Public Puzzle Pieces

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Rate Your 2017 Public Hunting

A: Best Year Ever
11
25%
B: A Really Good Year
13
30%
C: Average- Similar to other years
12
27%
D: Below Average
5
11%
E: Smoked- Very Bad
3
7%
 
Total votes: 44
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Singing Bridge
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Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Jan 29, 2018 4:52 am

How did your public land hunting go in 2017? Did you figure out some new puzzle pieces / insight on how best to go about it? Did it leave you with more questions than answers?


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strutnrut716
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:01 am

Best year ever and I didn't even harvest one deer. I say this because I found the HB and the help from you guys has been incredible ! My biggest take about public land is "Stay out of the combat zone". When I do this I feel like I'm way ahead of 90 % of the hunting population. I still have tons to learn but this is the place to do it !!
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:02 am

Good Bear.
Good Upland Bird.
Horrible Deer.
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
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Jonny
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Jonny » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:14 am

Very good for gun season. Should have a spot that is good odds for years to come.

Bow season was rough and below average. Learned a lot but still tons of room for improvement
You have a monkey Mr. Munson?
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Babshaft » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:51 am

strutnrut716 wrote:Best year ever and I didn't even harvest one deer. I say this because I found the HB and the help from you guys has been incredible ! My biggest take about public land is "Stay out of the combat zone". When I do this I feel like I'm way ahead of 90 % of the hunting population. I still have tons to learn but this is the place to do it !!



Exactly the same for me. I'm just starting to learn, but I've never been more excited. 2018 is going to be incredible.

And because I haven't said it yet, thanks SingingBridge for the BBR podcast and the HB podcasts. Being in the higher pressured parts Ontario, those podcasts really helped me with a few key puzzle pieces that put me onto my biggest buck yet.

Cheers
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Singing Bridge
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:34 am

strutnrut716 wrote:Best year ever and I didn't even harvest one deer. I say this because I found the HB and the help from you guys has been incredible ! My biggest take about public land is "Stay out of the combat zone". When I do this I feel like I'm way ahead of 90 % of the hunting population. I still have tons to learn but this is the place to do it !!


Well stated- being able to avoid the combat zone leads to older deer and overlooked bedding / hunting locations.
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby SidewayZ » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:36 am

Took my first buck this year! Couldnt have been better.
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Singing Bridge
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:38 am

Edcyclopedia wrote:Good Bear.
Good Upland Bird.
Horrible Deer.


Ed, what are you using for upland... 12, 20 or 28? I'm thinking of getting a new upland gun and leaning toward a 20 gauge.
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Singing Bridge
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:39 am

Babshaft wrote:
strutnrut716 wrote:Best year ever and I didn't even harvest one deer. I say this because I found the HB and the help from you guys has been incredible ! My biggest take about public land is "Stay out of the combat zone". When I do this I feel like I'm way ahead of 90 % of the hunting population. I still have tons to learn but this is the place to do it !!



Exactly the same for me. I'm just starting to learn, but I've never been more excited. 2018 is going to be incredible.

And because I haven't said it yet, thanks SingingBridge for the BBR podcast and the HB podcasts. Being in the higher pressured parts Ontario, those podcasts really helped me with a few key puzzle pieces that put me onto my biggest buck yet.

Cheers


Thank you for taking the time to post your feedback- we appreciate it!
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Singing Bridge
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:40 am

SidewayZ wrote:Took my first buck this year! Couldnt have been better.


Now that truly is a great year on the public- congrats!
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Singing Bridge
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:41 am

Jonny wrote:Very good for gun season. Should have a spot that is good odds for years to come.

Bow season was rough and below average. Learned a lot but still tons of room for improvement


Looking forward to your upcoming adventures. 8-)
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magicman54494
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby magicman54494 » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:43 am

Singing Bridge wrote:How did your public land hunting go in 2017?


Minn : deep snow that got rained on and froze. It made for a real tough hunt. I found deer but daytime movement just didn't happen. I had very cold temps as well for that time of year. Passed up a 6 pointer. ate my tag

Wis: I held off for snow so I only hunted 3 days during muzzleloader. I tracked down and shot a fairly nice buck on the last day.

Mich U P : I had 3 days to get it done but really never found any decent bucks to track. Quality bucks in the UP have been tough to find the last 3 years. I found some good pockets of deer which is a good thing.

Singing Bridge wrote:Did you figure out some new puzzle pieces / insight on how best to go about it?


I would really like to know why the deer were not moving in Minn. I'm scratching my head on that one. Hunter numbers were at an all time low in my area so I know they weren't pressured. I do believe it was related to the deeper crunchy snow but they did move at night.


Singing Bridge wrote:Did it leave you with more questions than answers?

In Minn I would have to say yes. In hind site I should have relocated to an area where the snow situation was better.
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby checkerfred » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:51 am

I put average but some areas like my small amount of private land behind my house was below average. I killed a 7 point on public. Not an old mature buck but I was happy with him. Had a few encounters with some big bucks early season and setup blind on a bed that I almost killed an 8. Other than that it’s been below average. I feel frustrated with our refuge which is swampy hardwoods. Just can’t seem to pattern the deer and it gets so much pressure it’s almost impossible to find areas that aren’t getting hunted. I still keep plugging away though and am looking forward to scouting
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:54 am

One of the puzzle pieces for me was verification that I understand buck travel during the rut phases. I hardly ever use trailcams because I am old school. I can penetrate an area and find one of the best bucks quickly because of my sign interpretation... tracks, droppings, rubs, beds... trailcams to me were like the horror I saw on my grandfathers face when fishfinders first came out, an ethical struggle and more. :lol:

I've had a couple of trailcams for years, but really never used them. So this year, I thought what they hey. I wasn't set up to hunt where I would place the cams so no harm done. I placed 2 cams on what I believed to be rut cruising trails in remote areas. These areas were public land, with very low deer populations and no access to agriculture whatsoever. Food sources were scarce and consisted mostly of browse. These cams were in completely different hunting areas and a county apart.

I thought, what the hey... maybe I'll get a buck or two on camera and If I'm lucky maybe 3 or 4. I didn't have very high hopes when I retrieved the cards. No worries about them being stolen, nobody goes where I hunt (too deep, too nasty).

Imagine my surprise when afer a short soak I had hundreds of buck pics of bucks strolling by, with an 80 percent ratio of bucks over does, buck fights on cam... with the vast majority of the pics during daytime. :lol:

I'm saying I'm old school and I'm sticking with it!
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Re: Public Puzzle Pieces

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Mon Jan 29, 2018 7:05 am

I'm happy with my season. It could have been better, but it could also have been a lot worse :lol:

I learned a some important details in a few spots (timing of when to hunt, stand placement) that should result in kills in the future.


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