Public land hunting

Daleo8803

Daleo8803

Move along, move along
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Rock Hill SC
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I'm going tomorrow to do some looking around on some public land near my house ( Draper). It's around 700 acres. Never hunted public land before. Should I stay to the far rear of the property ( wet and swampy). I want to avoid other hunters if possible. Will be using a ground blind. Is there anything I should look for when I'm there? Thanks
 
I would avoid the ground. It’s easier to get shot like that be the Will be dumbasses who shoot at stuff in the bushes. Take a bright light to shine folks off. Wear plenty of orange. Know your way in and out be it’s easy to get turned around. Be in early and sit all day. The avg gl hunter leaves about 10 am so they can push deer to you.


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What are you looking for?? What makes you think the "far rear of the property" isn't bordering another road?? If you're trying to avoid other hunters find a piece of land that is only accessible by water, that rules out 90% of them.......
 
Ugh. Talk about over crowded. Drapers no fun. Drive an hour to Sumter national forest and enjoy not seeing/smelling 30 other hunters.
 
I'm blessed to have plenty of public land around me. One piece of advice is to look for some of the smaller tracts of land. If that's not an option then you have to figure out where most people are going and do the opposite. Sometimes that means staying near the truck if everybody else is going way back. But it could also mean going back to the thick stuff that nobody else is willing to get into. It just depends on the situation.

The way I navigate public land is to do a lot of afternoon hunting. Go slow and scout an area then hunt it. You'll waste some sits this way but you'll also figure out the land pretty well too. Look for hunter sign just as much as deer sign.

Good luck to you. Public land hunting isn't as bad as people make it out to be. It's frustrating sometimes, but it's also part of the fun.
 
Public land scares the crap out of me.

I used to hunt a friend’s farm on the eastern shore of MD. There was a dirt road at the back that separated it from public land.

The excrement I saw from the idiots that hunted the public land made me realize I would rather not hunt if that was the only option. Sheer luck nobody was killed.

Not to mention we had to chase many of these idiots off of my friends family land. Think of the avegrage Walmart idiot and that is who you will be hunting with.

The list of things to watch for is far to long to post. My only suggestion is head to toe hunter orange and lights strapped to you pointing in every direction anything you move.

And a class IV A vest with ceramic plates. And a ballistic helmet.
 
I neglected to mention that you need to study the WRC game lands maps and coordinate them with Google Earth to figure out if it's even worth hunting. Just because you CAN hunt it doesn't mean you SHOULD hunt it....
 
I spent a couple hours tromping around some new state Game Lands property this morning. I think it looks super promising for grouse, deer and bear. Now, I just need to make sure the word doesn’t get out in this new property!
 
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Gspec said:
Ugh. Talk about over crowded. Drapers no fun. Drive an hour to Sumter national forest and enjoy not seeing/smelling 30 other hunters.
Click to expand...

To hunt at sumter do you have to have any special permits? Or just a hunting license? Read a older thread that said you have to have a wma permit?
 
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Daleo8803 said:
To hunt at sumter do you have to have any special permits? Or just a hunting license? Read a older thread that said you have to have a wma permit?
Click to expand...
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if you need wma or not, and 15 minutes of looking on scdnr’s website didn’t answer it for me either this morning. I always buy the sportsman license so I don’t have to worry about if I’m covered for anything.
 
I'm gonna hunt some primo public land the last 3 days of this week. I applied for the hunt in July. If you are an idiot, you will meet a federal wildlife officer if you decide to ignore the nice bright orange signs that say "PERMITTED GUN HUNT IN PROGRESS: DO NOT ENTER" plastered all over the entrance. We have had this happen once where some old ladies decided to do some sightseeing and got to meet Mr. Federali.

Lottery/Draw hunts are the way to hunt public land. That way they have a name and address of all the idiots on property, and you can be banned. And it's good to make friends with the property management.

NC WRC offers some decent draw hunts but the National wildlife refuges are the way to do it right.
 
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Gspec said:
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if you need wma or not, and 15 minutes of looking on scdnr’s website didn’t answer it for me either this morning. I always buy the sportsman license so I don’t have to worry about if I’m covered for anything.
Click to expand...


Yes you need a game management land permit. Just got off the phone with dnr. Will be going Friday to get mine
 
Ikarus1 said:
I'm gonna hunt some primo public land the last 3 days of this week. I applied for the hunt in July. If you are an idiot, you will meet a federal wildlife officer if you decide to ignore the nice bright orange signs that say "PERMITTED GUN HUNT IN PROGRESS: DO NOT ENTER" plastered all over the entrance. We have had this happen once where some old ladies decided to do some sightseeing and got to meet Mr. Federali.

Lottery/Draw hunts are the way to hunt public land. That way they have a name and address of all the idiots on property, and you can be banned. And it's good to make friends with the property management.

NC WRC offers some decent draw hunts but the National wildlife refuges are the way to do it right.[/QUOTE
Click to expand...

Good luck, sounds like you will be at the Pee Dee again. I have been down there hunting multiple times when people were out and about in the woods and not hunting.
 
Ikarus1 said:
I'm gonna hunt some primo public land the last 3 days of this week. I applied for the hunt in July. If you are an idiot, you will meet a federal wildlife officer if you decide to ignore the nice bright orange signs that say "PERMITTED GUN HUNT IN PROGRESS: DO NOT ENTER" plastered all over the entrance. We have had this happen once where some old ladies decided to do some sightseeing and got to meet Mr. Federali.

Lottery/Draw hunts are the way to hunt public land. That way they have a name and address of all the idiots on property, and you can be banned. And it's good to make friends with the property management.

NC WRC offers some decent draw hunts but the National wildlife refuges are the way to do it right.
Click to expand...

I got drawn for this weeks hunt. Might hunt Thursday not sure about the other days.


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Some pix from Pee Dee gun hunt #1

I missed a chip shot 125yd buck quartering toward me due to deer fever...where the red mark was. if i had waited 5-10 more seconds he would have been 50yds closer and probably broadside. I shot right over his back....and saw whitetail flag for 500yds...

Meanwhile the wife got it done at 70yds.

Beautiful morning for hunting!
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