardinal]

I looked at some online topo maps of the area and this aint the beginning of the prarie. Very hilly and I saw some draws and ridges that might be funnels.

[John Scifres]

I just spent 15 minutes typing a detailed report only to  have my browser crash before I submitted it!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the skinny:

I went down on Sunday and found some nice spots to camp.  We'll have a good time for sure at least doing that.

The forest is really dry and the acorns are small.  But they are plentiful and the deer and squirrels are hitting them.  I snuck up on a couple even in the crunch!  Young stupid ones, my favorite type.  The squirrels weren't as numerous as I had hoped but they were there in some number.

I found a couple nice hollows.  The SF is some of the steepest country you'll find in Indiana.  It's tough, big woods hunting but the deer are there.

There are basically 3 sections.  Near the Knob Lake campground, most of which is unhuntable.  Along Skyline Drive which is some great, but steep stuff.  There are a couple nice trails into it that you can bail off into hollows.  And the area around Starve Hollow Lake.

Spend some time cyber scouting and you'll find some nice opportunities.

There is also the Hoosier NF south and east of Monroe Res.  It's about 30 minutes of driving to the southeast corner and that is pretty chopped up.  Get a good map and study the boundaries.  Don't plan on driving there for the first time in the dark.

I drove to the Hickory Ridge Horse Camp.  It is pretty nice and might be a good alternative for future activities.  It's not as big as the Knob Lake campground though.

There is also the Deem Wilderness south of Monroe R.  It's about an hour's drive.  I would love to do a canoe hunt along the southern side of Monroe sometime.

That's it for now.

[luv2bowhunt]

Thanks for the update!

I have been doing some Cyber Scouting... sounds like I might have to rethink my plan, I was hoping to just make a long hike right out of camp to do my hunting... how far out of camp do you have to get to hunt?

Do you know if I can call the State forest and get a map showing the boundaries and such?

Kevin.

[John Scifres]

The SF boundaries are marked on the topos on Terraserver.  I printed the Google Earth aerials and then marked the boundaries using the Terraserver topos.  

I'll email the forest manager about the Safety Zone boundaries around the campground.

[John Scifres]

I got some good info from the forest manager:

 

Mr. Scifres,
 
Typically our camp sites do not fill up during deer season.  We will have some campers due to the fall season and good weather, but not to the point of filling up.
 
Hunting is allowed outside the safety zone that is designated around the office and camping sites.  
 
Hunters may walk through the safety zone but must have their firearm discharged at all times within the safety zone.
 
The distance varies from site to site but the majority of the camp sites aren't much farther than 1/8 of a mile from the safety zone boundary.  
 
As for the timber sale near the fire tower.  That area (timber sale boundary only) will be closed to public access while they are working the job.  We anticipate that operation beginning in the next few weeks.
 
No other timber sales are scheduled for that area or around the camp grounds at this time that would impact you hunting activities this season.
 
Knob Lake, which has camp sites adjacent to and nearby will be under repair and empty by deer season.  The lake is receiving a new emergency spillway which requires the lake to be empty.  The intial phases of this project begin this week.
 
Camping will continue, but lake access will be resticted due to construction and low water levels.  
 
These are all managment actions that are temporary in nature to ensure sustained use of these public lands for future generations.
 
If you have further questions or concerns feel free to contact me at one of the numbers listed below.
 
Thanks for your interest in Jackson-Washington State Forest and choosing to recreate in Jackson County.
 
Brad Schneck, CF
Property Manager
Jackson-Washington SF & Starve Hollow RA Phone (812) 358-2160 Phone (812) 358-3464  _____________________________

From: John Scifres [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wed 9/19/2007 8:55 AM
To: Jackson SF
Subject: Hunting Near Knob Lake

Hello,

I am planning on doing a hunt down there in late October and have a couple questions.  I hope you can help me with them.

Can you tell me if hunting is allowed anywhere around the Knob Lake Campground?  I saw a safety zone sign on the way in but how far out from the camp does that extend?  

Does the campground fill up during deer firearms season?  

What is the plan for the logging in the section near the fire tower?  Will that area be closed?  What are the boundaries of the cut?  Are there other cuts in the area?  

[luv2bowhunt]

Thank for the update again! I have a few spots in mind... guess I better have more than one option!

[John Scifres]

Pretty much any time you are hunting around here on public land, you better have a couple tricks up your sleeve.  It helps to think of it as a deer drive     Pressure shouldn't really be that bad though.

[b.glass]

I just got the word from the DNR Captain in the Indy central office that this new stuff called covert orange is legal for firearms season in Indiana. I have a topic about it on pow-wow but I wanted to make sure some of the Indiana guys know about it. I ordered some yesterday for me and my kids and it should be here by Tues. or Wed. so we can use it this weekend for the youth deer season. We plan to go to Scott Co. to hunt. I don't know how they know this, but they say that deer see normal hunter's orange as bright yellow. I thought deer spooked mostly to the solidness of the orange. This covert orange looks grey to the deer. I feel that atleast a hat in this stuff will add an element of saftey especially while hunting on public land even in bow season.  

[Minuteman]

Hey fellas I wanted to bring this back up as its getting close to the time.
 I also wanted to throw out the idea of a trade blanket type deal. Since theres gonna be a buncha like minded archery type folks there I think it'd be a prime time to get rid of those items we either don't use any more or just have too much of. I plan on bringing some whitewood staves down for tradin' maybe some other odds and ends. I dunno what all's floating around that might end up in the truck.
  Just thought I'd see if anybody else might be interested. Might bring more folks down if they thought there was a good deal to be had.
 Chris

[catfishon]

guys there are some good hunting spots just north of freetown . "public hunting"  be glad to show a few some spots. i may even take someone on my land for a day or two