How big is big?
 

Big woods that is. I hear guys talking about hunting big woods and have always been curious as to what everyone's definition of "Big Woods" is.

Up here we measure it in square miles, as the nearest farm field is about 60 miles from here as the crow flies.

So,when does it go from woodlot hunting to big woods hunting?

Like I said, this is always something I have been curious about.

RE: How big is big?
 

When I think of "Big Woods".....I think in sections. Acres apply, too.....but if it isn't in multiples of 640 (MULTIPLES)......I don't consider it "Big Woods".

Completely foreign to me, though.

RE: How big is big?
 

'Big Woods' meansthe animal (deer) movement is not dictated by the available cover. In other words, any woodlot large enough to permit deer to bed/feed/breed without influence or confinement by open field areas - which become very dangerous for them once muzzleloader/rifle season begins. This makes the hunting more challenging because funnels are non-existent or at least more difficult to discern in Big Woods. Not necessarily related to the distance from houses or civilization.

RE: How big is big?
 

Were I live 20,000 acres or moreunbroken, I consider big woods.

RE: How big is big?
 

If you can walk in a straight line formore than 2 hours without running into ANY man-made stuff, then you might be in big woods. There aren't any big woods around here.

RE: How big is big?
 

To me ‘big woods’ is our central mountain region. Continuous forests for miles on end. Some places you get the occasional broken up area near towns, but otherwise its just all woods for the vast majority of area. I like roaming these types of areas, but they aren’t the easiest for me to hunt. Too much space compared to what I am used to.

RE: How big is big?
 

200,000 acres plus

There are national forest in MI over 500,000 acres and some in UP close to a million;)

RE: How big is big?
 

A guy in WI did a GIS study on woods and roads. He found that no matter where you go in WI you are no farther than 3 miles from a road. So I guess where he found that spot is where I would consider it to be "Big Woods" Just remember to bring a compass and know how to use it!

RE: How big is big?
 

Yup. Lots of big areas in the U.P. Someone put it well though, when they said that there are no man-made barriers affecting movement, such as fences or roads. IL is woodlot hunting, U.P. is big woods hunting.

RE: How big is big?
 

It is hard to put a number on, I would say it has to be many thousands of uninhabited acres. Pretty much most of northern maine, mostly all paper company land. You may find your way out of the woods onto a logging road, but who knows where the logging road ends up.

RE: How big is big?
 

We have 11 millon acres of it here in Idaho.. ALL BLM

RE: How big is big?
 

For me big woods hunting is when I go to the Adirondack mountains in NY ....you can walk public land for days...

RE: How big is big?
 

I consider big woods, well your place in Canada Dan.:D Im not aware of any big woods remotely close to me, All fields/woodlots.

RE: How big is big?
 

With true Big Woods, I think forests up north. Areas where a large chunk of timber means several miles in each direction. Around here in Kansas, we don't have true big woods. But if it's a 1/2mile of timber or more, it seems to get that name associated with it.;)

RE: How big is big?
 

I hunt backed up to a nationl forest that is over 1 million acres. The land that I hunt is unbroken for at least 10,000 acres. It's the kind of place you could get turned around and lost for a few days.

RE: How big is big?
 

I agree, the Shawnee National Forest where my families land is consists of approx. 265,000 + acres. I would consider that the very minimal of what would be considered "big woods".

RE: How big is big?
 

Any woods large enough that a deer could live his whole life in, and not venture outside of it.

RE: How big is big?
 

I've hunted big woods in MB for yrs. BIG is 100's of sq kilometers of it. when you stop measuring in acres and measuring in miles/kilometers then you have BIG woods.

RE: How big is big?
 

The places I hunt do not have any crop fields. When I posted earlier I said the area I hunted was "big woods" because there is nothing really to draw the deer into a pattern due to everything being so equal in terms of food availability. I truly believe if you walk a mile into the woods and hunt deer that live and roam for tens of thousands of acres, that you are hunting big woods. Maybe I am wrong, and guess one has to be Daniele Boone and hunting out in the middle of the artic circle to be considered hunting the "big boy woods".

RE: How big is big?
 

I consider big woods to be areas of woodsthat are very openan do not have any landmarks or fields for a considerable distance.

RE: How big is big?
 

no big woods around here. buddy has 200 acres bordering TR range in maine though (owns bald mtn next to mt chase). you climb the mountain and look north, west, and southwest, and there is nothing for many, many miles. thats big woods.

RE: How big is big?
 

Big woods aroun here is probably about 1000 acres, really not that big. When i was bear hunting in norther canada...the have HUGE woods. Out fitter we were with has 121 square miles, which is big enough for me to get lost in about ten minutes.

RE: How big is big?
 

I have 220 square miles....and that's not a big BMA up here.

Good answers everyone. Interesting to see what others perceptions are on this subject.

RE: How big is big?
 

Thats almost 150k acres....HOLY ****! Totally foreign to me...600 acres here is seriously a huge chunk of land. Most of the time we are dealing with 50-250 acre chunks.

RE: How big is big?
 

Trevor....thats only for bear hunting. Deer is wide open public.

RE: How big is big?
 

When we talk abotu Big Woods in Wi, it usually means up north woods, nothign aroudn but forest, or it could be the jackson. clark county forest, thousands and thousands of big woods.

RE: How big is big?
 

Well sorry to offend you, thats pretty much big enough for me to call it big woods.:eek:

RE: How big is big?
 

LOL, I didn't mean it like that AL! Sorry if you took it that way. 121 square miles is a big area! What I was trying to get at was that I have 220, which I could get turned around in very easily, while some outfitters up here have 1000sq miles. So, I was refering to the fact that I have a small BMA, which is still a lrge chunk of ground!

Can we hug now? [8D]

RE: How big is big?
 

Hugging leads to spooning, how about a hand shake?;)

RE: How big is big?
 

Here are some pix of the public grounds i hunt.. BIG BIG WOODS and country, miles of it as far as the eye can see..
Mike, J and myself kneeling.. glassing for bulls Rybo taking the pix

buddy mike from iowa

RE: How big is big?
 

greg miller defines big woods as 300 acres. so, to me, that's the official definition :)