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Hunting public land

Hello, I am Kenny and I am from Maryland. I am looking to come to Ohio in the 2014 season to bowhunt whitetail. I plan on making a few trips out to do some scouting so I am not in the dark. Any suggestions on public land in southeast Ohio to look at first. I am not looking for your honeyhole or to step on any feet. I will find my own honeyhole, but just looking for some ideals. I was looking at the Dillon area and Sunday Creek. I would like to be neaer the Athens area. That would be the closest area for me to travel. I am looking to make afew friends along the way. Thanks for any input.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
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Ohio
Welcome to TOO, Kenny.

I know this is going to sound like a vague response, but pretty much anywhere you go in SE Ohio you're going to run into public land of some sort... and good deer can be found throughout. Dillon and Sunday Creek are good starting points. I would also look into Wolf Creek Wildlife Area. Make a couple scouting trips and I think you'll find what you're looking for. IMO you should come as soon as possible before green-up. Right now is the ideal time of year to scout... The woods are open so you can see everything, and the sign is all still relatively fresh. Good luck.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
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Ohio
Welcome to the site. I am also from NW Ohio and little help. What I hear is nothing more than second hand opinions. Where one guy might hunt Dillon or Sunday Creek and complain of no deer, the next might tell you it was the best hunting he ever saw. I think a lot of it has to do with the legwork you put forth. Best of luck!
 

ImpalaSSpeed96

Junior Member
561
60
NJ
Stay away from Dillon. It gets hammered with guys and unless you go to the back side, which requires a ton of work just to get into, it's a waste of time IMO. Can you kill a good deer there, sure. I wouldn't waste my time there. Wolf creek is a place I've wanted to check out for a while. Get online and try to find smaller parcels. They are typically overlooked and a few are tough to get to. There is a ton of land to hunt on AEP grounds. But it's tough to get into, very rugged.
 
Thanks for any information. I have been checking out maps and things on DNR. I am doing a hunt this coming season on the eastern shore of Maryland on public land so My best hunting buddy and I are coming to your state to try it out next season. We want to make some scouting trips and hopefully meet some new friends to share the experience with. I appreciate the help.
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
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SW Ohio
Welcome to the site Kenny. Great advise above already by the guys. I'd check out the WNF or Strouds since they are closest to Athens. Good luck.
 

Ricer2231

Senior Member
Stay away from Dillon. It gets hammered with guys and unless you go to the back side, which requires a ton of work just to get into, it's a waste of time IMO. Can you kill a good deer there, sure. I wouldn't waste my time there. Wolf creek is a place I've wanted to check out for a while. Get online and try to find smaller parcels. They are typically overlooked and a few are tough to get to. There is a ton of land to hunt on AEP grounds. But it's tough to get into, very rugged.

Welcome to TOO. I was going to suggest the same thing along the lines of AEP. There is a ton of ground down there and you can stop at about any of the small stores down there and pick up maps of the area. I have hunted a lot of the AEP ground and there is some great deer in that area. My ex father in law used to work there and he knew the place like the back of his hand. I second the notion of staying away from Dillon, it really does get hammered. I live 10 minutes from there and have no desire to be anyways close to it from October on. There is also the option of Salt Fork but it gets hammered too. It still may be worth a look though. Salt Fork is about 30 minutes west of Wheeling and has a website if ya want to check that out.
www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/saltfork/.../ ...
Hope this helps ya out a little.
 

buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
Welcome to the site Kenny, Gotta agree with Ricer, I have bow hunted Salt fork, alot of land and parcels can be found to hunt that aren't busy up until gun season then its a mad house! There is always acouple of nice bucks taken there during the year. And let me advise ya, the speed limit in the whole park is 35 MPH no matter where ya are, trust me.
 

Ricer2231

Senior Member
What is the aep area

American Electric Power. It's the old coal mining ground in the Cumberland area. Actually it covers a lot more than the Cumberland area but that's kinda the heart of it. It is a huge area that covers many square miles. You can stop at Sis's Carry Out just about 5 miles north of Cumberland and get a lot of good info about all the AEP ground e. g. maps, local info, and not to mention some darn good homemade subs.
 

ImpalaSSpeed96

Junior Member
561
60
NJ
There are a few tracts that AEP owns. The one I checked out was out in Muskingum. Plenty of places to get in and get away from people, that's what I liked about it. I can assure you, if you scout and hunt Dillon, you will be severly disappointed. I have a aquaintance of a friend who hunted Salt Fork and saw a ton of deer and few people. It's an early muzzy spot though, which turns me off. WNF and Shawnee are both huge, but get pounded pretty good from what I hear. Burr Oak is down in Athens, though I know nothing about it.

This is my state land buck from 2012. Not the biggest or what I was out to shoot, but I was ready to go home after 3 days on stand lol. It's not much fun to hunt by yourself.... I'm moving, or I would meet up with you to go scout. But I'm heading back east myself, Jersey, next month.
 

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buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
Thanks alot guys. I will check salt fork. anyone want to go along when we make our trek out to scout?

I would join ya Kenny but I'm not quite up to full speed yet and I dont think the Dr. would approve a walk in the woods yet, lol, when ya go to Salt Fork stop at the ranger station , its right after ya enter the park on the right, they have maps and all and depending what ranger is there you might get some good info out of them too
 

Ricer2231

Senior Member
I would join ya Kenny but I'm not quite up to full speed yet and I dont think the Dr. would approve a walk in the woods yet, lol, when ya go to Salt Fork stop at the ranger station , its right after ya enter the park on the right, they have maps and all and depending what ranger is there you might get some good info out of them too

I also have a good friend that used to be a ranger there. He stays in tight with the rangers now and is always up on what's hot and what's not. Once ya get a little closer to hunting time I will try to get some inside info for ya.
I also have a friend that I work with that used to be a ranger at Seneca Lake. That may be worth a look too. You could stop in at the main marina/ campgrounds and get some info there. It's only about 35-40 minutes south of Salt Fork. I will assure you that Salt Fork does not get hit near as hard as Dillon. Dillon gets some of the Columbus hunters too being as it is only 45 minutes from the east side.



Buckbuster you need to get healed up so you and I can do some shooting. ;)