How to Successfully Deer Hunt a New Piece of Public Land

The Situation: There’s a chunk of public whitetail ground not far from your house. It consists of 400 acres of habitat you’ve never set foot on, and the season is approaching.

The first step is to take dive into satellite imagery of the parcel via a scouting app like onX. You want to see the property as a whole, not only for what it contains but for what is on the land around it as well.

Everything that could influence deer movement is important, so take a long look at how it appears from 5,000 feet up. Take note of access points, trails, potential food sources, patches of cover, water, and anything else that might be relevant to a buck. Then do the same thing for the neighboring properties. Drop pins on anything of interest, and get ready to walk.

The next step is to get in and investigate the whole parcel in person. E-scouting is a crucial first step, but remember that it is the first step of many. Take the time to hike to where you’ve dropped pins, but also pay attention…