Zaleski State forest ohio

CTaylor

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Jul 4, 2018
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Location
Bridgewater
Just planned a short weekend trip to Zaleski State Forest mid October with the stick and string. Never hunted that area before, any recommendations ???
 

ChromeKype

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Jul 30, 2017
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112
I go there every year, won’t be many people in October, so you’ll have a ton of room to roam.

Lots of oaks so if it’s a heavy mast year it will be tough to find em. You’ll find much more deer in the cuts so seek those out and hunt the edges. Lake hope lodge has great food! Like seriously.


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OP
CTaylor

CTaylor

FNG
Joined
Jul 4, 2018
Messages
34
Location
Bridgewater
We will be near State Forest road and route 50, not sure if there is any areas better than others
 

ChromeKype

Lil-Rokslider
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Jul 30, 2017
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Check out Vinton while your there, lots of thick cuts and tons of oaks, so it has decent deer numbers. I missed a good buck there a couple years back. They experiment on Oak regeneration there so it’s got tons of different oak stands with buffer cuts. It’s pretty cool


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OP
CTaylor

CTaylor

FNG
Joined
Jul 4, 2018
Messages
34
Location
Bridgewater
How is theeterrain? Doesn’t look to awful bad, I’d like to try southern west va bow counties. Those ridges look steep on the topo
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
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Location
Pennsylvania
I used to turkey hunt Zaleski in the spring. Hunted it for about 5 rears straight. I always killed my turkeys and looked at a lot of ground. I never found real big buck sign but the pictures they had at the check station would choke you.
I now lease to the North of there in perry county. The first time I sat down on a gobbling turkey there I sat right on a shed antler. Guys at the campground said it was a good one for the area but I was not impressed. It was one side of a 100 inch 8 pointer.
Deer numbers were not very high there when I hunted it but that is typical of most of ohio. Mid October there is most likely going to be a nice camping trip IMO. Weather is usually nice and foliage will be near peak. The best hunting will still be at least 2 weeks out. There is a reason the woods are full of hunters in early November in ohio.
 
Joined
Jun 8, 2020
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I'm not from Ohio but I've spent some time in zeleski with my brother-in-law. It will be a beautiful camping trip! No doubt. Good luck

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ChromeKype

Lil-Rokslider
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Jul 30, 2017
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112
I killed a doe there last year opening weekend of Bow. It’ll be tough, but you can shoot a buck there In October. Look for scrapes on the edges of thick areas. Definitely not impossible, especially if you get a good cold front.

It is pretty steep.


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Joined
Dec 14, 2019
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12
I killed a nice buck there 2 years ago, but there were a lot of people hunting but i also was there the beginning of November you should be good in October
 

PAhntr91

WKR
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Aug 1, 2020
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445
Just found this thread. How did the OP do this fall? I’m gonna head there for turkeys next month. Hopefully get a little scouting in for deer in the fall.
 
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