Public land questions

[Wylde E]

Oklahoma archery permit is good for non resident 0ct -Jan 15. The WMA’s have certain times they are closed during this time frame. They will be closed 2 days for a muzzleloader draw hunt and 2 days for a rifle draw hunt (normally last 2 days of rifle season). Also they are closed the first 9 days of rifle season.
A few public land areas require additional permits.
You will need a permit to access WMA’s outside of deer season.
The non resident archery license is also you access permit for most WMA’s that is why you don’t have to purchase you for say cross timbers that you mentioned but would have to have a WMA permit if you wanted to go “hike”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[toomuchsun]

I am new to public hunting as in the past I owned huntable land and/or had friends with large tracts and freebie or chore hunts. Good is the vast majority are awesome folks sharing the space with respect and doing best we can to cooperate use of the land. We will possibly accidentally interrupt someones hunt but just move away promptly. We can scout early, try to get to know the some of the nice folks and work together. Its public land, a bird watcher may walk right up to your hideout. All fun. Please be patient.
No individual owns it. We all you share it.

[hopedale]

This is an interesting and always intense topic.

I have public hunted for about 5 years now. Each year, I have gotten better at it. Each year something happens that I wasn't expecting and I learn from it and apply what I have learned the following year or perhaps that year if I have time left in the season.

First and foremost. It's called "hunting", not "shooting". Just because your out there, doesn't mean you come home with something. I enjoy being out there because I love the outdoors. If I don't get a deer, I'm still happy that I was able to go.

When I first started, I didn't understand scouting. I can say I am much farther along than when I began, but I have a lot to learn. To me, scouting is part of the whole hunting campaign. Knowing what to look for and then finding it is very exciting to me. The use of technology (scouting apps, gps, trail cameras) are an awesome tool when trying to determine where you will be hunting. The goal with public hunting is to increase the percentages that you will get an opportunity to harvest that deer. Might be a legal buck. Might be a spike. Might be a doe. But for me, the opportunity on public ground to harvest a deer resides on whether or not I put in the time to scout the area.

Boots on the ground are invaluable. Spend time in that area.
Trail cameras are also invaluable (you can place them so you limit theft).
I have invested in a thermal monocular which to me is the game changer. I used to scan for hours on end with binoculars hoping to see a shred of movement. Now, once I see a heat signature, that's a wrap!

You also want to come up with your "own" system for getting your gear out to the area/tree. I started with just a bag chair. Then I bought a climbing stand and would carry that out. Now I have a nice game cart that will carry all my stuff out. It's a progression thing.

I could go on and on but this is a short version of how I typically experience public hunting.

My experience has been almost identical. This is the best write up and summary of public hunting in Texas that I’ve read.

Excellent post.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree. Spot on write up.

[hopedale]

You can download the APH book from the TPWD website without buying the permit.

The APH book as a key index for each region and you can quickly see what game can be hunted on the WMA Seee page 3 Region 1 - Panhandle to see what I'm talking about.

Download link - https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/...7000_0112a.pdf

You also look at the online map, but there is no key index. You'll have to click on the WMA and open the pdf to see what you can hunt. But what I like about the online map is you can see where the WMA is located. Which you can then determine how far away it is.

http://tpwd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c9788957300943559f7b49206e8ef153

[lmartin5]

Very good public land access in Nebraska


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk