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welcome to the site
I have no experience in where your at now, so cannot compare it to any other area
typically the heavier hunted the area the younger the deer there will be, same can be said as how easy it is for hunters to get in and out, easy spots get the most pressure and older smarter deer tend to avoid them places, leaving the young and the dumber to test there luck!
the real key to any public land hunting , is getting away from the crowds best you can, that tends to mean hunting farther back, or in difficult spots to get int and out of, be its super steep hill sides covered in torn bushes, super thick thickets, swamps, or really far hikes in
Ohio holds big deer throughout the state, so big deer can be found any where in ohio, BUT some places are better than others, the key here tends to revolve around the basic's a mature deer needs
and that will be safety, food, water and cover
find that, and you will find a lace a mature deer will be
break them things down more, and it works like this, and and to me in this order
GOOD FOOD, find good food, and you will find deer eating it, NOW it might only be , being eaten at night, if it lacks cover and safety
SO< that means you need to find great food that a deer can eat in day time and feel safe, to hunt a food source!
Cover/ Find cover between a GREAT food source and said cover, and odds are you have a great place top set up in
IF you can get in and OUT without spooking the deer and teaching them your there, and thats a HUGE part of it, as if deer are in the food when you leave and you have to walk out that way and bust them, this GOOD spot will be bad FAST, as NO smart older clas deer will tolerate that long, and will just learn to come and eat in the dark after you leave!
so being able to get IN and out without ruining this area is KEY!
Water, a deer will drink water through out the day in HOT weather, bust since we tend to hunt in fall, a deer can NOT need water as often, BUT when water is closer to cover and safety, you can set up between the two, and it too can be a great spot
I tend to see a lot of deer drink water before they feed, over after say.
SO< setting up near water come evening, is a good idea
I also see deer drink water a lot before bedding down for the day, making a water set a good morning place too!
hunting near bedding area's can be great but never easy, as I think most mature deer bed with younger deer , and the younger deer are like alarm systems for older deer, the younger one's tend to NOT get the best beds and get busted first, and once you bust them, the older one's know your there.
in heavy farm land, bedding areas can be far and few and easier to find and set up in between beds and food and them places can be gold mines for hunters
Hunting is a sport that in all honestly, you get out of it what you pout into it, FINDING a good place to hunt, is part of the challenge. you can settle for a so so place and have so so success/kills, and be happy, or you can always keep looking for better and have so so luck, TILL you find that great place/
private land access is still possible by asking, its getting harder, but its still possible/ NOW is a great time to be asking, NOT waiting till hunting season is close. and BY asking, I mean asking friends and family if they know any land owners, and from there following up with a personal visit, NOT a phone call, text or e mail!
be up front honest and polite.
after that you can try knocking on doors in area's you see places you like
next, you can try local game wardens in areas you like, many times they know of farmers with crop damage , and these farmers might be willing to allow you to some and kill a few deer, even if ONLY doe, it gets your foot in the door and MAYBE down the road, you can kill a buck, it takes giving on both sides to get access some times, good things come to those who wait some times??
NO one is going to pin point a spot or place to hunt on public land on an open forum, as doing so, will ruin that spot fast, as you say where it is, and in the future you will have company there, and that nice low pressure spot is NOW a high pressured spot due to you told everyone in an open forum.
NOTHING beats boot time on the ground to look at places
BUT Google earth can be a huge tool
find area's look them over, print out maps with spots marked you want to look at , and GO there and look
hunting is that HUNTING< be it hunting for a deer a turkey or a SPOT to hunt, its all part of hunting
the more you hunt, the better your odds are of getting rewarded with finding what your after!
Good luck, and welcome to the site
