Fun Eastern Hunts

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CornFedCoon

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Joined
Oct 15, 2015
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Location
Central Ohio
Hello all,

A couple friends and I have been kicking around the idea of doing a long weekend type hunt this fall/winter. We are from Ohio so in order to maximize hunting time instead of driving time we are looking for something relatively close to do. I wanted to see if anybody here would recommend a certain hunt that you have been on that was particularly fun. We are open to all species and are just looking to spend some time together and see a new area.

Any info you're willing to offer up is greatly appreciated!
 
Ditto the hogs, especially southern GA if its doable. Also the big woods of the northeast are awesome. You can definitely get a western feel of being away from civilization. You can try for big whitetails or for more fast paced fun, go after sbowshoe hares or grouse. You can hunt with or without dogs and still be successful. The snowshoes will be white by thanksgiving and stand out like a sore thumb if there's no snow.

Also bears in several places. Maine offers some reasonable hunts over bait in late summer early fall if that can work.
 
You'll need more then a long weekend with bears. Try maybe Turkeys or Waterfowl too
 
Here I thought Ohio was a whitetail destination!?! haha The bear hunting in North Central PA has been pretty good the last few years but not a great rate of success.
 
One on my short list is ruffed grouse somewhere in the Upper Midwest. Another that would be doable in the weekend would be a late winter/early snow goose hunt in IL/MO. Probably have to go guided for that, but the prices I've seen are more than reasonable.

Not sure the success rate would be very good, but I plan on hitting Maryland sometime to try for sika deer.
 


I've done the southeast WMA hog hunting thing a few times now. Here's one another guy in the group got in 2015. It weighed 215lbs, shot in a big woods WMA/National Forest in Tennessee. I've also hunted an WMA in Alabama, had pigs in close but just after dark. For more flexibility, look into hunting them with "small game weapons" during "squirrel" season. I've used my inline muzzleloader to hunt "squirrels" when I'm really hog hunting. That opens up a lot more days you can hunt the WMAs.
 
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A cast (muskies) and blast (ruffed grouse, ducks, goose) in the northern 1/3 of Wisconsin or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan would be fun. Plenty of places to camp and lots of public land. If you were interested in archery deer you would need a lot more time than a long weekend. Heck, you could hunt your butt off the whole season and not be successful on public land. So, if you are looking at big game I would look elsewhere.
 
CornFedCoon said:
Hello all,

A couple friends and I have been kicking around the idea of doing a long weekend type hunt this fall/winter. We are from Ohio so in order to maximize hunting time instead of driving time we are looking for something relatively close to do. I wanted to see if anybody here would recommend a certain hunt that you have been on that was particularly fun. We are open to all species and are just looking to spend some time together and see a new area.

Any info you're willing to offer up is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
It'd be a 10-12 hour drive to the Adirondacks where there is plenty of land to roam. If you're lucky you might even get to see a deer! The pluses for a non-res are that the season is long and the tag is cheap. $100 gets you an antlered buck and bear tag. There aren't a lot of of animals up there, but they can get good sized and may not be accustomed to seeing humans. Snowfall in the season can be hit or miss, but tracking a mature big woods buck is an awful lot of fun. There are some representative photos on adkhunter.com.
 
If you are considering some public land in KY/TN, make a scouting trip this spring and hunt squirrels while scouting!
 
Every deer hunter owes it to themselves to hunt on the coastal islands of Ga. We go most every year and always connect on something whether it be deer or hogs.
 
a late season flooded timber Mallard hunt in Stuttgart Arkansas is still on my bucket list
 
Michigan- Beaver island turkey or deer hunt. Beaver island is in lake Michigan, roughly a 2 hour ferry ride from the mainland or a quick flight. Monster bucks? No but half the island is public land and under antler point restrictions. Would be an awesome camping adventure
 
Pass- A- Loutre in Louisiana is on my list for exploration for a waterfowl hunt. There is also deer and hog hunting, without a doubt the fishing is world class , I have been out of Venice before, this is some big marsh country. Could be tops for cast and blast in lower 48,,,lots of logistics, potential dangers, remote boat camping, not near Ohio but seasons are in December and January. We completely filled our pickup bed with coolers full of various delicacies the last visit to that area.
 
You can do interesting hunts right there at home. Switch things up and go after rabbits with a recurve to change things up and make it interesting. Pick up a .32 cal muzzleloader and do rabbits and squirrels. Bowfish for carp. Changing up weapons a bit can make redundant hunts fun again.
 
Don't waste your time or money on hunting in the Northeast, no offense to VASpeedgoat on his recommendation, but I've been living in New England against my will for the past 22 years, and it would definitely NOT be on my list of places to go and do a fun weekend hunt. There are many, many other places that offer much more to the hunter, and are more hunter friendly.

Good luck in your search and a way to extend your season.
 
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