Western States Public Land Deer Hunting

[OUTSIDER]

I know this is a long shot...but does anyone have any information (personal experience) of the opprotunities, deer quality, general expectations, etc of Western States Public Land Deer Hunting. I ask this because the only public land hunting i have experience with is here in the east where it can get rather crowded rather fast. I am particularily interested in Deer (whitetail/muledeer). I am looking into some public land hunts out west DIY in the coming years. Thanks for your efforts.

[fly]

Not sure how far West you want to go?

Here in IL there is a lot of public land hunting in the Shawnee National Forest. The biggest problem is getting to the best hunting areas. One has to walk a mile or so to get away from the high pressured areas and in most of the National Forest no motorized vehicles of any type are allowed. In some areas marked as "primitive" pull carts are not even allowed.

You may also want to look into the Daniel Boone National Forest in KY as well.

[OUTSIDER]

I am talking the rockies, heck even pacific northwest for blacktails. I am not much on elk and such, just deer crazy.

[ruttinbuc]

You would have to really research each state you might be interested in. Not all public land is created equal and you still might need to draw a tag for that Unit or Zone. Check into Bureau of Land Management lands as well as the land in control of the Army Corp of Engineer. There is a lot to look through if you make the effort. It does help to get a point in the right direction by the locals, but still need to go through the hoops.

[OUTSIDER]

I am very familiar with land issues, i work in land development/engineering so i get to sort them out all the time. I am gonna study into it more very soon. Thanks!

[pointing_dogs_rule]

I usually hunt the Blackhills of Wyoming each year (took last year off). There is plenty of public land hunting in the Blackhills of Wyoming (Apply for a region A tag). You can check this out on the Wyoming website.

Note: the deer hunting is cyclical in this region. Some years it has lots of deer and some years it has very few. This year beause of all the rain and green vegetation the deer stayed really high and very few deer were seen early on.

It also depends on whether you are archery or gun hunting.

good luck to all

the dog

[Whitetail Freak Hunter]

I hunt all over NW Montana on public land mostly, and no you will not have to wade thru a bunch of other hunters. You may see some orange vest here and there, but there is so much vastness, that you can not believe how alone you are.

http://fwp.mt.gov/default.html

[OUTSIDER]

Thanks for the responses, Whitetail Freak Hunter, what quality of deer do you usually encounter....keep in mind that i want to get away from people, i am in shape, young, and do not mind to get out early and hike miles in if need be. I do not want to know any exact areas, i just want to know that if i ever do get to do it that there is an opprotunity to hike back in, get away from people and have something bigger than a small basket rack 8pt to shoot. I looked on the website you gave me, and there is a wealth of data there for me to sort through, so i thank you for that. Thanks for everyone's input.

[Whitetail Freak Hunter]

Thanks for the responses, Whitetail Freak Hunter, what quality of deer do you usually encounter....keep in mind that i want to get away from people, i am in shape, young, and do not mind to get out early and hike miles in if need be. I do not want to know any exact areas, i just want to know that if i ever do get to do it that there is an opprotunity to hike back in, get away from people and have something bigger than a small basket rack 8pt to shoot. I looked on the website you gave me, and there is a wealth of data there for me to sort through, so i thank you for that. Thanks for everyone's input.

Here is a picture of last years bucks, mine is the smaller of the 2 in the back of the truck. I did not get a chance to take a picture of my son in laws buck after he shot it, but it was very heavy, with mine being slightly less. This hunt was on private land owned by his grandmother east of me.

His buck was a 5x6 with a broken tine, and mine was a 5x6 as well.

You can get way back away from other hunters in my area, and if you would like I can get you some maps from the US Forestry for my area that will provide you with forestry roads, and show where the gates are.

[OUTSIDER]

Those are some quality deer, thanks for the infor, as for your maps, thats quite alright, i will dig up spots eventually, i just was interested as to what type of potential the areas had, i know that elk and mulies are targeted by many folks, and i have always suspected that their may be a terrific whitetail quality to be had. Again, nice deer and thanks.