fastetti

Found out this week that I can't hunt the property that I was on last year in S. Illinois for deer this year. Since I don't have much time to look for new ground I was wondering if anyone has gun hunted devils lake state park in Baraboo, Wisconsin. My uncle has a place that backs up to there and he sees deer all the time when he is there skiing. I know they have had problems with CDW there but since I have a place to stay there, the only expense would be the $160 for the out of state permits. If anybody has hunted this place or knows anyone who has please let me know. Ive done a lot of reseach on the place but they don't have any numbers on deer harvested on anything along that lines. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Not looking for anything big, just a doe or two for me and my buddy and any antlers would be a bonus. Thanks guy and Happy hunting.

Brian

RT1

hey jump all over that opportunity.
I spent a week in wisconsin dell last year (family vacation) and we saw a ton of deer. Great Land, rolling hills, hardwoods mixed with ag fields, whitetail heaven.

Just like michigan, there were deer all over the place, just walking around everywhere on golf courses etc. We were there in august 08, I also saw 3 bucks with good sized rack, probably 2-2.5 year olds atleast.

Get the latest outdoor life, wisconsin is ranked #1 for the state that has harvested the most P&y bucks. There a whole article on the country, with shaded counties for each state and numbers indicating the shaded county's harvest ability over the years.

Baraboo is really close to wisconsin dells. Baraboo is very scenic also

fastetti

RTI, thanks for the input. I haven't been up to Baraboo in a few years but my uncles goes every few weekends and says he still sees a lot of deer but Ive been hearing hunters saying that the deer are no where to be found in Central WI. I don't want to make it up there are be 50 feet from another hunter after paying $160 for a permit and $35 for the parking pass. Hopefully I can find someone on here that has hunted there or around Baraboo. Ive been up there a bunch walleye fishing and skiiing but never hunting.

I also hunt Michigan as well RTI. I hunt about an hour south of Alpena. I usually get at least a doe every year but a buck is always tough to come by, especially when you can only make it there 3 days for the gun season. Ive only got a 5 pt in my 10 or so years hunting MI. Hopefully this year this will be my year to get a nice 8 ptr!

If anybody else knows anything about hunting Baraboo or Devils Lake SP please let me know! Any info would be helpful. Thanks!

william75

last time i was at devils lake I had a doe and her twins walked through my campsite in the late afternoon! good luck

lifesadrag

I'll be there this W.E. don't usually see too many numbers there but I know there was a B&C buck found dead there that was in a magazine several years back. It was supposedly mounted and put in the nature ctr. but I never saw it there. The naturalist did however confirm the story. Turkeys....now that's another story!!!!

cayugad

I have family that lives real close to the park, and Baraboo. They used to see 20 deer a night when they drove 113 around the park. And when they would take south shore road through the park, you alway had to drive real slow. Now they see hardly any to none. Besides the CWD, the DNR allowed the slaughter of the herd in that area, and there is a lot of hunting pressure around the park. Although if you can find some private land you might not see as much blaze orange in the area.

fastetti

Thanks guys for the input. Those were the answers I was afraid I was going to hear. It just stinks that 10 years ago I would see deer everywhere around there and now it seems like there are none. I mean, I couldn't walk out of his condo at night without seeing them running through the parking lot right next to Devils lake SP (More like Parfreys glen for those farmilar) Wasn't looking for muchup there, just maybe to see a few deer and hopefully harvest one. With free lodging it looked like it might be nice. If anyone has any opinions or ideas for that area please feel free to let me know. I was thinking that maybe if I got back into the woods a 1/2 mile of so it might be different, but if there are still no deer up there, it may not be worth it. As you can see, Im getting desperate this year and just looking to hunt!

RT1

i say try it. Last summer at wisconsin dells we saw alot of deer, just like in lower michigan. They were enough deer seen that week for me to convince myself that wisconsin can't be that bad.
But, if you can hunt a decent track in Illinois, then stay put and hunt hard there.

Handles

I live/work/hunt in the area. There are deer in the park, but you must realize that not the whole park is huntable, that's the problem. It's a sea of orange where hunting is allowed, and thousands of acres of no-hunting. If you can hunt your uncles property near Devils Head/Parfrey's, I would say that would be a better situation than trying the public hunting. It's tough for just a guy or two to stand hunt as there are groups making drives in all different directions, you might set up on a great spot, but people walk right past, or who knows, shoot your direction... If you are looking for doe (and you would have to be because it is a CWD/Earn a Buck area, you could possibly find one.

fastetti

RT1, Ive always heard there are deer there and seen them, just not sure about on the Public land there. Believe me, Id rather be hunting my area in Illinois but the owner only wants me to hunt it every other year. Its a huge track of land that no one hunts. Passed 9 different bucks last year opening morning.

Handles, Thanks for the answers, you are the kind of person I was looking for that lived in the area and hunted it. My uncle has a place that is a condo that borders Parfreys Glen on one side and across bluff road from Devil's Head. The only problem is its a condo and there are 3 other condos there. Id love to hunt it but I don't think there is enough room there. From the Condo to Parfreys glen property line is maybe a 100 yards and Im not sure who has the rights to the land. Don't want to get in trouble with anyone.
Do people really do drives there? I can't stand people who do drives on public land. Why do they have to ruin it for us patients hunters. Ive been looking at the Maps and was thinking of hunting the border of Parfreys Glen and the stae park about a 1/2 from the nearest parking. If you know anything more about the deer hunting there, please let me know. There is limited info on the net about it (ie no hunting reports or harvests reports) Probably going to take a ride up there from Chicago to do a little scouting here in a few weeks to see if its worth it. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. Got to get my deer hunting fix somehow this year!