How many pieces

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Eastcoasthunter91
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How many pieces

Unread postby Eastcoasthunter91 » Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:09 am

Been venturing out into public more over the last 3 years but this past season was more pulled to it over my private grounds i have. my question is how many different pieces of public are most of yall focusing on in a season? ive mainly stuck to 3 different pieces but havent scouted the whole thing on 2 of them. theres some spots that look good on map about an hour from my house but havent ventured out as i like to invest time into areas which has hurt me cause i feel like i could get on different or better deer if i didnt get focused on a few areas.


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oldrank
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby oldrank » Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:19 am

I hunt a few counties. Some have more public land than others. I break every thing down in my head into blocks. Each block could have numerous different stand sites. Being mobile anywhere can become a stand site if I see something get hot.
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Boogieman1
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:50 am

How many pieces I hunt is due to the fact I can kill up to 3 bucks in my home state if I hop counties. If I resided in a one buck no matter what state I would handle my business differently. The biggest thing I have ever learned in my hunting years is if you wanna up the odds of consistently killing big bucks then hunt an area where there’s a lot of them.

So if I was only allowed 1 buck I would find the best area (genetically known for producing the caliber of bucks I want) in my parts and focus all my efforts there. If I had access to multiple spots in that area I would divide my time. If only 1 public land or I only had permission to 1 spot in the hot bed I would still focus all my effort here. No need for me to hunt where there is no bucks I care to shoot. Sure I might miss out on a long shot once out of every 20 years. But in the big picture feel I will come out ahead fishing in productive waters.
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Bonecrusher101
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:53 am

I hunted 4 different wmas this year. I live in a multiple buck per season state and I’ve killed bucks in 7 different counties around my home state over the last decade. I make it a point every spring scouting season to cyber scout and go somewhere I’ve never been before on public. I do this to add to what I already know and think it’s great to have more spots than you could ever actually hunt in a season. I try to have too many eggs in too many baskets. Then when it’s hunting season, I try to hunt smart and hit the right areas at the right times.

When I was new to public, I only had a few spots and I pounded them and tried to convince myself that I needed to just put my time in.

I like to have enough great spots that I have zero hesitation about jumping into my best set as soon as I have an opportunity to hunt.
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brancher147
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby brancher147 » Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:30 pm

I usually have have a dozen or more public areas and a handful of private. Years of good acorn crop I usually hunt more public, with no acorns I usually hunt more private. I narrow down everything with pre and in season scouting and usually only hunt hard on a few areas with the best sign. This is in a 3 buck state and I usually shoot 4 or 5 does too. Sometimes I go out of state also.
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby dan » Sun Jan 23, 2022 12:44 am

My public land focus starts wide... I scout as much land as I can in the off season. Walking in the winter and spring, and not focusing on sheds, focusing on bedding and kill spots. Summer finds me glassing and shining and dropping the occasional camera to find shooters. Then when hunting starts I concentrate on areas where a big shed was found, big sign was found, big bucks were seen, got a pic of a shooter, heard a rumor of a shooter, or continue after a buck from the past season... If I am not sure I am onto a big buck, or not seeing the sign, I move... I also dont want to over hunt an area, so I like having multiple targets. So my season might start wide with me hunting properties near and far, but as I find targets my focus narrows. A lot of my hunts may be a scouting mission, to see if there is big buck sign that is fresh back where I have suspicions... If you watch my videos close you will see that I often go into public for a hunt and never hunt cause I don't find what Im looking for. Some hunts are scouting... So if you notice ol, Dan hunting far and wide, he ain't on much, if he is focusing on an area, there is probably a potential victim in my sights....
Eastcoasthunter91
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby Eastcoasthunter91 » Sun Jan 23, 2022 1:28 am

thanks for the replys guys. i guess i just need to break through my comfort zone and not get caught up into a "spot" to much and scout to hunt more. i grew up hunting private with corn piles which im bored with and has pushed me to want to learn woodsmanship and read what deer are doing i just seem to second guess myself or get stuck on a area vs moving around more. Goals for this next season for sure.
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby dan » Sun Jan 23, 2022 1:52 am

Eastcoasthunter91 wrote:thanks for the replys guys. i guess i just need to break through my comfort zone and not get caught up into a "spot" to much and scout to hunt more. i grew up hunting private with corn piles which im bored with and has pushed me to want to learn woodsmanship and read what deer are doing i just seem to second guess myself or get stuck on a area vs moving around more. Goals for this next season for sure.

Food, cover, and pressure move on public, and a hunter has to move around to find the undisturbed pockets hiding big bucks, and often even just to find any deer... Get used to seeing nothing and putting in lots of new sits. You might do 20 sits in a row with nothing, then the next sit might be your dream hunt. The greatest hunters are those who can withstand the 20 sits and maintain the drive and enthusiasm for sit 21...
Eastcoasthunter91
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby Eastcoasthunter91 » Mon Jan 24, 2022 12:23 pm

dan wrote:
Eastcoasthunter91 wrote:thanks for the replys guys. i guess i just need to break through my comfort zone and not get caught up into a "spot" to much and scout to hunt more. i grew up hunting private with corn piles which im bored with and has pushed me to want to learn woodsmanship and read what deer are doing i just seem to second guess myself or get stuck on a area vs moving around more. Goals for this next season for sure.

Food, cover, and pressure move on public, and a hunter has to move around to find the undisturbed pockets hiding big bucks, and often even just to find any deer... Get used to seeing nothing and putting in lots of new sits. You might do 20 sits in a row with nothing, then the next sit might be your dream hunt. The greatest hunters are those who can withstand the 20 sits and maintain the drive and enthusiasm for sit 21...


I will be doing just that this coming season. i just put 10 miles on the boots today scouting as i pull cameras down i havent touched for months cutting through different areas looking for sign and put several marks on the onx both states i hunt are flat and have noticed in my short time on public focusing on beds is difficult as i feel they roam and bed wherever vs specific beds (i could be wrong just my thoughts). i ended up with several great bucks on camera and a few that should make a great jump next year. now to find core area and move to kill them next year.
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby Jonny » Mon Jan 24, 2022 12:30 pm

One of the pieces I hunt every season is 100,000 acres. Could hunt just there til I die and never know it all.

Got 2-3 I’m trying to dial in bow season, going to add one close to home this winter since I should be far enough ahead on work to cut down my work week. Then might look at 1-3 smaller ones on my way home from work but still a hour from home. We will see.
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby dan » Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:49 pm

Eastcoasthunter91 wrote:
dan wrote:
Eastcoasthunter91 wrote:thanks for the replys guys. i guess i just need to break through my comfort zone and not get caught up into a "spot" to much and scout to hunt more. i grew up hunting private with corn piles which im bored with and has pushed me to want to learn woodsmanship and read what deer are doing i just seem to second guess myself or get stuck on a area vs moving around more. Goals for this next season for sure.

Food, cover, and pressure move on public, and a hunter has to move around to find the undisturbed pockets hiding big bucks, and often even just to find any deer... Get used to seeing nothing and putting in lots of new sits. You might do 20 sits in a row with nothing, then the next sit might be your dream hunt. The greatest hunters are those who can withstand the 20 sits and maintain the drive and enthusiasm for sit 21...


I will be doing just that this coming season. i just put 10 miles on the boots today scouting as i pull cameras down i havent touched for months cutting through different areas looking for sign and put several marks on the onx both states i hunt are flat and have noticed in my short time on public focusing on beds is difficult as i feel they roam and bed wherever vs specific beds (i could be wrong just my thoughts). i ended up with several great bucks on camera and a few that should make a great jump next year. now to find core area and move to kill them next year.

There is nothing random about how a mature buck beds... It can be hard to recognize his bedrooms, and he can have more bedrooms than a different buck. But I can guarantee he has specific small areas he beds in, and a lot less of those areas than the younger bucks. In areas where it is really hard to see the bedrooms, I just figure out the general acre or 2 where he beds. and set up on the exit... In some terrains the exit is much easier to find than the actual beds. For instance, there is a large swamp with expansive tammerack, dogwood, cattail, and timbered sections that I hunt. When you get into the cattails, dogwood, and tammeracks there are literally beds everywhere, for miles. The average guy would say they bed everywhere... And if your hunting "deer" they do... But every time I see a mature buck in that entire 3 or 4 square miles it comes out of one of 5 areas... It took me a little walking, and detective work to determine those spots, and I am sure they bed spots I do, and dont know about outside of these 5 areas, but for consistent success I have to hunt those 5 areas. There are a lot of bedding areas that hold bucks 1 or 2 years old, but when they get older than 3 they really start getting picky about where they bed, and when.
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Ryan549
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby Ryan549 » Tue Jan 25, 2022 12:07 am

Around me, I have probably 12-15 areas of public that are on my radar. I hunted 3 of them this season. My season ended early, but my biggest sign/sightings were on these three, so that’s where I put my efforts.
Last season I hunted 8- I couldn’t find a buck so I jumped around a lot more scouting and hunting fresh sign.
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1STRANGEWILDERNESS
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby 1STRANGEWILDERNESS » Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:14 am

I probably hit 8-10 this yr in season. mainly focused on 3. Once I knew what I was working with.
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Re: How many pieces

Unread postby MikefromOH » Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:34 am

I have 3 public "areas" will be eying for next year: One is 20 minutes from home, one is 50 minutes and one is 90 minutes from home. I live in a big city, each area is progressively larger and more remote. I don't hunt a whole lot so at each area I try to find a key area about 100-300 acres and key in on that area.


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