how would you hunt?
 

My dad and I will be hunting public land this year. We will have to take evrything in and out each day we hunt. Can you guys help me out on how you would hunt. Either treestand 6-11 foot high, ground blind, or on ground sitting next to tree.

I generally hunt public on the ground, but that's cauz I don't trust climbers. I had a friend who had one fall on him and he was basically trapped in the woods because he couldn't get up on his own. He had several broken bones. It'll also be much easier carrying that big boy outta there if you don't have a hundred other things to carry with you.

I should add I will be hunting with a shotgun

Either a climber or a ground blind. You will need to be able to take it out every time you come out and you will also need to stay mobile. Hard to lug ladder stands around, even the so called portable ones.

I think that there is a lack of information here.

If it was on public hunting ground and everyone had to use a shotgun and you knew that there was going to be 1000 other people there, then getting up as high as possible would increase your chances of seeing game, would be a positive.

On the other hand, I would have to know how far can you see and how far can your shotgun shoot. If you can see 300 yards but can only shoot 50 - then getting higher would only allow the game to see you a long time before you could see and shoot it.

They do make some tree stands that converts into a buck buggy - that has wheels on it that you can use to tote your deer out.
They don't get a lot of snow in North Carolina in October and November.

If there was a lot of people around and the deer were moving on their own, I would stand on the ground and build a small ground blind to hide my actions and would place it near a natural funnel and would shoot the first legal deer that came down the trail. But then again, that is just me.

I don't care what anybody says, if I'm hunting public land during gun season, I'm going to be in a tree. Get a climber and scout for climber friendly trees. Climbers do require a certain amount of respect, but when you're careful and learn your certain stands quirks which shouldn't be many, they are perfectly safe.

In a ground blind you can move more, your not exposed to the elements, and it muffles sounds such as coughs or sneeze's. I have done both in my ground blind and had deer at about 40 yards minutes later. Try that in a tree stand. Tonight my cell phone rang while I was filming deer from my ground blind at less than 20 yards and it was completely still outside and the deer never paid it no mind. Believe that or not. Ground blind is the way I'd go.
Live it up! Doug

Ground blind or find an old blown down tree to hide behind.

id look for an old blowdown near a clearing or relativly open part of the woods

ground blinds are nice, you can get one fer $50 that pops open in minutes and closes down even faster.
ya wont get the mornin dew on ya and it is good cover you can move around a bit

tree climbers are nice, big guys usually dont like em, but young kid with his dad and a safety harness is will be ideal fer ya as well, dad will be checkin on ya sooner or later.

unless you have a ghillie suit and know how ta use it, sittin next to a tree aint much fer cover, but can be better than nothing

I've been hunting with climbers for a long time and, for most situations, are the best way to go in my opinion. Find a good spot, scout a good tree and get as high as you can and still be effective.

Lugging stuff in and out is not much fun and definitely makes you weight conscious of everything you carry. A good climber weighs about 20lbs so take that into consideration, especially if you knock one down.

Although it’s very tempting I wouldn’t recommend leaving a climber in the woods, even if it’s locked up. I’ve had two stolen from me off a private farm that bordered public hunting lands; one time it was locked up and the other it was not. I guess I thought the first time was a fluke and finally woke up after the second.

Hunting on the ground is th emost logical choise. When hunting on a piece of property u dont know confining yourself to one spot isnt always the best choice. Take the first day to sit next to a tree and see how things go.

I hunt all public land as well. I hunt off the ground & use natural cover for concealment. Blowdowns, trees, rocks, etc.

If you are considering a tree stand then I would not do a ladder stand - to heavy and to much time to set up, could not imagine doing that in the dark. Put your Dad in the ground blind, and you climb the tree, two cables around the tree and up you go. Make sure you have a harness, makes no sense to climb in and out of stands without one.

I'm trying to convince him about the ground blinds. He's scared or thinking he's going to get shot where someone won't see the blind and shoot if they see a deer nearby.

get yourself a climber treestand. www.sportsmansguide.com has a sale on a guide series climber right now for $75. looks legit. get as high as you can. 20-30 ft

I have hunted public land most of my hunting career. I only used a treestand twice and both times had shots at deer, close. Killed one and the other one was 10 yards away but my powder had got wet in the muzzle loader so I let him walk after snapping 3 caps and dropping my capper! I usually find a blow down or other structure to hide myself in. I killed a 7 point one year sitting in a hollowed out log with only my head and shoulders above the log. The reason we hardly ever used stands is because we hiked about 2 miles in every morning. We got in front of everyone one else and most never hiked that far up in the mountain. The further you go off the trail on public land the better off you will be.

Take some blaze orange vests with you and hang them in some trees about eye level around your blind. 2 will do, 3 would be better. As long as they don't flap in the wind I don't think deer will mind. And wear blaze orange when you walk in and out. I put an old white haired man in the scope one morning thinking it was the rump of a deer. I don't know who it scared more me or him. I bet he wears blaze orange now!

I agree with staying grounded,atleast for the first day. If you expect alot of other hunters, get in early!! Try to put yourself in a deers escape route cuz' they'll be using it!! But don't restrict your sight. I try to stay in the woods as long as possible so that when the midday quitters leave the woods they might bump some deer my way. Watch your scent and wind direction cuz' they'll be on high alert! Good hunting!!!

And I can see that you're very keen on the idea now too!LOL! That happened to my old white haired grandpa too! BE SAFE FOLKS!! KNOW YOUR TARGET AND BEYOND!!!!!

I may need to re-think my look.

Do the chops look like deer tails?

Amen!!!
your pop up should be orange, with some green camo, not the other way around...to hunt public...especially with the week enders out there hunting...IMO...
i did the shoot fer hunter education, its a joke...better than nothing, but it certainly wasnt "real life situation"...at all

Naw! that's just snow camo and ear muffs!!! A twofer!

I prefer the good ol, spot n stalk method

Predate. You dang right I learned a lesson from that! The other thing that keeps me decked out in blaze orange is from about 2 miles away from mountain top to mountain top I saw a person in a full blaze orange coveralls and a orange hat walking!

RenaissanceBiker. I would keep the chops but switch hats! Brown and white might mean no more biking! Or you could die your chops orange! hahaha

anybody else got any ideas? I still have the treestand I bought, but its still in the box debating whether or not to take it back and get something else. Opening day for gun season is Saturday.

What kind of stand did you buy? As long as you go hunting thats all that matters. You may want to try it without a stand first. It would stink carrying a stand all the way in and then not seeing anything. At least if you are hunting from the ground you can get up and move. 95% of the time I hunt from the ground. Once you find a good spot then take your stand in and set it up. I hunted public land for 5 years before I found a spot worthy of putting a stand there and it was far enough off the beaten path I could leave it for the week I was hunting there. Also, it was my first 5 years hunting so hopefully it won't take you that long to find a good spot!

A good ladder stand would be your best choice.

My dad and I both bought these about a month ago from Dick's.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/pr...292572.2292573