I am a lucky guy and am thankful to have some old friends that have land where we can hunt. That being said, I do enjoy seeing new places and am willing to put in the time to see new vistas. If you like to see new places, or don’t have anywhere else to hunt, planning trips on public land can be a lot of fun. For me, the key to a successful trip is planning.
Public lands can be vast places, and if you don’t have a plan before you get there, you very well might find yourself spinning your wheels just to get started. There are some simple (and free) things you can do ahead of time to plan your trip so that it is enjoyable and increases your chances of success.
Know your animals
I am not saying that you need to put on a bear suit and hang out in a cave for a few months, but a rudimentary understanding of animal behavior and patterns during the time of year you will be out is invaluable. This information is readily available for free at a variety of websites; here is one I often start with: https://animalia.bio/axis-deer. By understanding what your animals will be doing at a particular time of year, you will be armed with information about the habitat they will likely be found in.
Know your people
For me, part of the hunting experience is being with pals. To this end, particularly when covering rugged terrain, it is good to know the capabilities of those in your party. If your friend has a bad knee, or any number of other ailments, it might affect the ability to access certain places on the map. It would be an exercise in futility to do a bunch of mapping and pre-planning only to get somewhere and realize that half the group can’t make the hike.
Know your land
This is an incredibly fun part of the trip for me, but I like maps. You can do all of this for free (I use Google Earth Pro) or you can choose a pay option (I do subscribe to ON-X Hunt, which is pretty good). First, I get a map of the unit I will be in, then I take the perimeter of that area and put it in Google Maps. From there, I take my notes from my animal research (and the people research) and start to identify areas where I think we might have success. In addition to marking promising locations, I try to mark the insertion point, calculate the hiking distance to the hunting grounds, and identify enough shooting lanes for everyone to have a good angle and cover a lot of ground.
Have a plan, but be willing to abandon it
While having a plan is great, in this world the only constant is change. If we have a few areas selected to hunt over a 3-day trip, but on day one we are seeing all kinds of signs there may not be a reason to move to location 2 the next day. I usually make choices on the fly based on what I think will give us the best chance of success.
Talk to the locals
We usually cook at camp. Part of the reason of getting out of town is to….well, get out of town. However, if a local diner or coffee spot is easily accessible it can be helpful to pop in and talk to the locals. You might meet someone who has been hunting around the area for generations. Getting them to share anything is another matter, but I have found that if they understand you actually care about the outdoors and don’t plan on broadcasting and tips to the entire world, they are willing to give up a little info. For example, last time I was out I learned about an exotic round up that had happened (which diminished my chances of seeing Axis), but that the Aoudad were still fairly prevalent in a particular area and were following a fairly predictable pattern. I would never have learned this from my desktop.
Have fun
This probably goes without saying, but we do all this work because ostensibly it is fun. My time on the water or in the woods is all about the action not the take. Spending time in quiet contemplation, spending time with friends, and just enjoying nature all make every trip rewarding even if I don’t have an opportunity to put a biscuit in the basket.
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