Backcountry Back pack White tail Bow Hunt

[Shupe88]

We have a cabin located about 3 miles off of the highway that joins National Forest. I spend a majority of my hunting season in those mountains! Before daylight that morning I had hiked around 2 miles from the cabin to a ridge that was covered up in akerns (acorns). I had found several good scrapes in the area an had put a camera up a few weeks before. I had a couple bucks I was after and one pic of a bear passing by. I had my stand placed just off the side of the ridge below the scrapes, right against a steep mountain laurel thicket. I was mainly after one of those bucks but I had the bear in the back of my mind. The morning started off with not much at all going on. Then around 830 I heard some limbs popping around the side of the ridge, then what sounded like rocks rolling down the hill. Once I heard the rocks I automatically knew a bear was coming. Couple minutes later it worked its way to about 13 yards from my stand. I drew and waited as long as I could and it wouldn’t give me a broad side shot, so I took the frontal shot. It made it about 30 yards and crashed and give the ol death moan! Ended up being a sow. Her head didn’t fit her body! Most of her teeth was worn flat. Still waiting on the age. I’m assuming she’s an older bear. Just wasn’t a lot of fat on her. With that being said I guess I would consider it a eastern back country hunt!


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[Shupe88]

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[Lowg08]

We have a cabin located about 3 miles off of the highway that joins National Forest. I spend a majority of my hunting season in those mountains! Before daylight that morning I had hiked around 2 miles from the cabin to a ridge that was covered up in akerns (acorns). I had found several good scrapes in the area an had put a camera up a few weeks before. I had a couple bucks I was after and one pic of a bear passing by. I had my stand placed just off the side of the ridge below the scrapes, right against a steep mountain laurel thicket. I was mainly after one of those bucks but I had the bear in the back of my mind. The morning started off with not much at all going on. Then around 830 I heard some limbs popping around the side of the ridge, then what sounded like rocks rolling down the hill. Once I heard the rocks I automatically knew a bear was coming. Couple minutes later it worked its way to about 13 yards from my stand. I drew and waited as long as I could and it wouldn’t give me a broad side shot, so I took the frontal shot. It made it about 30 yards and crashed and give the ol death moan! Ended up being a sow. Her head didn’t fit her body! Most of her teeth was worn flat. Still waiting on the age. I’m assuming she’s an older bear. Just wasn’t a lot of fat on her. With that being said I guess I would consider it a eastern back country hunt!


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Great story. Are you near Jefferson NF in Virginia

 

[Shupe88]

Great story. Are you near Jefferson NF in Virginia

Yep


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[Novice4now]

Outstanding!


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This is awesome! I’ve got some cameras running a couple miles back in the ozark NF in central AR and have a couple different bear popping up. When I was scouting for some back country white tail locations I was finding a lot more bear sign than anything. Never bear hunted but it has been on my mind like crazy ever since I started seeing them on the cameras. I’m praying for the opportunity to arrow one this fall.

 

[bbassi]

I have yet to see a single person do this in PA.

That's because we're not within a 1/4 mile of the road. This one was killed on the Susquehannock SF about 2 miles as the crow flies from the nearest road. 99% of the hunters don't want to drag a deer that far and packing out is a foreign concept to the locals, which is just fine with me.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

I agree with the statement of how packing out is viewed here. I talk to people about going deep in the forest, and they say, well how do you figure youll be able to drag that thing out of there. I tell them I'll just quarter it on the spot, almost everyone is like whats that?

 

[Pilarczyk85]

new to site. This thread is badass. I've also wanted to try something like this. So far I've only done deep hikes that are good for day hunts. Ohio boy here so unfortunately we don't have a ton of options on these types of hunts. Would be awesome though

 

[donrleonard]

new to site. This thread is badass. I've also wanted to try something like this. So far I've only done deep hikes that are good for day hunts. Ohio boy here so unfortunately we don't have a ton of options on these types of hunts. Would be awesome though

A year later, and it’s time for backcountry buck fever. Any luck finding backcountry in Ohio? At first I was thinking about the AEP lands south of Zanesville. But looking on OnX I see a ton of roads and read it’s usually slammed.

 

[Ouachita Walker]

Do you guys see Whitetail in the backcountry in this region? Can backpacking in for Whitetail be a successful venture?

After witnessing a drop in deer movement around gun season, I'll be trying this on the national forest from the second weekend in November until Thanksgiving. I scouted the last two weekends further into the NF. Sitings are few, but the bucks are still rutting. If I still have a buck tag, I head to the dagobah system on the east side of the state where those deer start to move around more.

 

[woods89]

Backcountry hunting for whitetails east of the Mississippi is perhaps the final frontier of big game public land hunting.

It is the golden years right now. Nobody is doing it(very very few people anyways).

It can be done up and down the east coast, Deep South, north east, upper Midwest...

I have done it down here in the Everglades.

Still hunting is extremely effective for whitetails. But if you feel you have to get in a tree some of the new lightweight gear makes it possible to pack that stuff in.

Lots of options out there for wilderness style bow hunting for whitetails, even gun hunting you can get away from crowds...

You've touched on one of my fears, that it's fixing to get popular.

 

[Ouachita Walker]

@woods89i wouldn't worry too much about it. If your state allows corn, people will not go to the trouble to hunt this way. The deer hunters I know like a side by side, buscuits, and a feeder. I don't see as many deer as them, but I like the way I spend my time out there. They like their way, and they kill more deer than me. Now.....if western men come out east....

 

[woods89]

@woods89i wouldn't worry too much about it. If your state allows corn, people will not go to the trouble to hunt this way. The deer hunters I know like a side by side, buscuits, and a feeder. I don't see as many deer as them, but I like the way I spend my time out there. They like their way, and they kill more deer than me. Now.....if western men come out east....

I hope you're right.
I see tags and access getting harder out west. Fuel is up as well. The instagramers have to keep fresh content out there.........

 

[Ouachita Walker]

The instagramers have to keep fresh content out there.........

 

[*zap*]

There is a 35 mile trail here where I can pack in and hunt deer. Another place that I can pack in and then it is a short hike to be able to hunt, and a spot to canoe in, camp and then canoe a short distance to hunt. Then we have a few spots locally to car camp and then walk to hunt. All public land within 20 miles of me. I agree that not many people will do this (if any). Most folks hunt public within 100-200 yards of where they can park. Been a decline in hunter #'s where I hunt public since baiting has not been allowed...Bow opens here on 9/12...

 

[Shupe88]

My buck from last year. Love making the pack heavy! Keeping this thread going to fire us up for season!


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[bigbahksdude]

@BeastOfTheTrees where are you camping on your backpacking hunts in northern PA? My conceptual problem with planning these hunts is that you can't overnight in state gamelands and need to camp in an approved spot in state forests. Any advice? Would love to do a trip this year.

 

[SpringM1A]

I went to the Richland Creek area last November. I hunted with my camp on my back for 2 days, camping wherever I ended up each day. I shot this decent 6 point on the second night. Weather was awful and visibility was poor. This was the first and only deer I’d seen. I packed it out through 2 miles of some of the most treacherous terrain I’ve ever dealt with. Then stashed my gear, and ran 6 miles down the road to get my car. I’ve done a few of these packpack whitetail hunts in the Midwest. Always with a gun. I did

get a spike buck in a Wilderness area in southern Illinois with a pistol, which has similar range to a compound bow. It’s hard enough to find stretches of Wilderness without roads and ATV’s let alone find them that have good deer habitat. In my experience the deep hardwoods of the Midwest don’t hold as many deer as the stuff that borders agricultural (and roads). Personally, I do it for the adventure first and the hunting second. If you go expecting to see a bunch of deer that are avoiding people, you’ll likely be disappointed. In my experience the Midwest Wilderness is no easier to navigate than the west. It’s easier to get lost, has denser foliage, is often steeper, and colder due to the time of year than most western hunts I’ve been on.

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That’s a very nice rifle setup

 

[donrleonard]

That's because we're not within a 1/4 mile of the road. This one was killed on the Susquehannock SF about 2 miles as the crow flies from the nearest road. 99% of the hunters don't want to drag a deer that far and packing out is a foreign concept to the locals, which is just fine with me.

Can you hike in and set up a spike camp in Susquehannock SF? Or do you have to stay at a campground?

 

[bigbahksdude]

Can you hike in and set up a spike camp in Susquehannock SF? Or do you have to stay at a campground?

I did some more research this weekend and it looks like it okay to do so long as you break down camp each day. But that said it also appears to be SF specific, and it might be a good idea to call the forest district to make sure you're not breaking regulations.

Backpacking and Primitive Camping

www.dcnr.pa.gov

I'm wondering if these guys are hunting in Allegheny National Forest though. If that's the case then it looks like you can camp pretty much anywhere which is sweet (aside from a few places which are listed on the USFS website). Might be checking this out this season.

Allegheny National Forest - Camping & Cabins:Dispersed Camping

Allegheny National Forest - Camping & Cabins:Dispersed Camping

www.fs.usda.gov