Public land hunters

What do feel is the number one quality that makes a good public land hunter?

I'm going to start it off with they must be persistent.

Flexibility. Not getting attached to one piece of land and having multiple stand locations

Not one, but many number one qualities:in the tree before before the sun even takes a notion to come up,also willing to go beyond what the average deer hunter thinks is necessary to kill a deer, and pure devine devotion willing to give 110%. dont be satisfied,this makes a man lazy, be meticulous and sneaky:). Hunt the wind and dont be afraid to WALK great distances. this makes a public land hunter gun or bow but at the end of the day if you chose to take your bow during rifle season and made it happen on public land against the hordes of people and the huntin pressure and your draggin that animal out this makes a public land BOWHUNTER:)

I think the willingness to go where others won't is key. Also, keeping our eyes open for over-looked hotspots.

Can't be affraid of hard work. Must like the challenge of not only trying to outsmart the deer but also the other hunters. You have to do just as much homework on the other hunters as you do the deer. Love the hunt and not just the kill.

I believe persistence and a good work ethic are key qualities needed to be a successful public land bowhunter. Because goodness knows you will have to put in more work than the average Joe to be successful.

Being able to adapt to changing conditions like pressure and food sources that relocate deer throughout the season is a big help too. I see a lot of hunters fail and complain about areas being "over hunted" even when I see deer in range almost every hunt, because they stay tied to the same tree all season.

Patience.

For me, it is to find gratitude in every little part of the journey. Above all else, guard your heart, for from it flows the wellsprings of life.

I believe three words would explain it patience persistence and dedication. It is only my second season and I only have one deer to my name so far. Bow kill obliviously. But this is what I believe makes a good or even great public land hunter.

Learn to read a topo, scout the winter, walk in,set up walk out with the wind, find bedding areas do'nt follow the crouds.

Do these things and only you falling a sleep will stop you from killing bucks.

Got a few question for ya crook. I know by your post your a fan of winter scouting & low impact hunting. I've also used this approach for most of my hunting career up until last year. Last year I met a follow site member that has a ton more experience than me. He convinced me that in season scouting is key to consistently tagging deer. I spent more time scouting last year than hunting & it paid off. Now my question for you is do you think your winter scouting, low impact hunting works in all locations? For example down here I hunt large tracts of continues big timber or river bottoms. No agri so main food source is acorns. Feed trees are everywhere & so is available bedding such as briar patches, cutovers, & swamps. My winter scouting shows numerous bedding areas & numerous rub lines leading to different food sources. Looking for your input on how to pattern these seemingly inpatternable (new word) deer.

Well its been said two or three times already but patience to me is one of many key factors. But there are other things that go with it I don't believe that just one of them is the key it's several. I also was told by a very successful hunter that in season is the best time to scout. I found it does work and I will be doing it again this year. Me and you big have a lot of the same type of hunting area's mostly timber and river bottoms. I have no swamps here though.

kmoses wrote:Flexibility. Not getting attached to one piece of land and having multiple stand locations

Spot on. We have 26 on two area's and I am still uneasy about having enough. With people in the woods, it's hard to assess where they will be.

I'm sorry I really did'nt answer your question. Would winter scouting and low pressure work any where. OFCORSE When ever the buck don't know your there. By far your better off.
Look at it like this.
Everytime you walk out your door someone takes a shot at you. You learn you carefully watch out. Months go by you forget about it. You don't see or had anything out of the way happen for months. So you walk out the door months later and he shoots you. Why because it's been months with no siteings or disturbances you JUST did'nt know he was there.
Sure he could have killed you months ago. But you knew something was up and took actions to avoled him.
PERTY SIMPLE WHEN YOUR LIFES ON THE LINE.

I went back and reread your post. You said DEER just plain old doe's and small bucks are less causious. You can get away with a lot more when it comes to doe's and small bucks.
YOU CAN HUNT BUCKS EXSPECIALLY MATURE BUCKS THE SAME WAYS AS DOE'S AND YOUNGER BUCKS. They just movein different cicles. PLAY BY A DIFFERENT SET OF RULES.
TN said it all.

PATTIECE to put in the time at the right place at the right time.

PERSISTANCE never give up GO while everyones home watching the foot ball game or eating THANKS GIVEING DINNER. GO ,be there. Go when everyone else has given up.

MY BEST TATIC IS SIMPLE JUST GO.
You may not be doing it right at least you out there doing it.
I promass you ,you won't kill him setting at the TV eating dinner.

DEDICATION deside your going to go the exture mile DO WHAT EVER IT TAKES TO KILL THAT BUCK OR DEER IF THATS ALL YOUR AFTER.. Before (getting ready) and durning (while your there hunting) after the hunting season (scouting). Learn (read,watch)everything no matter how simple it is about deer.
It will help you out down the line.
DON'T HALF STEP ON ANY OF THESE.

My question was more how do you pattern a buck without in season scouting? Big timber & river bottoms have ever changing food sources. What's there this winter may not be there next. So do you just make a trip to spots in season & if it doesn't show sign move on to the next?

Let me give an example my favorite little piece of river is about 500ac but this is just a small piece of the probably 2k ac square bottom. In this 500 ac there is about 40 prime cow oak trees & countless other oaks. Food is everywhere but the deer definitely prefer certain oaks when they drop. The area contains 2 willow swamps, numerous briar patches, & a couple hundred ac cut over borders one side. The deer seem to bed close to the hottest food source, which changes weekly sometimes daily. Most rub lines follow the creeks. Big deer in this area just not sure how to pattern them by just winter scouting. Here's a rub from there.

Dadgum! Looks like somebody hit it with a truck!

being versatile. Don't be afraid to move your setup during the season based on what you see. Have a spot for every wind, and take care with your APPROACH to your setup as well as the setup itself. I'm still learning and don't speak from much experience but this what I have gleamed from others and have begun to apply for my own hunts.

I agree with you its persistence, season starts I go , and keep going till the close of season or i butcher 6 deer which ever comes first (nice to be retired) . I meat hunt, butcher my own, scouting areas all the time, looking for active scrapes , deer will be around or at a active scrape sometime during a day usually early or late. i dont sit on a scrape but couple days by then usually i got a shot or ran him off . drop a small stick or weed on a new found scrape come back in couple days if stick is still laying on scrape dont sit on it if its gone hunt it a couple days. bout that simple . i cant stand to perch in a tree makes for long days LOL. i still hunt and hunt deer coming from or going to bedding area not to disturb bedding area . I use bedded doe decoy and a jar of James valley wall hanger lure just sit small bottle at decoy . sit down wind of decoy . I also practice shooting longbow from a sitting position a lot. (every day)