Anyone hunting Ohio public land? Me and my 2 cousins hunted public land....Cooper Hollow. Just started there last year. Looks pretty decent so far. Some pressure there though. Medium buck harvested by one of the other guys last year. Tips and advice would be great. Thanks in advance!
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Ohio hunting
- Thread starter BigAl
- Start date
I'm kind of new to hunting public in Ohio but I hunted a fair amount on Wayne national last year, finding areas that don't see a lot of hunting pressure can be tough but I think that's the golden ticket to being able to get on mature deer. I did find that the areas where I did find a lot of hunter sign I never seen hide nor hair of anyone post season scouting.
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I think I'll have to stay back off the road some. I think I can get away from people at cooper. 1st year. Lots to learn. Being over 50 I'll have to stay in shape. LOL
I've scouted a few of the Muskingum Lakes...Salt Fork, Clendening, Piedmont, and Tappan. That was a long time ago. I wasn't seeing much that excited me, though. So I found some private land. That was back in the time when it wasn't too difficult to gain permission to hunt for free. It's not so easy now. Every property is either already hunted or leased, or definately off limits.
Southern Ohio is too popular these days.
Southern Ohio is too popular these days.
I have hunted Ohio public land for more than a decade. It has been tough at times though I have seen really nice bucks every year. Last year was the worst. Spoke with some locals who told me that upper Kentucky and lower Ohio had issues with EHD last summer. Still killed a 2 year old on the last day, nothing to brag about. Ohio public land seems nicely managed to me. They log sections every year and I have had good luck during the rut finding choke points between 2-5 year old cutovers. Shot several bucks on a logging road used as a scrape line in between 3 cutovers that went by a cliff at one point. I set up at the cliff and if I put my time in could shoot a buck there every year. I have called several nice bucks in the first week of November which I have never been able to do in North Carolina. I don't even carry calls anymore in NC. I take them with me in Ohio. Not sure why it seems to work better there except that I usually hunt at least a mile from the nearest parking area and I don't think they hear the calling that much in bow season there. Forget rifle season unless you can find a remote thicket somewhere to hole up in all day. I have a buddy that is successful doing that every year. He lets the hunters push the deer to him. He killed a 156 inch buck like that on public. One thing is for sure....it is the land of giants. Here is a link to a buck I got video of on Ohio public two years ago. It was running a scrape line in between two cutovers that went around the back end of a pond. Good luck.
I've hunted Ohio public land for 15 years, all of it in Wayne national forest. You won't see a whole lot of deer but the last week of October and first two weeks of November are good for some slammers. Not uncommon to see 140"+ bucks. Don't be afraid to walk for a while and stay away from heavily used roads. Walking in close to a mile is not uncommon. Also use the terrain to your advantage. Not many people want to walk up steep hills or through thick brush but that is where the big guys seem to hang out.
Thanks for the advice. We ran into ticks 1st week of Nov. Ya'll ran across ticks in your areas? We gottem even on days in the 50s for highs. Just curious. We plan on putting in the miles this year.....2 of are between 55 and 57. LOL
I’ve picked up ticks over there in Jan when the highs were in the low 30’s for the day. Almost every buck I’ve killed in Ohio has been packed full of ticks, literally hundreds of them.
I got ticks off of me during a January scouting session in Ohio and there was three inches of snow on the ground. I had walked through a field. I stay away from the fields up there. I hunt the big woods and hardly ever get a tick during bow season in the woods.
There's a risk of ticks anytime the temps are above freezing. I helped a buddy trail a buck he shot a few years ago. The temp was 37 and in 3 hours, I picked 58 ticks off me.
I don't want to jack the thread, but I have a interesting and puzzling thing going on with ticks. I'll start a new thread in general discussion...
Titled "Another Tick Thread".
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There is a motel (Piedmont Lake Inn) right by the dam. Its not real nice, but the Piedmont area doesn't have very many motel choices. Cadiz and Cambridge are about the only other choices and they are both over 20 miles away from Piedmont.
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I live in se Michigan, and I am thinking of adding Ohio this year or next. Is there any decent public to hunt within a couple of hours drive of the Toledo area? Maybe Central Ohio, NW Ohio, East along the lake Erie coast? Thanks