Are There Big Bucks On Public Land? Yes!

When was the last time you killed a good buck? I'm talking about one that was destined for a date with a taxidermist, no question about it. Before you squeezed the trigger or drew your bow, you knew he was the buck you've been waiting for.

I bet it has been awhile. Hey, I know the feeling. Aside from a respectable 8-pointer hanging over my computer, I haven't put a big one in my crosshairs in years. And frankly, nothing more than sheer luck put that buck in front of me on that dark, rainy November afternoon eight years ago. That's the way it is on public land. You take the first legal deer that walks within range. Bucks are a rare commodity on heavily-hunted federal and state public hunting areas, and trophy bucks, well, you'd be better off chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Don't tell that to Barry Henningsen. He doesn't view a public land deer hunt as a handicap. In fact, the 40-year-old computer programmer from Manassas, Va., spends nearly all of his deer hunting hours perched in a tree on a heavily-hunted military base near his home. In the last nine years, Henningsen has tagged more than a dozen bucks that any deer hunter would be proud to display over his fireplace. And luck had nothing to do with it.

Hunt Where Others Can't (or Won't)

Henningsen credits his success in large part to the fact that this base has areas that restrict hunters to archery equipment. The dedicated bowhunter takes advantage of these areas and says that by concentrating on archery-only areas, he has automatically increased his chances of at least seeing a trophy buck.

Because bowhunters have a much more limited range, the deer have a better chance of making it a few extra years, he says. And fewer people bow hunt, which helps, also.

Besides hunting in restricted areas, one of the best ways to see the biggest bucks on any tract of public land is to hunt where others refuse to go. That's where Henningsen sees his biggest bucks and it's a vital factor in his equation for success.

Even in these archery-only areas, I get as far into the area as I can so I'm hunting deer that aren't disturbed by other hunters. That's extremely important, he insists. Deer that have been pressured or disturbed seem to disappear.

Although it has become cliche, the fact is that those willing to put in extra effort always seem to bag the trophy deer. Think about it. The majority of the South's deer hunters refuse to walk more than a few hundred yards from their trucks. If you were a deer, would you hang around parking areas, campsites and heavily-used trails?

I used to gun hunt in the national forest quite a bit and the area we hunted is a two-hour walk from where we park, he says. We never ever see another hunter back in there and the bucks act is if they are totally at ease. We almost always saw a real nice one.

Sure, we all know somebody who shot a monster buck from his camp stool, or what about that guy who killed a big 10-pointer that stood broadside in the middle of the trail, less than 100 yards from the truck? Stranger things have happened, but do you really want to roll the dice and hope you stumble into a trophy buck? Of course not. And for plenty of hunters, lady luck never smiles upon them.

Just about every public hunting land has some sort of core area that few hunters know about. Find it and you'll be in business.

All The Right Signs

Once he finds that core area, Henningsen then spends a little time looking for the right ingredients. Buck sign, an abundance of does and the availability of thick cover are all part of the big buck equation. But he doesn't have to have all three of those to feel confident.

I consider all the factors that I see, but something like one big tree that's been rubbed doesn't really tell me a whole lot, he explains. What really gets me fired up is twenty or thirty pinkie-sized trees that have just been shredded and twisted. That tells me that a real aggressive buck is in the area and it's probably a dominant buck.

It's important to remember to spend as little time in the area as possible, particularly if it's close to or during hunting season. Once he finds a few key ingredients, Henningsen finds the best tree for his portable treestand and then leaves, coming back only to hunt.

An ideal situation is to be in an undisturbed area during the rut that has lots of does, he adds. If I can find three or four scrapes close together, I'm going to spend two or three days hunting that buck.

Don't Settle For Less

We've all heard stories about the guy who shot the first buck that pranced into gun range, haven't we? When the little one fell, the biggest buck he's ever seen wheeled and ran back into the thick brush. If only that hunter (it might have even happened to you) had held out for a trophy, he might have gotten it. Patience pays. It's that simple.

Henningsen can recall instances when a small buck was followed by a much larger one, and he's gotten to the point that he simply has no interest in small bucks. He'll arrow a couple of does for meat and let the smaller bucks grow a nice set of horns before he tags one.

Even on public land, it pays to let the little ones walk, he says. A buddy of mine shot a 6-pointer on the last day of the season a couple of years ago. That could have been the next year's nice 8-pointer.

True, the buck harvest on public lands is high, and if you don't kill a specific buck, somebody else probably will. Still, a dead deer stops growing, and if you let the smaller ones pass there is a chance they will survive. That's especially true if you find an area that few other hunters utilize.

Have Realistic Expectations

Let's face it, you usually aren't going to break any records with a deer killed on national forest land or on a military base. And you'll probably never get your face on the cover of a magazine. The biggest bucks that are killed every year come from places that either receives very little hunting pressure overall or are managed heavily to produce trophy racks. The bucks Henningsen kills are good ones, but not world-class. But how many public land hunters can even make that claim?

You may not even kill a big buck all year. Last season, Henningsen never drew his bow on an antlered deer, although he saw one that would have ended up wearing his tag had it walked closer. That's one of the obvious drawbacks to targeting trophy deer on public land.

I see a real nice buck one that I would consider a trophy at least once a season and I usually get him, he says. The most I've ever seen on the base is five in one season.

The truth is, most private land isn't all it's cracked up to be. Unless you have complete control over a large tract of land, you are no more likely to see a good buck than you are on public land.

For a short period, I stopped hunting public land and spent all my time on private property, he recalls. I never saw the quality bucks I see on public land. Now I hunt this military base exclusively.