letsgohuntin

After losing my hunting lease and not being able to find anything else (at least that I could afford!) it looks like Im going to have to try out the public land. I guess I am lucky to have two WMA' s within 20 minutes of my house, including Chickasahatchhee which is a 20,000 acre WMA.

Anyways, I was wondering if some of you folks could share how you would aproach hunting this public land which I have never set foot on. There is just over a month until bow season begins. Should I go deep into the swamps to get away from the other hunters, or just look for some over looked spot that others may bypass heading for the deep woods? I would think on 20,000 acres I could find a spot to myself somewhere!

I will probably only be able to scout around 2 or 3 times before bow season starts, ant tips on " quick scouting" and what I should set up on? Thanks in advance!

thundermug

Some WMA' s in Fl. are closed until one week Before hunting seaason starts. I was in the same boat as you last year and this is what I did.
Slowly drive the roads looking for tracks, each time you find some get out and walk 100yards in each direction to look closer. Are there older prints around, or are these the only one? which way do they go? Where you find the most sign is where you find the most people. Follow the tracks a couple hundred yards into the woods (use proper scent control, this is a part of the hunt) by walking a few yards to the side of the tracks. Does the trail split? do more trails join? If you put a stand in the trees, can you go 15-20 feet high and have a branch there to help hide you?

These are just normal scouting strategies. Plan on spending all day for 10,000 acres, and 3 miles of roads. Also look at topo maps for creeks, ridges, saddles, etc.

Good luck!

Skyhigh

I' ve moved 7 times in 5 years and always hunt WMA' s. I' ve been successfull in locating deer using the following strategy:

- Most states issue a " harvest report" that tells you which county harvested the most deer, some even tell how many were harvested on the WMA' s. You don' t need to hunt the WMA' s were the most deer are taken, but you want to " fish where the fish are" if you know what I mean.

- Next I get a Topo map of the WMA' s in the most productive counties. I look for streams, railroad tracks, and/or power lines that run parallel or intersect with each other. When running paralell to each other, these land features create great funnels.

- On a day after it rains, I scout along the edges of these land features. I look for trails that cut across the powerlines and railroads. Tracks are very easy to see when the ground is wet. Along sreams is also very productive. Deer trails are easy to see in the long grasses found in powerlines.

- Nine times out of ten, the trails lead to last years rubs and scrapes and usually a food source. Many times I find rubs on trees along the powerlines. Then its just a matter of finding a few tree stand locations that support the potential for different wind patterns.

During the 2000 season, I shot a buck 9am of opening day and another at 5pm the third day using the above strategy. Many hunters overlook great spots because their too close to the parking area. The 9am buck was shot 100 yards from the main road and fifty yards off the power line. Railroad tracks and powerlines also offer a quick and quiet path to get the many of my stands.

Take good notes and draw trails, rub, and scapes onto your topo maps. Eventually you' ll see patterns that will help you tweek your stand locations for later in the season or the following year.

Good Luck!

LittleRhody

I do all my hunting on wma' s here in this small state. What I like to do is drive around the whole area a few times on opening day and see where every one else is hunting, Then find a few spot' s where you dont often see vehicles and start scounting. Everyone usually hunt' s there favorite spot on opening day, Find where they are and you should be all alone.

eastern shore hunter

I hunt 99 percent of the time on wma' s in Maryland. The ones I hunt are only 200 to 300 acres. Find the food and look for the thick cover. In my area the deer know exactly where the wma meets the private property so this means hunt as close to the line as possible while still being legal and fair.

Chubber

I also only hunt WMAs.

Go to www.terraserver.com and run up some topo maps for your expected areas. You cant hunt 20,000 acres, you are going to have to focus on the 50 acres you actually will hunt.

Use the topo maps to focus on water, open areas that might harbor food plots, any kind of topological relief (cuts between two hills, etc.), access points and trails or roads, etc. Once you go over the map and highlight those areas of interest, you will notice that there are often nice patches that are not right at the parking lot, but within hikable distance that are either between thicket and field or have some other desirable features.

Reserve your time in the field to checking out those locations that look interesting and looking for deer traffic, food areas, good stand locations, heavily used deer trails, etc. Wandering around looking for " something good" will just waste time.

Good luck. Some people dont like public land hunting, but the states would not have bought it unless it did most folks some good.

Chubber

Chubber

I just wanted to mention that Topozone is another good site for getting topo maps.

But this is Florida, right? Just one topo line in the whole state. Isn' t the highest " mountain" in FL about 100 feet tall?

Chubber

Chubber

www.topozone.com

thundermug

Topo maps show rivers, creeks, seasonal streams, swamps, roads(dirt & paved), Old unused railroad beds, etc. in addition to relief lines.

huntnma

wma is the only hunting i know how to do, i' d be a freak, the deer would see me grinning if i ever got onto private land..lol...
terraserve is the way i got to know alot about the areas i found...to this day i use it.....i get out there and i hunt for human sign, after i can' t find anymore then i start scoutin' , do all day scouts too, pack your lunch...........ask questions, talk to the rangers, the biologist ,manager, other hunters, as many as possible ....get as much imfo as you can about the land, the critters.....
i always heard about the " parkinglot hunters" , i was skeptical/niave because i know how hard i work at hunting, thought everyone did..that was unitl the deer counts started last year, it' s funny , you know you' re nearing a parking area when you start seeing brighteyes.....go through the nasty stuff if need be....don' t be scare to get your feet wet or walk a couple of miles , lol....i know you' ll do what it takes.....good luck......