- Joined
- Apr 13, 2009
- Messages
- 1,562
- Location
- cental Pennsylvania
I know there are some Ohio guys here on the forums. I am looking for some advice, I would really appreciate any tips. Let me give you a little info on what I've been doing with some Ohio leases and what I would like to do in the future.
Two years ago my father and I decided the deer here in PA are just not getting the age and antlers we are wanting to hunt for, even with our 160 acres that we manage, when we tell the neighbors we are trying to get some age on our bucks. They say good, when you pass them up, that's another one for me to shoot. Not working, 160 acres is not enough to hold good numbers of bucks. We have not seen even one buck over 120 in the last 3 years on our property.
We started asking around and we were told Ohio is an excellent place to look into. We got a lease in Scotio county in fall of 2011. It was promised to be full of deer, big deer that haven't been hunted for years. we looked and agreed the ground had potential. I hunted there my first 7 trips, without seeing a deer! I seen very minimal activity during the rut, and my dad did take a 50 yard shot (unsuccessfully) at a 150" buck. We are serious about our scent control, we play the wind and try to eliminate our scent. We are not the most knowledgeable hunters, but we have a passion to try to go undetected by the nose of a whitetail, I have seen alot more deer back home since I got serious about good scent control tactics. We want to kill 3 year old bucks, we want a chance to see 120" and bigger, and just see lots of deer. Even does, we each have not killed does in a long time(6 years since my last doe) 10 years since my dad killed one, but still get enjoyment watching them. This past year, we once again got a majorly unsuccessful lease, very little deer, and the bucks that we actually seen there were to small. Really, Really tough. Even our trail cams revealed nothing but disappointment. I feel that we are completely responsible for the poor leases, we would go and look around, see some deer and take the (mostly false) info to heart and sign up for the lease.
I feel strongly that Ohio for the most part has the right mentality for shooting bucks, let them go, so they can grow! If you let them grow to 3 and 4 years olds before you harvest, You will never run out of 3 year olds to harvest!! When you shoot yearlings it takes 2 years to replace them (buttons first fall- one year old) I am very disappointed and convinced that PA may never have that attitude. I have dumped enough money into this the last 2 years that I will not do it ever again, unless I find a place with a genuine opportunity to shoot at a 3 year old. I don't expect it to be easy, but sitting for days on end and seeing little to no deer is getting tough, I can do that at home, lol. So anyone that can help please let me know, I don't know if anyone on here leases their ground, but maybe you have friends or family that you know that lease or allow management hunting at a fair cost. Distance from my home may be the only issue I have, but for now I am interested in any info I can get. Thanks
Two years ago my father and I decided the deer here in PA are just not getting the age and antlers we are wanting to hunt for, even with our 160 acres that we manage, when we tell the neighbors we are trying to get some age on our bucks. They say good, when you pass them up, that's another one for me to shoot. Not working, 160 acres is not enough to hold good numbers of bucks. We have not seen even one buck over 120 in the last 3 years on our property.
We started asking around and we were told Ohio is an excellent place to look into. We got a lease in Scotio county in fall of 2011. It was promised to be full of deer, big deer that haven't been hunted for years. we looked and agreed the ground had potential. I hunted there my first 7 trips, without seeing a deer! I seen very minimal activity during the rut, and my dad did take a 50 yard shot (unsuccessfully) at a 150" buck. We are serious about our scent control, we play the wind and try to eliminate our scent. We are not the most knowledgeable hunters, but we have a passion to try to go undetected by the nose of a whitetail, I have seen alot more deer back home since I got serious about good scent control tactics. We want to kill 3 year old bucks, we want a chance to see 120" and bigger, and just see lots of deer. Even does, we each have not killed does in a long time(6 years since my last doe) 10 years since my dad killed one, but still get enjoyment watching them. This past year, we once again got a majorly unsuccessful lease, very little deer, and the bucks that we actually seen there were to small. Really, Really tough. Even our trail cams revealed nothing but disappointment. I feel that we are completely responsible for the poor leases, we would go and look around, see some deer and take the (mostly false) info to heart and sign up for the lease.
I feel strongly that Ohio for the most part has the right mentality for shooting bucks, let them go, so they can grow! If you let them grow to 3 and 4 years olds before you harvest, You will never run out of 3 year olds to harvest!! When you shoot yearlings it takes 2 years to replace them (buttons first fall- one year old) I am very disappointed and convinced that PA may never have that attitude. I have dumped enough money into this the last 2 years that I will not do it ever again, unless I find a place with a genuine opportunity to shoot at a 3 year old. I don't expect it to be easy, but sitting for days on end and seeing little to no deer is getting tough, I can do that at home, lol. So anyone that can help please let me know, I don't know if anyone on here leases their ground, but maybe you have friends or family that you know that lease or allow management hunting at a fair cost. Distance from my home may be the only issue I have, but for now I am interested in any info I can get. Thanks