Hoosier national Forrest

[Bkimble]

Anybody have any luck hunting Hoosier national Forrest in Indiana… might be planning a trip in 2025 somewhere in Midwest and liked the looks of this national Forrest


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[JohnsIsl]

Not looking to get into a debate on the subject… but last time I was at HNF there was a huge amount of deforestation going on. That was 6-7 years ago and apparently it is still going on.

 

[ArrowForester]

OP…I have no experience with HNF so am no help but depending on what Johnslsl is talking about it may be worth a look.

@Johnslsl….what do you mean when you say deforestation? Land clearing and conversion? Insect and disease related tree mortality? Clear cutting? Land sales and development?

 

[JohnsIsl]

This is the most research I have done on the subject. I was just speaking from experience. It looked like clear cutting.

Apparently logging and some forest service plan.

Inside the controversial project at Hoosier National Forest

A controversial project slated for Hoosier National Forest underscores a larger struggle percolating over America’s trees.

www.wthr.com

 

[Bkimble]

Thanks fellas, we are gonna plan a trip out this summer and next summer to check some places out if anyone is interested I’ll let ya know how it looks from the logging


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[ArrowForester]

Thanks for the link Johnslsl, interesting reading.

Good luck Bkimble and keep us posted. Sounds like a great landscape to explore.

 

[JasonT]

Where are you traveling in from and do you know what county you are wanting to check out? I live within an hour from sections of it but never hunted it. Lots of hunters but lots of ground.

 

[Bkimble]

Im coming from wv it’s about 4.5 hrs away… this summer we will mainly just be driving around deciding what area looks good then following summer put some boots on the ground and put some cams out…


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[Bearwhisky]

Theres still plenty of forest there. Like A LOT. Its pretty steep for whitetail country…be ready for a good drag or quartering it up.


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[Bkimble]

A lot of the ground I hunt in wv is like 3500 ft elevation so I’m assuming there isn’t anything close to that in Hoosier but I be wrong but yea quartering up is my preferred option when hunting national Forrest in wv


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[Bearwhisky]

High and steep are not necessarily the same thing. Sometimes the “hills” in Appalachia wear me out more than the “mountains” out west. But if thats where you are coming from its probably very similar terrain.


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[Bkimble]

From what I can see from looking at logging records it looks like the majority of the cutting happened in mostly in the southern part of state close to border kind of around I 64 and south.. is there anyone that can verify that… also it looks like just select portions in those parts..


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[JohnsIsl]

That would align with my experience years ago. I never made it more north.

Also, given how long ago some of this was… I wasn’t suggesting that these areas should be avoided. In fact, it might create some interesting lines of sight.

My point was to draw awareness to what was going on so you could make decisions with that in mind.

 

[Bkimble]

Absolutely I still plan to check these areas


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[Forestryguy]

6-7 year old clear cut... Im sitting that thing the whole rut. Browse, cover, and if water near by it is a magnet. Clear cutting is not the death to forest. It is a reset for species that are not shade tolerant (oaks, hickory). I have made som huge messes in cuts (digging tops all over and disturbing the soil, cutting absolutely every thing down and treating undesirables, burning several years in a row) got drug into a meeting getting reprimanded that the public was in an out cry about it and wanted me to be removed. 7-10-15-20 years later they are the best stands on a 9000 acre state forest.

 

[hoosierhunter11]

It is good hunting. I’m a resident and nearly exclusive hunt public land for whitetails in the southern half of the state. If you find yourself here this summer send me a PM.

 

[mike257]

Southern Indiana has no shortage of public ground, also no shortage of hunters. There are plenty of deer but , but expect to have competition anywhere easily accessable. I recently sold 40 acres of prime hunting ground that backed up to state ground for the fact that I spent more time chasing off idiots than cant read no hunting than I did hunting myself !! There's a lot of ground steep enough, and far enough from the road that most guys won't bother with. Find a white oak ridge that's to far and too steep for everyone else and you should find deer.

 

[Boarmaster]

Clear cuts are deer magnets. I hunted in Wayne national forest in Ohio for decades.
Some private land in intermingled. If that got clear cut we hunted around it. As years went by it was interesting to see how deer used the cut over as it went thru the cycle of growing back.
If i was planning a hunt to any big timber area I would focus on clear cuts both old and new.
New ones they used for feeding and older ones they used as cover and beds.
I hunt on private timber land in Alabama. We are always affected by clear cutting and thinning. Mostly in a good way.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Clear cuts are deer magnets. I hunted in Wayne national forest in Ohio for decades.
Some private land in intermingled. If that got clear cut we hunted around it. As years went by it was interesting to see how deer used the cut over as it went thru the cycle of growing back.
If i was planning a hunt to any big timber area I would focus on clear cuts both old and new.
New ones they used for feeding and older ones they used as cover and beds.
I hunt on private timber land in Alabama. We are always affected by clear cutting and thinning. Mostly in a good way.

+1. Great advice.

 

[Macintosh]

Man, any time I see a forestry project that is opposed by the sierra club and regional anti-logging orgs (from a quick look at their websites it appears that is exactly who is against the linked project), and not a single habitat group, it makes me really, really suspicious. Same happening everywhere—from where I sit its largely anti-management groups who would rather reduce habitat, prevent healthy forest regeneration, allow the spread of invasive species, prevent natural disturbance from being restored, and allow forests to fester in the degraded state weve left them in in many cases, all under the flag of feel-good protectionism and “but the carbon sequestration”. Same thing is happening in my state with anti-management orgs waging outright war on all habitat management, they dont want to see a single tree cut ever, for any reason, even when the options are cutting-edge Ecological Forestry designed specifically to increase climate resiliency, forest health, biodiversity and robust natural processes and foster a natural range of forest types including both old-growth-functioning forests and a natural mix of age classes that better support the year round needs of all wildlife. The project as described sure wouldnt scare me away from going in the slightest, and my guess is it will be an improvement.