Public or Private??

[10 point]

What does everyone hunt, public or private lands for turkeys?? Personally, I hunt all private land in SE Ohio. My family owns 125 acres down there and I also have written permission to hunt five other farms right around my families place. Some of the state land down there doesn't get pressured too bad. One of the farms I hunt backs right up to state and I have never seen any cars parked there on pull offs all last season. The farms I hunt on range anywhere from 14 acres-400 acres. I have access to two darn good fields which are good for atleast two birds per spring, and the other four farms are all wooded. I'll probably get out and start scouting next weekend.

[Caribou Dreamer2]

I will be hunting all public land ,No private land to hunt

[Ðe§perado™]

I'm going to hunt private, but will be looking into some public.

[Q2XL]

will be huntin public land but would like to find some private land to hunt down south

[lureboy98]

private land is all I hunt.

[Nut]

I will be doing both. I love Wolf Creek Wildlife Area for the primitive camping there and some of the private land I have access to is only 10 minutes away. Best of both worlds.

[george tinkham]

unless you have a large area on private i think public is better...if you don't have permission to hunt land around you turkey can be frustrating when you go after them and run out of property.i hunted public a lot on week days and pressure was not bad but look out on weekends

[Caribou Dreamer2]

I beat it does get hit hard on the weekends:(

[carpwarrior]

i hunt on private land in portsmouth, an my family has 30,000 acres in W.V.

[10 point]

I disagree with you george. See you're like a lot of people I talk to who say if you don't have a large tract of land it really isn't worth hunting on private land. One of the farms I hunt on is only 14 acres. There is land around it, but I don't have access to it, but I don't need to have access to all of it. These birds roost on the same ridge every night and fly down the same way just about every morning. I have watched these birds and they like to use this one peice of land that is only about 50 acres in size. There is probably 500 acres around me, but they love this one area, and that one area is where I hunt at. I went in there one day and heard 8 different birds on the 14 acres I could hunt. If all else fails and the other 5 farms I hunt aren't doing nothing, I'm going to that farm because the birds have a set pattern and they usually go by that. Just because the land is small, that doesn't mean it isn't no good.

[george tinkham]

but what happens when the birds won't come in and they move off the property...you don't have enough room to circle ahead unless you tresspass which i do not do...thats where i have problems hunting on 200acres

[LookMa-NoHands!]

I know where you are coming from George.

Last year, it was tough. Final day of the hunt, we finally had good weather. Heard some gobblin, called, closed the distance(3/4 of a mile), got a few hundred yards and we thought -this is gonna be cake! The birds were only one ridge away.

We went to the botton of the ridge-and there is a road! The birds were right across the road-gobblin their heads off-but there was nuthin we could do. Not enough land..........

:rolleyes:

[Aimrite]

I hunted a particular good producing farm for about 15 years. The last eight mostly bow hunting. After years of heavy gun harvest the population was down and I had place to myself for bow hunting for past 5 years. This year with the population up there were so many people I couldn’t hunt during bow season. I did go back during gun season and the farm was packed. Fortunately I had enough experience to out maneuver other hunters hunting deer escape routes.
In effect I was pushed off the farm and forced to go public for bowseason.
I went to WNF with George.
What I found on large tracks of public is there is room if you look, some more popular areas get heavy weekend pressure but you get back off the road you would be alone.

The name of this game is access, access, access, access. And you need to either know somebody or $$$$$$$$$ to gain it.
I’m saddened to see bow hunting turn into a money sport.

[Ðe§perado™]

CW, I hunt down that way. My family has a 150 arces just north of Ironton, up in Willowwood.

[Thunderflight]

Last Sunday I joined a lease to hunt 4,000 acres. It was going to be just me and one other hunter and all it cost me was $50.

Well that Monday I found out that I'll be deploying (back to Nevada) for three weeks in the middle of April. I called the land owner up and told him my situation. He is going to refund the money. I didn't see the point in paying the money if I could only hunt one or two weekends. All the local WMA's open on the 1st. I'm thinking of taking a few days off around the 3rd to hunt.

Thunderflight

[C.C.]

hey 10 point what public land are you talking about in SE ohio. i only hunt private around seaman/west union. its about 200 acres so after a couple of days pressure we have to back off and come back a day or two later. i would like to try public but not tranqulity to many people even durning the week (been there done that). help me if you can. thanks C.C.

[Lance]

I hunt both.

[mikenbow]

I hunt my own farm. I love it but the turkey is one critter where you have to stay mobile. You gotta move when they do. We all know how gobblin all of a sudden stops in your area and picks up two ridges over. Many times Ive followed birds right up to my prop line. I wont cross w/o permission. Either I call them back or I lose um. I can see where large tracks of public land can benefit a resourceful/dedicated turkey hunter in Ohio.

[carpwarrior]

Desperado, i have access to another farm in between Jackson and Ironton off of 92 then you go to co rd 24, it backs right up to W.N.Forest there is 183 acres there but 5 years ago they logged it and now its pretty trashed from the left over tree tops, and to find a roost ,,you have to go about 3 miles on foot in to the park , its just to far to walk first thing in the morning , besides i have to get up at 3:00am to get ther in time for the birds to come off the roost

[10 point]

I totally understand where you are coming from CC. I use to hunt my families farm and that is it. After about two days of hard hunting you have worked them birds pretty well. Now I have permission to hunt almost a different farm for everyday of the week. Some aren't as big as others, but I don't pressure birds that way. If I shoot one at one farm, I will give that farm a rest and hunt another farm and so on. The birds get less spooky that way. One farm that I hunt gets hunted by one other guy, besides that I have the rest to myself, as far as I know.

[shrivl]

I hunt in South Guernsey/North Noble Counties on Private land. Still have close friends and relatives who own land. They always keep an eye out for deer and turkeys and always provide me details since I don't get to scout before the season.

[george tinkham]

same here shriv...i'm really lucky to have come from the athens area,relatives own lots of property and then there are calls i get from some i know and some i don't that ask me if i want to hunt there property...i have never really went looking for private land to hunt...it just comes to me...only bad thing is i live in columbus so i have limited time and cant hunt most of them

[shrivl]

Shoot George I wish I only had to drive from Columbus to Pleasant City/Senecaville. The drive from North Metro Atlanta to 'home' ensures I use vacation time to hunt back there. I joined a hunting club down here and have to drive east of Athens Ga to hunt which is about an 1 1/2 drive. I have been leaving at 3 am to get down there before the birds get down out of the tree. This morning they did not start gobbling until 10:30. But I am really looking forward to April 28 when I can roll out of bed at my grandmothers, slip on my boots, grab my gun and be in the field in 15 minutes. Plan on doing some fishing in the afternoon at Ohio Powers Recreation land with my belly boat too. Aint no wonder I do have a wife and kids yet.

[george tinkham]

i understand col. is lots closer than houston tx where i used to live for bout 10yrs.

[10 point]

Man, I wish I had people coming to me wanting me to turkey hunt. I had to work my butt off for the private spots I have. I mean hours and hours of driving and knocking, driving and knocking.

[george tinkham]

believe it or not it creates a problem...i'm probably hunting the wrong property where the big boy is and i cant get around to all of em...sometimes i think you need to figure out which is the best and just stick with it but my problem is they all are good...

[Caribou Dreamer2]

Public land still no private land in southern ohio to hunt ,but why when the great state of Ohio gives my thousands of acres to hunt

[10 point]

That is very true CD. Some state land down there can be very productive. If you scout and can locate birds, you should be able to call one in on state. Since the state land down there is so big, scouting is a key.

[george tinkham]

i hunt public as much as private long as i can hunt where others don't bother me...there is just as much game on public

[Caribou Dreamer2]

I have seen alot of turkey and deer on public lands just need to get out there and find them put in the leg work.It took us about 5 years to figure out the deer in those hills but we got it now:D

[steveOh]

The past 8-10 years I have been hunting some private land that butts up to Mead in Hocking Co. Two years ago on opening day I was set up on Mead calling to a roosted Tom when another hunter approach. I hollered at him and he turned around and went back down the ridge. The Tom eventually flew down and went the other way opposite me. I left the area and a short time later I heard a pow! On my way back out of the woods after noon I went by the spot where the sound came from and I found feathers everywhere. The hunter shot the bird that I was after:mad:

Recently A friend of mine got permisssion for us to hunt some land in Scioto and also about 130 acres in Ross. The Scioto land is mostly pasture surrounded on two side with woods that we don't have permission to hunt. Last year we called in some turk's off the other propery but they wouldn't cross the fence into the pasture where our decoys were set up:(

We scouted the Ross land and it appears that there is evidence of other people hunting it for deer. I don't know if there is any turkey on the property.

For more deer and turkey hunting stories..check out my Homepage.....Good Luck this season...steveOh

[Caribou Dreamer2]

Ahh huntnig story it tough hunting grounds with other people but thats going to happen every now a then good luck this year,Had this happen several time huntnig deer in Zalaski but instead of hunters i have problems with those hikers.

[Q2XL]

need to make hikin off limits durin huntin season

[10 point]

Steve,
Deer and turkey are two very different things when it comes the boys down in SE Ohio. I hunt nothing but private land and almost every farm I hunt on I have found treestands and such, but last year I only ran into one turkey hunter out of five farms I hunt on. I have found that the local boys down there don't hunt turkeys, but they do hunt deer. Don't worry about treestands and such. I worried just like you are and then opening day came and nobody. I do hunt one farm that gets turkey hunted by one other guy besides me. The rest, as far as I know, I have to myself. And yes, if you are next to Mead land, watch out for hunters. Mead gets just as much pressure as the forests do in some areas. Down in SE Ohio the trespassers are really bad. The local boys down there in some areas think since they live next to some property they have the right to hunt it, trust me, I own land down there. Just about every year I run guys off of my 100+ acres down there. And almost all the time it's my neighbors, and they own 150 acres across the road, but they they want to hunt mine:confused: I've asked them year after year to hunt and they say no. If they would have said yes then I might be more cooperative, but since they won't let me hunt on theirs, by God if they're going to hunt on mine.

[george tinkham]

you hit the nail right on the head about locos,i mean locals trespassing ...it used to be in the 50s and 60s people hunted everywhere,landowners didnt care if you got on their property...many local hunters just cant adjust to the changes today

[Thunderflight]

Some day I'll have access to private land that had turkey's.... I did this year, but then Uncle Sam changed my deployment status...

TF

[10 point]

I've had about enough of the locals down there around mine and my dad's place. Every year I run the same guy off, it's gets old real quick. I'm going to start calling the cops. Also the dogs down there. People let their dogs run loose. I have reported this to the cops and they told me to just shoot them. So that's what I am going to start doing. It's rare that I run into one while hunting, but it does happen every once in a while. I was down scouting one year the day before the opener and I ran into this guy mushroom hunting on the back side of ours right on the fence line. I thought he was a pretty decent guy until he asked me about the treestand down in the creek bottom. I played dum and told him I didn't know whose it was(it's mine). He told me killed two deer out of that during bow season:mad: I then told him it was mine and if I ever caught him in it he would have the cops called on him. I haven't seen him since. Them guys down there want to walk all over yours, but they don't want you to step an inch on their place. It doesn't work like that.

[Thunderflight]

I think that's how it is all over the USA.

People buy thier own land to hunt on then they go and hunt on someone elses property....

TF

[george tinkham]

i would be real careful about shootin dogs(pets),i know of more than one person that has lost a place to hunt over this...you will find that country people are real close and many cases are relative,inlaw or just plain freind...if you shoot a dog ,chances are its a pet and belongs to a freind,you are history in that neck of the woods...word gits around quick for miles

[10 point]

I wouldn't ever shoot a dog unless I was on my own place. If I was on the other farms hunting I wouldn't. But if I see a dog on the farm, it's a gonner. My dad and uncle have the same point of view as I do. If they see one on the farm it's dead. When their dogs start missing, maybe they'll stop and think. Dogs will ruin a hunt big time. This past year during ML season I saw a doe running like a bat out of hell. About 200 yards behind her came this dog chasing her. I tried to shoot the dog, but I missed. This was on the farm. I know better not to shoot a dog on any other property because it might be the owners. But the dogs that run loose down next to me aren't poodles, there german shepards, rotweilert, etc, and they are mean. That is a good point through george, it could be the owners dog if you're hunting on land that isn't yours. That's why I would never shoot one if I was on other private land which gained access to.

[BigBird]

I live in Columbus but have to make a little drive to hunt public land that isn't over run and hope the scouting/time I put in works for me. I have permission to hunt some public land in Marysville during bow season I seen a real nice 12 point was out there the last week of bow and found a couple guys on the property bragging about the 12 point the shot there during muzzle loader that got me fired up. I asked if they had permission or even knew who owned the land they had no clue but they did have permission from an adjacent property thats there friend that is only 8 acres I made it clear for them to get written permission like I did and called the friend and made him aware that his friends were trespassing and had admitted to taking a dear on private property without permission.

[george tinkham]

public land is more like a competetion with you and the turk and other hunters too...private is mostly just you against the turk but you can run out of real estate quick unless you trespass