• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Early State Park reduction deer hunt

Guff Dawg

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
806
Location
Indiana
I was drawn to hunt for two days at Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, Indiana. It was an archery only reduction hunt. It was held this past Monday and Tuesday. Bucks were rutting hard and there were does being chased everywhere in the park. I hunted from the ground the first morning, TL saddle had to wait for day light. My uncle is an experienced saddle hunter, and he let me borrow one of his. I’m still patiently awaiting my kestrel delivery.
So I did completely miss a doe around 8 am the first morning. I was way too excited, and the deer just sat and stared at me while I waited for my opportunity to shoot. This is my second full year of bow hunting, and have to keep learning through rookie mistakes. I learned a lot about looking for deer sign, watching their body language, and their reactions to hunting pressure. Hunting in a state park is completely different than what I experienced the last few years of chasing deer on private land. When my uncle and I scouted the park a week before the hunt, we saw an 8 point buck directly in front of the main office. It ran across a large parking lot, and into a thicket near a tent campground. I thought I had to hunt the thicket in the campground, when in all reality I should have hunted directly near the crossing at the parking lot. A hunter was able to harvest a buck from the area, and I’m sure it was the one we saw. He was in a tree directly across from the office, and it was a smaller 8 point buck. I think it’s safe to say state park land is much different than any land I’ve ever hunted, but I’m just not sure, and will have to continue hunting public land to find out. Needless to say, I am not giving up. I will start using the kestrel immediately when it arrives. And I will be ready for next year’s drawn hunts on public land, as well as all the other hunting endeavors. Good luck everyone and keep the great content coming. We newbies need all the insight we can gather. Thanks again
 
Last edited:
Back
Top