Advice on Hunting Public Land

[BinVT]

I see you hunted Shenago.I hunt the northern part of the state and have also hunted there.There are some other good public lands not very far from there.Grand River is a huge chunk of land 13000 acres.We've spent a good deal of time there the last few years.Managed to get a good 8 scoring in the 120's.Saw a good share of bucks,and even saw a couple of real butes.Mosquito creek is another area in NE Ohio that has a little over 1000 acres of public hunting land.But the whole area is much bigger,you can only hunt a certain area.We stay at a State Campground and travel to the hunting areas.We always go around the last week of Oct.,and during the week,pretty much have the public areas to ourselves.If you don't mind walking a little.you can get into some decent areas that hold deer.Weekends and Fridays the hunter traffic picks up quite a bit.And Grand River releases a lot of pheasants around the first week of Nov.,so it gets busy along the roads there the first few days.If you want any more info,drop me a pm.Good luck

[mrbb]

well I am from PA and have been hunting ohio for about 14 yrs now

I have hunted both private and public lands
and there are great lands all over SE ohio, you have to go and spend some time scouting to get into better areA'S

Nthing beats going there and learning the better areas, as every thing can change from season to season, just taking advice from hunters in a hotel your staying at isn't good way to find better spots

if you hunted a area where you seen lots of doe, you are in a good area, as where there are doe there are for sure bucks
I would start looking more at the area you already know some what, and pick it apart for better set up spots, you KNOW there are deer there

the Wayne is a great place, but its BIG and in many areas in SE ohio, and it gets a lot of coverage in magazines, but still lots of room if you try to find it, its a mix of bigger woods and crop lands, and steep and flat too!

I would suggest if you plan to hunt it to stop at the head quarters and get good maps, and even to ask local rangers for advice on where to try, they work there every day so can telel you where recent logging has happened, and maybe even where there seeing bigger bucks
AND for sure what areas get the most pressure as well as crop damage deer problems

at $400 bucks a day you got taken I think, that is what a full blow guided hunt should run or heck, seen many for a lot less!

Ohio has lots of big bucks, but they are not easy, you still have to do your part
no single area is a sure deal
also, hunting in the early season always has less perssure, most guys hunt the rut, so when hunting public lands, I suggest maybe you go early in the season rather than wait till the rut or gun season!
this yr, I would also be hunting water

good luck

what part of PA are you from??

[teej89]

Great guys thanks for all your posts, I think we are narrowing it down to dillon and Wayne just south west of zanesville near blue rock, also going to stop in blue rock too. We're gonna make a 4 day scout trip in two weeks in those areas, hopefully finding some spots with potential.

Mrbb I will definitely talk to the rangers there thanks for the pointer on that. Also I'm from Hollidaysburg just 45 minutes west of Penn State.