Hunting whitetails is always a challenge — no matter the location. But hunting them on public land often adds increased obstacles that deer hunters on private land rarely need to worry about. More deer hunters, small-game and bird hunters, hikers, dog-walkers and others come and go as they please on many public properties, as is their right to. All of this human activity adds up to put a lot of pressure on deer, and can diminish the odds of successfully filling a tag. Luckily, it’s not all doom and gloom, because there is plenty of good hunting to be found on public lands.
Keeping a low profile on public hunting land can go a long way in finding consistently good deer hunting in otherwise pressured areas. The author’s 2018 archery buck was taken on a 40-acre piece of public land, and no other hunters were in the area. (Photo credit Chris Berens)
An important aspect of finding success on public lands is keeping a low profile and not drawing unwanted attention to yourself, not only from deer, but from other hunters and public-land users. Staying “out of sight, out mind” will go a long way toward finding and keeping good hunting spots to yourself.
Remember, you’re not only hunting the deer, you’re also competing with everyone else for the best spots to hunt. By doing your best to stay undetected you can avoid alerting hard-hunted deer and bumping into other hunters. It should go without saying that legal, ethical hunting practices must be adhered to. Anything less is unacceptable.
Here is the first of a short six-part series of tactics to stay under the radar when hunting on public land.
Keep a Low Profile
Deer hunters obviously need a mode of transportation to reach their hunting spots, and whether that vehicle is a pickup truck, SUV or car, it doesn’t really matter as long as it doesn’t scream to everyone that goes by, “Hey I’m hunting deer here!”
Camouflage accessories or paint jobs will definitely draw attention to your vehicle, and to a lesser extent so will a bunch of hunting-related decals of gear manufacturers and big bucks. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with showing off your passion for deer hunting in whatever way you want, but this might not always be the attention you want when parked at an out-of-the-way hunting spot that other people don’t know about.
The same goes for large suspension-lifted trucks with loud exhaust and huge tires. Again, absolutely nothing wrong with modifying a truck, but remember it’ll often draw unwanted attention — notably when resonating exhaust tones wake up the neighbors (and probably alert a few deer) at 4:00 in the morning.
