Public land Hunting

[LinemanARK]

What do you do with so much ground. I mean were do you start. I like all the being by my self and not that many people hunt were I'm hunting until Duck season. Its about 1000 acre spot with water on 3 sides and a gravel road in the front. My problem with this is how do I find the trails (its really dry here) and its so early the deer really arnt rubbing or doing any kind of scraps. So were do I start I just put up a stand on what I thought was a trail because season starts this saterday. I always deer hunter but always relied on my dad for help and when he was telling me how to do things I wasn't paying attenchen. I set my loc on stand up high in a tree so I could see along ways so I could move the stand if I seen a better place they were coming though. Any help would be great. Also the wma I hunt is 27000 acres spread out all over    Mike

[darin putman]

They have plenty to drink with water on three sides, what about food down south it might be persimmons, muscadimes or white oak acorns if falling, don't know much about arizona but prime food source is a good place to start,Best of Luck, send pics of your success!!!!!

[Shortlongbow]

Figure out what they are eating and find fresh sign around the food source. Some time spent walking till you find the food and sign will be time well spent.

[njloco]

Why don't you start by trying to think, What would Dad have done, don't worry he's probably out there with you, laughing about you not listening when he spoke. Do some scouting every time you go in and out to your stand. Always hunt the wind ( incase your not listening, make sure it's in your face ). Try hunting from the ground ( spot and stalk ) use binoculars and walk very slow, That's VERY SLOW ! If you find a better ambush spot, move your stand and don't forget, play the wind.

Good luck.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

spend as much time as you can out there. sooner or later you will find good spots.  Look for food sources.  It may take a year or two to figure out the property but sounds like it will be wort it.

[LinemanARK]

Good ideas Guys but just to make it clear I live and hunt in Arkansas I hunt in the river bottoms. I just so happen to put my stand up very close to a persimmion tree I found it on the way out from hanging the stand. I put my stand on a ridge running along the slue. The acorns are falling already so I think we are gonna have a good crop. I bought a gps but its so think in cover it has a hard time tracking stalites.I will post up any pics if I get a kill of any kind lol   thanks Mike

[m midd]

Black river or Rainy Brake?

[LinemanARK]

Black River Nice to here from ya Mike hows it been.

[AMB]

Remember that whitetails are creatures of the 'edge', I like to hunt riverbottoms here in Alabama, and some of my best stands are along the edge of a slough.  You need to upgrade your gps cause cover shouldn't hinder satellite reception, it used to, but not anymore.  Good luck to you!

[m midd]

Going good. How about you?
Ive never deer hunted black river.. But i bet it is just like the bottoms I hunt.  I hunt mainly funnels and white oak ridges.. I hope you have plenty of thermocell  cartriges. Good luck on sticking one.. Im headed south thursday night for a 3 day hog hunt

[NBK]

Nothing beats boots on the ground scouting, but here's my method for narrowing down the terrain.  Get a topo and a recent satellite photo of the area.  Take a red marker and trace all the roads, walking trails etc. that denote human traffic.  Look at the topo and find ridges, saddles and other funnels.  Now check those areas against the satellite photo and look for "dark" areas which typically means trees as opposed to grass/marsh.  You want to see a nice thin line of dark between the light areas that coincides with elevation change.  Mark these areas green on your map.  Now look at these green areas and see if there are any obstacles between them and the red lines of roads that would prevent the average fella from getting to them.  You want to hone in on the green zones that are either 1) deep in from the red lines, or 2) blocked by an obstacle (like a creek, open marsh, etc.)  On public land I find better buck movement during daylight hours in these areas that are "blocked" from typical access, preferring two obstacles.  Brothers and I played football so we call it "Cover two!"
Next put boots on the ground looking for rub lines, scrapes or even last years sign.  Pick a tree and mark a trail out opposite of prevailing winds, (I like firetacks to get back in deep quickly without getting turned around).

I don't claim to be an expert and I'm no Wensel, but I've mostly hunted public land and done alright by using this as a general guideline.  Good luck.

[akaboomer]

I look for many of the areas that have been mentioned but don't overlook the obvious. I have not hunted that WMA but have logged hundreds of hours in Wattensaw and I can tell you most guys go as far in as possible before really looking for a good spot. Some of my best bucks from there have been within 500yards of the road and after several hunters walked farther in.  In Wattensaw when you find a good looking spot way back many of the best trees to hang a stand in show sign of being hunted before, marks from climbers or bow hooks left screwed into the tree.

Finding a good vantage point to hang an observation stand is a good bet also. I do that often to narrow down my choices.
It took me about three years of hard hunting to get to where I could consistently get close to deer. Time on the property is key.

Chris

[TSHOOTER]

Use a john boat if you can.  I hunt public land with lakes and sloughs and I can access some out or the way places easily with a 12 boat and trolling motor.  Can cover a lot of area scouting too. Best part is you can come in from downwind and hunt the edge of a lake or slough and never scent up the area.  Makes getting the deer out a breeze as well.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Go on Google maps or Bing maps and take a look at your area you plan to hunt from the air. Look for pinch points near food and water and use the Topo features so you can look for benches and saddles.

The deer are feeding heavy under the White Oaks right now around here.

Tracy

[DarkTimber]

I hunt the White River in Eastern AR which is about 160,000 acres with very similar topography as the Black River (open river bottom timber with very little elevation change)so I can definately relate to the "where do I start" feeling.  While I'm certainly no expert I have had good sucess by hunting edges and pinch points.  Most of the time these are created by either sloughs or ditches.  You can easily locate these on Google Earth as NBK described above. Once I find them on Google Earth I dump the coordinates into my GPS and hit as many as I can to determine which ones are worth hunting. Slough edges are by far my favorite as the low vegetation of the slough allows plenty of sun light to reach the edges which causes the vegetation around them to be exremely thick.  Does seem to flock to these edges, and where there's does.....

Another thing to consider is using a boat to access your spots if that's an option.  I hunt almost exclusively from a boat and it really helps get you away from the crowds.  Good Luck!

[Bill Turner]

No easy way to scout new property. Look for travel routes connecting food and water to prime bidding areas. Well used travel routes with dropping and prints are essential. Put on your boots and spend time on the property, preferably after the hunting season(Jan.thru March)when vegatation has died down. Time and patiance is the key. Good luck. Make your dad proud.If it was easy everyone would be doing it.Enjoy the experience.

[cuboodle]

Find the funnel(s) hunt the wind..

[LinemanARK]

All good stuff here. This year will probably be my look around year maybe kill a doe or something. I'll keep at and let ya know if I find any thing I also have a camera out so we'll see.  Mike

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Think like a deer...

[waiting4fall]

I would start by scouting online. Since you have so much land available, I would focus on one area at a time. Terrain features, food sources, parking areas, human access into/out of the areas. If you need any additional help, you know where you can find me.