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By By Monte Burch
Even if you can only hunt white-tails during the weekend and are limited to hunting public land, don't be discouraged. Some public lands offer a buck bonanza-you must have to work at it a little harder, and hunt smarter than on private lands to be consistently successful. Here's what you have to do.

Locate And Scout
The first step is to locate public lands that offer the chances for mature bucks. While the wide variety of public lands across the country can offer some mighty good white-tailed deer hunting, some public lands do not allow any deer hunting, or the habitat may not be conducive to deer. Don't, however, overlook areas that at first glance might not seem like good deer prospects. For instance, several waterfowl refuges in Missouri, my home state, have excellent deer populations. Due to the relative inaccessibility of some parts of the refuges and also the vast numbers of food crops grown for waterfowl, some have huge bucks. The hunting is by draw, but this limited umber of hunters have extremely high success rates and very good chances for a trophy buck.

"Look for public land that has a substantial food source in or near it," said Chris Parrish, a member of the Knight & Hale Ultimate Hunting Team. "That would be crop fields or conservation land that has food plots, something that is going to hold the deer."

Don't overlook public parks, even those in urban areas. Many park managers are finding that limited, controlled hunting is the best method of keeping overpopulating deer herds in check. Another excellent public land opportunity exists on the lands surrounding many army Corps of Engineers reservoirs across the country.

"Hunting public ground for bucks is tougher because you have the element of other people putting out smell and all that," said Harold Knight. "But I've had some memorable hunts on public hunting grounds. Two excellent ones in my area include Fort Campbell, Kentucky and Land Between the Lakes. I wish I had more time to hunt Land Between the Lakes this year. Last spring during turkey season I saw some really super deer. You can tell a good deer even after he sheds his rack."

Contact local fish and game departments regarding public lands open for deer hunting, as well as special hunts, and make sure you get all the information on rules and regulations, application times and methods. Some areas may have simple maps, but you'll also need more details. Once you've selected a public land, obtain topographical maps and aerial photos of the area. The maps are available rom numerous map sources, the photos from local Soil Conservation Service offices.

Topographical maps are great for determining stand sites, such as locating bottlenecks or possible trails dependent on the lay of the land. Look for saddles in ridges, places where creek or river bottoms come up against bluffs, shallow stream crossings and other good stand sites.

"Other funnel areas include places where maybe hardwood timber meets a cut-over," said Parrish. "Or where hardwoods meet a pine plantation. You're looking for something that would create a difference in the timber and provide a good travel area. Also look for the thick, heavy cover that will be bedding areas. It's real easy to find a funnel when you're looking at big cropland areas like Iowa, where you have two or three draws that meet. In the big woods it's a little harder. Look for saddles where two or three ridges drop off and meet each other, creating a crossing. Those are true travel corridors, places where deer have to cross, especially if the rest of the terrain is too steep. Then plan your strategies, including how you're going to get to the hunting sites."

Use the aerial photos to understand the topography; locations of roads, houses and other features, as well as the type and amount of vegetation, timber and so forth. The aerial photos may, however, be somewhat dated, so don't depend on them entirely.

Get Away From Pressure
With your paperwork done, the next step is to put some shoe leather on the area. "The main thing is to try and find an area that doesn't get a lot of pressure," said Chad Schearer, a Knight & Hale Ultimate Hunting Team member and owner of Central Montana Outfitters in Great Falls, Montana (406/799-7984, www.cmontanaoutfitters.com.) "I'd recommend doing pre-season scouting if possible. If the public hunting area is close enough to home, go in the evening or else the weekend before the season opens and do some glassing. Preseason scouting is definitely a must when hunting public land."

Chris suggest the earlier you scout the better, especially for mature bucks. If you scout just before the opener you may spook the buck from the area. On the other hand, scouting too early on public land can also be iffy. You may wish to do some last-minute scouting just prior to the beginning of the season, mostly to see if other hunters have selected stand sites. Several years ago a friend scouted a month before the opener on public land near St. Louis, Missouri. Opening morning he hiked back into the area to a spot he had located that looked like a fantastic stand site. He got in early - or so he thought - very quietly put up his stand and then settled back to wait two hours for daylight. That's when he heard a cough near his right and saw the glow of a cigarette in front of him. Just before daylight three other hunters wandered into his honey hole and loudly put up stands. He went home in disgust. Don't assume other public land hunters can't or haven't found your honey hole. It's also a good idea to have more than one stand location.

"You just need to find those little honey holes or little sweet areas that don't get the pressure," said Chad. "Contradictory to that, sometimes areas that are closer to a road are overlooked. With an area right next to a highway or a county road, people often think everybody is driving by and it couldn't possibly be a good place to hunt, but you might find a big buck holed up in there."

"I try to find places that people haven't been," explained Harold. "If you know people are hunting a place regularly, try to get away from them, on the back side of them, because a lot of times they will move the deer into another thick area. I look to see where the cars are parked, try to figure out the pressure areas, then look at a topo map and find a place to go."

"The biggest thing is getting away from the crowds," agrees Chad. "You might find a small piece of public land by looking at the state maps. Montana, where I live, has the BLM and Forest Service maps. Find areas where there are road closures and then you may have to hike into these areas anywhere from two to three miles, but by doing so you're going to get into some areas that are great deer hunting."

"Next thing would be to get there early," said Chad. "As many of the areas are walk-in areas you need to get there early and be set up well before daylight. If you're up in your stand and have a good location, you stand a chance of deer being pushed your way. A lot of hunters don't work to have the skills to find these areas or good stand sites, and they often arrive later in the morning. They get the deer moving around and, if you're already set up and ready, a lot of times on public land you can have deer bumped or moved to you just by being set up and being prepared."

Hunt Smart
With numbers of other hunters to compete with, the successful public land back hunter learns to hunt smarter. This means outwitting other hunters as Chad and Harold suggest. It also means outwitting hunter-smart, pressured bucks. Good woodsmanship is essential. Know how to locate and set up good stands. Use only the best stands like those from Summit, stands that are quiet, easy to operate and extremely packable to get back to the places others won't go. Stay scent free. Among other things, this means using scent absorbing garments such as those made with W.L. Gore's Supprescent membrane. Although a number of scent-absorbing brands of activated charcoal scent-absorbing outerwear are available, only those made using the Supprescent membrane can be washed repeatedly without loss of the carbon. It's important to wash new garments before the hunt to remove any factory smells.

Footwear is even more important as boots without some sort of scent control leave a trail of human scent. Wearing boots with the Gore Supprescent membrane - which not only block 100% of human scent but are also waterproof and breathable, keeping feet comfortable when hiking long distances and when sitting on stand - are ideal for public land hunting. "Before hiking into my hunting area, I shower using Code Blue Ultimate Body Wash and Shampoo," Knight said. "Then when I drive to the area, I put on my Supprescent clothing and boots, and spray my everything liberally with Code Blue Ultimate Odor Eliminator Spray. That makes me as scent-free as possible as I travel to my stand."

Even with scent controlling garments and boots, it's extremely important to watch the wind very carefully. Again, the trick is to have bucks spooked to you by other hunters, not the opposite.

"When I'm on public land and I'm in a new area, one thing I like to do is set out a series of Knight & Hale scent poppers as a cover scent and also as an attractant," explained Chad. "I disperse those by taking a twist-tie and hanging them from branches around my tree stand. Of course I wear Supprescent boots going in to keep my scent off the ground and then I put at least four of the scent poppers around me, especially on trails coming through. I've had whitetails come up and lick the scent poppers."

To hunt smart on public land you also have to hunt aggressive, and that often means calling deer to you rather than waiting to see what happens. "During the rut, I use the Knight & Hale EZ Twist Pro Grunter," said Chad. "I start out with a series of light grunts and, if I don't get any response, I pick it up with a little bit louder grunts. Then I use a Knight & Hale Ultimate Rattle Bag and start with a series of rattling. A lot of times that will attract the bucks that are in the area. The key to hunting public land, where you can't move around a lot, or where you can't go out and find them, is to try to bring the bucks to you."

And do not overlook early archery seasons. "Bowhunting the very early season is an excellent time for public land,' said Harold. "Hunt the earliest you can, while the deer are on definite food sources with lots of fields of food such as corn, soybeans and clover. A lot of hunters won't be out in the heat and bugs. The next best time to hunt bucks in public areas is in the pre-rut. On public hunting ground if you can hunt in the pre-rut and rut, you're going to see more deer. Deer that have been holed up are now pressured and moving more during the pre-rut and rut."

Both Chad and Harold agree that hunting public lands for bucks will definitely make you a better deer hunter, especially if you're a nine-to-fiver, with limited time to hunt.