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Bow Hunting Public Land

UTGrad

UTGrad

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I have some property I am allowed to hunt in Lebanon, but I would like to take a neighbor on a hunt. Are the public land hunting areas in Middle TN any good during bow season? Where do you go and are there hunters everywhere?
 
If you go on public land you will be fighting the masses and the public in general. The best bet is too look on a map and find a remote area where access is difficult to get to and that would be your best bet as alot of public land hunters aren't gonna be far from their vehicles. Also, IMO by using this method I feel you have a better chance of having deer "pushed" your way, as deer normally will try to avoid people and pressure.
 
Cedars Of Lebanon state forest on 231 is GREAT during bow season.
Rarely see another hunter in there during bow.
However, It's hard to hunt and requires a HUGE amount of homework.
 
UTGrad said:
I have some property I am allowed to hunt in Lebanon, but I would like to take a neighbor on a hunt. Are the public land hunting areas in Middle TN any good during bow season? Where do you go and are there hunters everywhere?
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UTGrad, You can take this constructively or think I am a peckerneck but here goes. If you want to hunt public land you should have already called twra for free maps and have spent several days scouting. Doing so right now is the hardest time of the year to "figure things out" on public land. I hunt some public land and when/if I scout this time of the year it is from long distance. Binos and a spotting scope. To many "hunters" will be tromping in the woods looking for that perfect tree and it is only educating the deer they are hunting. I could tell you what I would do but not sure it would help. Is it to late? no but the question remains will you get out there and there and do it? only you can answer that question.
 
richmanbarbeque said:
UTGrad said:
I have some property I am allowed to hunt in Lebanon, but I would like to take a neighbor on a hunt. Are the public land hunting areas in Middle TN any good during bow season? Where do you go and are there hunters everywhere?
Click to expand...

UTGrad, You can take this constructively or think I am a peckerneck but here goes. If you want to hunt public land you should have already called twra for free maps and have spent several days scouting. Doing so right now is the hardest time of the year to "figure things out" on public land. I hunt some public land and when/if I scout this time of the year it is from long distance. Binos and a spotting scope. To many "hunters" will be tromping in the woods looking for that perfect tree and it is only educating the deer they are hunting. I could tell you what I would do but not sure it would help. Is it to late? no but the question remains will you get out there and there and do it? only you can answer that question.
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Maybe next year...good info and letting me know the "reality" of what to expect.
 
Wow, I must have missed out on a lot in my lifetime, UT, if you want to hunt public land go hunt. I have never heard that it is too late or this is the hardest time of year. I have walked in on public land I have never seen in my life and killed deer, not 1 or 2 deer but somewhere around 30-40 deer on public land and I have killed well over 100 deer with a bow. Heck, it may even be to your advantage to be the first time you have seen it, a lot of the time the first time you hunt a place may be your best chance to kill a nice buck. Go hunt and enjoy it. If you get time to scout, and that is your cup of tea do it. If you want to ease into the woods and when you find what you are looking for then hunt, do that to. I personally feel much scouting that is done is only educating the deer anyways.
 
Percy is a great place to hunt, especially early bow season. There are several patches of woods to hunt out there and a lot of it has beans and/or corn planted on it. There may be some guys on here that may get upset with me telling you this, but stick with the East Fork and Fall Creek segments. There may be better places but these have always been good to me. Just go park at one of the gates and grab some binos and go for a walk down the gravel roads right now in the evenings.
 
headhunter is right, i hunted wolf river wma last year, i never scouted a day, but i looked at a map and found a spot that i thought looked good, drove in the next morning, and hunted right where i wanted to. I saw 15-20 deer that day, and would have shot a doe or two if i hadnt been two miles from my truck. Thats another thing about it, you gotta get where the other hunters are. Go hunt UTGrad! Lets see some kill pics!
 
Easy fellas... Let's just try to help a brother out. No need for anyone to get upset.

If we're not careful, this will start sounding like a certain waterfowl hunting forum I know where anyone asking for advice on where or how to hunt gets BLASTED!

We don't want to be like THOSE GUYS, do we?

Peace & love, brothers...
 
Just to clarify, some public land doesn't get much pressure. The public land that is closest to UTGrad is hunted VERY hard and what I posted earlier is the absolute truth. I have hunted it for years and KNOW what I am talking about. Public land like Percy priest and a few others in middle tn gets very little pressure and you can do things differently. The deer have little pressure in comparison so I would treat it like private land.
 
Not wanting to argue to fight, but I have read UT's comments for a while and he is just wanting to learn.

UT replied "Maybe next year...good info and letting me know the "reality" of what to expect.

To me the responses discouraged him from spending time on public land this year. Rich, to say Priest gets little pressure is unbelievable. I can find many (a hundred people no problem) who would differ with that thought. I would bet those deer are pressured almost as much as any deer in this state. One exception is hunting the meanest thickets I can find, most will not do that, but those deer are pressured plenty, from hunters to 4 wheeler to horse riders, to small game hunters and who knows what else.

The best way in the world to learn is to get in the woods. Maybe he messes up, maybe he ecucates some deer or whatever happens, maybe he kills a deer, several deer, or a state record? Who knows? I can guarantee you that if he does not get out and hunt, scout, or just spend time in the woods he will get absolutely nothing. I have learned from MANY mistakes I have made and I am still learning from my mistakes. I spend as much (or more) time hunting that most anyone (I generally spend some amount of time almost every day of any open deer season in Tennessee hunting) and to me being in the woods is the best education you can get.
 
Headhunter said:
Not wanting to argue to fight, but I have read UT's comments for a while and he is just wanting to learn.

UT replied "Maybe next year...good info and letting me know the "reality" of what to expect.

To me the responses dicouraged him from spending time on public land this year. Rich, to say Priest gets little pressure is unbelievable. I would bet those deer are pressured almost as much as any deer in this state. One exception is hunting the meanest thickets I can find, most will not do that, but those deer are pressured plenty, from hunters to 4 wheeler to horse riders, to small game hunters and who knows what else.

The best way in the world to learn is to get in the woods. Maybe he messes up, maybe he ecucates some deer or whatever happens, maybe he kills a deer, several deer, or a state record? Who knows? I can guarantee you that if he does not get out and hunt, scout, or just spend time in the woods he will get absolutely nothing. I have learned from MANY mistakes I have made and I am still learning from my mistakes. I spend as much (or more) time hunting that most anyone (I generally spend some amount of time almost every day of any open deer season in Tennessee hunting) and to me being in the woods is the best education you can get.
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Good post HH
 
Hey UTGrad, actually both schools of thought carry some weight here. There is no substitute for know the "lay of the land". You can do that any time. While wintertime is better due to the lack of cover you can find ridges, creeks, thickets etc. anytime. The fact is to be consistently successful you will need to be diligent, lucky and attentive.
On public land subltle changes make a huge difference. One of the main changes will be when the hordes arrive. The arrival of hunters will affect the behaviour of the deer herd instantly. So the place you see deer all summer may be completely vacated once the season opens. So, look for places the hunting hordes overlook or avoid. Then pay attention. If you see deer at a distance try to figure out why they were there and not where you are. It is TOUGH! But it will pay off! Remember, if you are finding deer in a particular place, whatever makes that place attractive to the deer will most likely continue to, until something (like overhunting) makes it no longer attractive.

So find several places to hunt, so you don't overhunt any one spot. And if you find one of those rare spots that always produces deer, be grateful and don't go telling a bunch of people about it, or you will be sharing it.

And take notes. That will let you learn what areas have produced deer in the past, so you can look for areas in the future that meet the same conditions. That is where the luck comes in. Maybe the same conditions produce a second hot spot and maybe not.
 
Its never too late, if you want to hunt, pick an area and learn it, and HUNT!
 
You can scout in advance on the internet by looking over topo maps and ariel photos of a public tract , then focus on a few funnel areas that look good and are away from the roads.
Good luck !
 
Radar said:
You can scout in advance on the internet by looking over topo maps and ariel photos of a public tract , then focus on a few funnel areas that look good and are away from the roads.
Good luck !
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EEEEExactly! Ijust got on a new lease and i am not going to be able to scout it a whole lot. but the few opportunities I have will be much more productive, because I too have used a combination of topos and areal photos to determine good funnles and possible travel roots. Not to mention food sources, water sources ect. It'll save you some leg work too.
 

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