LKNCHOPPERS

I will be bowhunting Southern Ohio next year.I am planning on going on a few scouting expeditions soon. I would appreciate any advice or experiences you have had there. I will be going DIY, checking out some of the public land. People that have hunted the public land, how crowded is it?

DMiller6868

lknchoppers, I go to school in South Eastern Ohio, Athens to be exact. You have picked a great place for a DIY hunt. Wayne National Forest is HUGE and offers I think something crazy like over 200,000 acres to hunt on, guess being crowded shouldn't bea problem.I would try to talk to some rangers and staff before you go out, and get yourself a good topo. I would talk to as many people as you can before you just head off into the woods to scout. I guess it could work, but 200,000 acres is quite a bit of land to scout. I personally have never deer hunted their, only turkey. But its spread over like 3 counties. I enter from Athens County off route 33. Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you. Good Luck.

LINK_84

I live on the West Central edge but have been East and South many times. There are huge tracts of national forest you can hunt in Southern Ohio and you can also check out the Mead Paper land that is open to public hunting. There are a few Adam County properties we hunt once or twice a year that are really good for deer and is next to thousands of Mead acres. Both places don't recieve much bowhunting pressure, especially when you get off the beaten path.

excalibur43

Just curious why you have chosen Southern Ohio? Two of the best counties in the state to harvest record bucks( Coshocton/Muskingum) both offer public land to hunt. In Coshocton you have Woodbury Wildlife Area ( almost 17,000 acres), and in Muskingum you have Dillon Wildlife Area ( 5000 acres). I prefer Woodbury, simply because of the lack of hunting pressure during archery season. Team Realtree filmed a hunt at Woodbury, where they rattled in a huge B & C buck, but couldn't get a shot. You can get maps to all Ohio hunting areas by logging on to www.dnr.state.oh.us. Good luck wherever you choose to hunt!

Frank in the Laurels

The above areas you've listed are all now overcrowded..I've hunted them for the last 20 years and they were great but over the last 3, they've become a circus for the most part....I think NR's are going to see some restrictions in OHIO shortly..it seems to me that all the public places are now being overrun for the most part..it's not what it was before and for the most part forget about accessing private land, the outfitters, leasers and greed have taken care of that.

Prozacaddict

I agree with Frank, during gun season those places look like pumpkin patches with all the orange scattered throughout. It is vey dangerous as well. I would try to knock on doors and get some private land to hunt. You would be suprised what you might come up with.

trekker1

Team Realtree hunts Public Land? That's some funny stuff right there.

excalibur43

I agree that those public lands are over run during deer gun season, as are all public lands in Ohio, espescially Wayne National.Tried hunting there once, won't do that again!I have hunted Woodbury for over 15 years now during archery season and see very limited hunting pressure, and lots of deer. I shot a 143 net 10 point there 3 years ago.I would not hunt any public land during the gun season though. Yes, Team Realtree tried the public land thing here in Ohio at Woodbury Wildlife Area. As I said, They called in a very nice buck, but being a very wary public land buck, he winded David Blanton, and tore out of there like a shot! Not quite as easy as the private ranch hunting. I also agree that you may as well forget the private land permission thing in those counties. It has been all leased up by outfitters selling hunts.

LKNCHOPPERS

Excal, I am not locked into any particular area. The highest producing countiesI figured would be more crowded. I don't like crowds, I may have to check into a lease.

excalibur43

I agree with you there. As I have said, I hunt Woodbury during archery season only, and have seen few hunters or hunting pressure during this time.Good luck on your lease though. Just about all private land in the high buck producing areas is already leased by big outfitters.Egypt Valley is also a place that is not as well known as most others and offers about 16,000 acres to hunt in Eastern Ohio. Most of Ohio's public land is a good place to hunt after the first couple of weeks of archery season. The big rush to get out there dies down, and if you hunt the week days, you see minimal pressure.
Good luck !