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Need some help #6916761 10/11/17 05:01 PM
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B Razorback Offline OP
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Alright so here is my scenario. I am a college student at the University of Arkansas and I've always been a big bow hunter. With that said, not many of my buddies have private land to hunt, so I am forced to hunt public. This public place I go to is about an hour north east of Fayetteville. It is a generally nice place. The state has planted foot plots in some places for us to hunt, but I'm sure they get a lot of pressure later on in the season. I'm not use to hunting in these hills so I'm not sure what to look for. Should I be hunting the food plots? Should I hunt tucked back into the woods somewhere? Of course I know I need to scout more, but it's hard to do that with school and everything. Also, what do y'all normally hunt out of on public land? Last time we just sat on the ground, but Arkansas has a pretty dumb tick problem. My buddy bought a pop up blind last week and I was thinking about getting a hang on tree stand. I just wanted to ask everyone in here because y'all have a lot more experience than I do. I'm stuck in the library studying so I'll be keeping up with this post. Thank you for the help!


You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas! -Davy Crocket
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Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6916768 10/11/17 05:10 PM
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There is no real right or wrong answer, best way to figure it out is to be in the field hunting.

Since you are limited on when you can scout, I would try to hunt places that I could see distances and I would hunt areas that allowed me to walk through areas of interest that I found on maps. While walking to the stand, pay attention to animal and human activity alike to see where and how they are traveling.

The food plots will depend on the human pressure applied to them and like you guessed, I would assume they would get a lot pressure. If I decided to hunt these areas, I would try to find a staging area that the deer might use before feeding at night.

As far as pop-up versus tree stand, I would pick the one that I could see the best out of. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, so I would lean toward being able to hunt and scout at the same time. Meaning, if the cover is low, use the tree stand. If the cover is mainly high, use the pop-up.

Good luck cheers


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Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6916804 10/11/17 05:47 PM
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Thank you txshntr for the help! Now when it comes to these hilly environments, where do deer normally bed? The field that we hunted before was next to this really steep ridge and in-between the ridge and the field was a river bed. I would assume deer bed in that area, but I'm clueless.


You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas! -Davy Crocket
This is duck hunting...shirts and shoes are optional
Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6916818 10/11/17 05:56 PM
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Originally Posted By: B Razorback
Thank you txshntr for the help! Now when it comes to these hilly environments, where do deer normally bed? The field that we hunted before was next to this really steep ridge and in-between the ridge and the field was a river bed. I would assume deer bed in that area, but I'm clueless.


Without knowing the terrain and the vegetation of your area, it is only a guess, so the advice is worth about what you paid for it grin

For the most part, the whitetail are a creature of comfort and will take the easiest path. A steep ridge isn't going to be a high travel route, but if the hills are big enough and there are "thermals" the deer will use those to detect danger from above or below when bedding around steeper terrains.

Try to find saddles where the steep ridges are at the lowest point and allow a less steep entrance and exit. These will be travel routes that might point you in the direction of feeding/bedding.

For bedding, it is going to be depend on the vegetation and terrain. Some deer prefer the more open areas with small thick cover, some prefer thick cover and some want to be on the side of an open hill. I have seen river bottoms be hit and miss with bedding. I guess what I am saying is that I don't know rofl

In thick, hilly terrain they will bed in a lot of different places. Some high, some low, some at the bases and some in the river bottoms. If you find the bedding, stay out of it and make sure your wind stays out of it. Hunt the edges and trails that lead in and out of it.


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Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6916847 10/11/17 06:14 PM
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If you're hunting the food sources, you'll probably get your hunt ruined by someone else trying to hunt the same place. I would look for pinch points and funnel's leading to staging areas... Just my two cents.. Best of luck to ya on school and the hunting..

Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6917613 10/12/17 10:59 AM
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I'm from AR and I used to work up around Fayetteville and have driven back all over the backwoods. If it were me I'd get a tree stand. If you are going to bow hunt on public land I would look for trails heading to the food plots and hunt those. I'd also be looking for scrape lines etc while walking thru the woods. There's some beautiful country up there! Be careful of the locals cuz some of them act as if they own the public land...I know my Paw Paw did!

Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6919941 10/14/17 04:22 AM
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Yeah those food plots are probably hunted hard and the deer will probably stay in the wood line till after legal shooting hours. Do they have some pretty straight trees where you could use a climbing stand? If they do then look for the trails going to the food source. At least 40 yards in from the food plots and put some biodegradable trail tape around trees that would be good for a climbing stand. Find a couple of them so you can switch your game plan if the wind is blowing in a different direction that day. Look for areas to get in without disturbing their trails.

Then get up high off the ground in the stand. Get up at least 20' and you should get a deer. Don't disturb the area by putting Doe pee on scent pads or use any kind of lures. Just keep your scent down and make sure you pick a high spot for your stand placement so they don't wind you from a hill. Use all these other hunters to your advantage if they seem to spook the deer. I used to live up north and the state where I lived, didn't have any limit to the amount of hunters on WMA's so you would have hunters all over the place and the best way to get a tag filled was to hunt the outskirts of these hunters. Because all the deer would forage 40 yards plus away from all of them till they came down from their tree stands lol. Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes for you.

Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6923798 10/17/17 07:03 PM
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Will do! Thanks for the help everyone. Plan on buying a hang on tree stand on Thursday and hunting sunday after I finish all of my tests


You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas! -Davy Crocket
This is duck hunting...shirts and shoes are optional
Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6923815 10/17/17 07:18 PM
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You might try looking at Google Maps and get an aerial view of the land you are hunting. You might be able to identify some spots to look closer at when you scout. It may identify areas to look at or at least areas not to.

Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6923872 10/17/17 08:08 PM
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Arkansas ticks ain't no joke buddy! Hunted outside of Mena one time and they were thicker than the scrub oaks


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"Life's complicated, man, like a dang ol' Rubik's cube, man. Talkin' 'bout blue and red, man. Dang ol' get one side, dang ol' messed up th' other side, man."

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Re: Need some help [Re: B Razorback] #6924212 10/18/17 01:23 AM
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The only advice I would give you on hunting public land is when you think you have gone far enough in, go farther. A lot of public land hunters won't go more than three or four hundred yards, either thru laziness or afraid to get lost. Get you a compass at the very least and head out.

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