Now it is off to Pokagon! UPDATE

[Deleted]

Heading out in a couple hours to hunt Pokagon State Park tomorrow.

I have never been there. There is an informational meeting this afternoon, then my buddy and I hope to go out and scout around a little.

We are staying at the Potowatomi Inn there in the park tonight then up and at them at first light in the morning. We are only hunting Monday.

I am hoping for a good hunt and hopefully a little elbow room. The other state park hunt I hunted a couple years ago (Summit Lake), I had a guy come in and set up 40 yards from me. Of course it was ME that ended up having to move.

Anyway, I am looking forward to a new experience, hopefully it will be a good one. The weather looks great up there...high of 38 with a chance of snow.

[trophyhunter1]

good luck on the hunt...kill a big one!

[evolutionsthunder]

enjoy your hunt

[Deleted]

Pokagon was very close to being a frustrating bust yesterday, then, it got much better.

My buddy and I got there Sunday afternoon and found our spots and hung our climbers. We chose spots about 200 yards apart hunting different hollows.

We were the first ones out yesterday morning and were set up and ready at 6am, a full hour and a half before shooting time.

Then, I had a guy come in and set up 70 yards right behind me. My buddy and I both saw him coming and both flashed our lights at him from our stands multiple times, but he just ignored us and set up anyway.

7:30 came and we didn't see anything or hear any shots for quite a while. Then about 9 o'clock I catch movement 100 yards out in front of me...it is two yahoos in orange stalking along a trail. They walked around a few minutes and disappeared.

Then about 10:00am, I hear crunching behind me and low and behold it is two OTHER yahoos trying some sort of 2 man drive, one came through 20 yards to my right and one 20 yards to my left. I was staring down the guy to my right in disbelief, he looked up and said "sorry" and proceeded right on, tramping right through my set up. I can't believe how utterly selfish some guys are. You get there early, do your homework, scout a spot, claim your spot, hang your stand, get their early on the hunt morning, and then a bunch of guys decide they will "run and gun" their way through and spoil everyone else's hunts.

I sat there fuming, thinking about hanging it up, but hoping that some of the idiots who were walking around would kick deer our way.

I called my buddy and we decided we would stick it out until 1pm.

At 12 noon, I turned to my right and saw two does running right towards my buddy's stand. I waited for a shot, and sure enough, BLAM. He dropped one of the two does. He was using a muzzy so he could only take the one. I was so happy that our trip ended on a high note...that we were rewarded for hunting the right way.

They weighed his doe at the check in area and she weighed 95 pounds field dressed...a nice healthy doe.

In the future, if I hunt State Parks, I am going to do some "reverse scouting", in other words, find out where nobody wants to hunt and then hunt there. Hunting were people traditionally see deer in these parks is a frustrating proposition. I would rather see few deer and no hunters than tons of hunters and a few deer.

[Decatur]

At least it wasn't a total bust!

[Woody Williams]

I had a similar problem at Prophetstown.

With the help of a couple members here we scouted and I hung my stand the morning of the first day that we could hang stands there. We all looked all over this small area to see where the best place to hang the stand.

I hung a Loc On Super Spirit and used climbing sticks to do it. I locked these on the tree. It was not hard at all to see them.

The morning of the hunt Woodmaster dropped me off at a temporary parking lot close to where I could l walk straight in about 300 yards to my stand. As I was getting ready another vehicle pulled into the lot. When I was ready to start my walk in I asked the other hunter where he was hunting.

He said," Straight back about 50 yards from the park boundary."

Hmm?

I said," Really? I'll be back behind the house that the DNR burned down Saturday.

He said," I've got a stand there." as if to tell me it was his spot.

I told him I had hung my stand there the first Saturday that we were allowed to and there was no other stands there at that time. He said," I did not see any other stands when I hung mine".

I said," Then you did not look as it was in plain sight. I was there first."

Thinking that he would go somewhere else I went on in. About 45 minutes later here comes a light through the field. He actually missed his stand and walked onto private land (land that Electrician has permission to hunt) before he turned around and found his stand. It was no more than 50 yards from me. My shining my flashlight a him did no good. I was whizzed...

I had texted Woodmaster and Electrician and told them I had "company." After Woodmaster killed his buck he texted me and asked me if I wanted to come hunt his place as no one else was there. I pulled out of there at about 9 CDT.

Before I left I walked over to the yo-yos stands and said," Sure is a lot of fun gun hunting 50 yards from each other wasn't it? Next time look for other stands before you hang yours."

To top it off this guy took a dump next to his car in the temporary parking lot which was a a blocked off lane of the main road.

Double worthless act....





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[INDeerhunter]

Yeah I hunt on public land myself and its hard to find a spot that others arent already huntin, I have already started workin on mxt yrs plans, gettin maps usin the internet, scoutin, and movin around a few different areas in my public grounds to find a spot that holds the deer but doesnt hold the majority of the hunters. Luckily I found a spot right b4 gun season opened were there was a lot of deer sign and few signs of other hunters and managed to kill a 9 pointer and seen numberous lil bucks and some does. Its out there on public land u just have to find the right spot and hunt it on the right day and right time, lol. put in the effort and it will pay off. Good luck and atleast u all did score a nice doe ! Congrats on that