The biggest advantage of knowing this is that you can eliminate a lot of ground and concentrate on the leeward ridges. Some head to the middle of the property, some to the edge of private on the far side, and some hunt closer to the parking lot, but very seldom do I see anyone deer hunt along the road between parking areas. Maps can be picked up at the wildlife station or found at the web-site listed above. Be silent throughout your approach. Terrain Tip: Ask landowners (private land) or property managers (public land) if they know of any places like this. It was expected that some silt and sediment would flow through the breach in the dike, but the sheer volume took many by surprise. But barely enough to keep Wayne County Wildlife Officer Aaron Brown of the Ohio Division of Wildlife and his partner for the day, Watercraft Officer Scott Stafford, busy checking hunting licenses and deerpermits. If you're asked to log in with an OHID - the state's best-of-breed digital identity - your privacy, data, and personal information are protected by all federal and state digital security guidelines. As both currents meet, it causes a tornado effect and creates a wind tunnel that keeps turning over on itself. 61 0 obj <> endobj Those whitetails start venturing forth about now each year, according to the local wildlife officer I talked to, onto wildlife area lands that are open to walk-in hunting. Chances are deer will use the good looking areas you find again the following season. I also like to think about the patterns of hunters even more than I consider the patterns of deer. Buy Alert:23" EZ Hanger + Arrow Puller Combination 2 Pack. HtSMs0+:q8ppf6#Yr6I$':5%Ng& ! Great post, I love the swans! Interesting way to name the swans. The smart hunter will pick a leeward ridge during the rut that connects lots of bedding spurs. All rights reserved (About Us). The water areas include more than 1,000 acres of marsh, a 360-acre green tree reservoir, an upground reservoir, and 125 ponds ranging from less than an acre to 50 acres in size, providing water sources and cover for late season deer. I use the same tactic for this buck as a swamp buck. In particular prior to flying off as a group, the members of this group bob their heads up and down and vocalize loudly before and during take-off. Some people describe these sounds as snorts. There are links at the bottom of this article that will take you to other sites where you can listen to them. Here they area called as Singing swan (Trumpeting swan) and Knob swan (Mute swan). Marlin is back in the game with the re-introduction of the classic 336 and 1894 lever-action hunting rifles. The links at the end of this post provide more information on how to distinguish tundra and trumpeter swans, but besides the teardrop-mark, the top of the head of the tundra swan is rounder and the bird is significantly smaller than the trumpeter swan. Dont Miss:Micro Food Plots for Bow Season. The property is inHolmes andWayne counties. Start your search with those two components in mind. 0 Below is a list of the best overlooked hotspots that produced my best public land bucks. They need to have some bedding cover, too, but there usually is some good cover along river edges. In the video above, Matt Willson of Ruger highlights the features with Game & Fish's John Taranto. Perfect deer habitat has three requirements: Food. Eric Lundgren of Ruger, which now owns Marlin, highlights the features of both rifles with Game & Fish Editorial Director Adam Heggenstaller at SHOT Show 2023 in Las Vegas. Dont Miss:The New Hunters Guide to Buying Your First Deer Rifle. Don't be afraid to walk and look. Dont Miss:5 Advanced Trail Camera Tactics. The dominant land cover for Unit Killbuck Marsh WA is deciduous forest. Trumpeter swans get their name because they trumpet. The wind blowing over the ridge creates a vacuum and pulls the rising thermal up the ridge. Wild Ohio Harvest Community Find information and opportunities to learn to safely and responsibly hunt, fish, and harvest your own local food. Realtree is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience to everyone, including those with disabilities.2023 Jordan Outdoor Enterprises, Ltd. All rights reserved. Once you find them, move in to inspect. Terrain Tip: Go in and hang a stand during the offseason. There are several areas where you can park your car off this gravel, one-lane road. Site by Gray Loon. Z Theyre starting to spread out to smaller wetlands further away from Funk and Killbuck.. amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; They can smell the does from above and below and are cruising near where they bed. And when conditions became dry, the channel sucked water from the wetland into Killbuck Creek. If those closed areas are adjacent to public hunting land or private acreage that welcomes deer hunters the deer are fair game for hunters who take advantage of the opportunity. An Ohio.gov website belongs to an official government organization in the State of Ohio. Mute swans arent really mute, but compared to other swans they are very quiet. Terrain Tip: Hang treestands higher and within 10 yards of the trail so that you can shoot down into the vitals. They offer a great advantage to the deer that reside there. You might feel a little ridiculous watching cars drive past, but when that giant walks out, you will be wondering why you never tried this before. Raccoon hunting is productive throughout the area, especially along swamp edges. A couple of local taxidermists and a few deer processors were cooperating with wildlife officials, making sure those deer were tested. ! Terrain Tip: Look at aerial maps of urban and suburban areas. Or, hang a camera and see whats in the area. Further information about deer hunting at Funk Bottoms, Shreve Lake and Killbuck wildlife areas may be obtained by contacting the offices at Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area, or from Wildlife District Three Office, or by visiting wildohio.gov. The group of three swans appears to be a family (two adult parents and one gray juvenile). amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; It can be tough to hunt these deer. Happily, the companies cut the trees back 30 yards on either side of the creek, and the Division of Wildlife got paid. Its amazing how every portion of high-timbered ground can have a hunter per acre, but hit the cattail water edge and all pressure stops. Your best hope is to get up to the ridge point well before daylight and wait. "It's about as quiet of an opening day as I've ever seen here," said Brown, as we toured the muddy back roads of the wildlife area looking for a spot of orange that would identify a hunter. Deer need secure bedding cover. Ive yet to see them but they are documented each year by the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center on whos property the trumpeters reside for a while. Its easier than wading through miles of brown, murky swamp stew. Good deer movement leads to a buck down! BBBC record book numbers point to Wayne County as among the best in the district for producing qualifying racks bagged each December and January. Help support TrekOhio by making purchases through Amazon links on this site. SOUTHEAST OHIO'S WILDLIFE. From this position they have a great advantage of being able to smell from above and below. A lock or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. So those folks know just how hard it can be to target a buck in that labyrinth of standing timber. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources working with Ducks Unlimited has done a lot of work to create a premier wildlife area. The following counties in each of Ohio's five wildlife districts have produced notable numbers of BBBC-qualifying bucks, and contain public-hunting areas that may be more productive than others for deer hunters. That said, they wont bed down in water. It can be very difficult to pinpoint where deer are laid up in this type of bedding cover. This reaction will be located just down from the top of the ridge, often a quarter or a third of the way down from the top. River otters and trumpeter swans were released into the area, and they have both built-up sizable populations. First one sings and the other one has a knob over the beak. Or, rather, it does if you have permission to do so on private land. Over time, these can even create islands of land in the middle of the creek or river. It is the largest marsh outside of the northern Lake Erie region; over half its acreage is wetland. The new Frontier, available in 8x42 and 10x42, has all the range-finding capabilities a hunter needs. Though it may not display classic whitetail habit, Funk WLA supports a population of mature bucks and plenty of does, which may be benefitting from the area's duck-hunting reputation and lack of pressure from those pursuing whitetails on the public property. Winchester's new Big Bore ammo, available in 10 mm, .44 Mag., .357 Mag., and .45 Colt, is specifically designed for big bears in bear country. Big bucks recognize these areas as safe spaces, as predators (even hunters) often cower at the mere mention of water. Milkweed will every time. Many of the counties included acreage that is off-limits to deer hunting, and provided a refuge for pressured whitetails to retreat to. Editor's Note: This was originally published October 15, 2016. The area is popular with birders and features nests of sandhill cranes and bald eagles. The balance is open, consisting of cropland and meadow fields. There are a couple of short trails and numerous scattered parking areas and pull-offs for wildlife observation, fishing, and hunting. A smart hunter will set up on a "just off" wind so the buck is under a false sense of security. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "free086-20"; You can forget about the bottoms and the tops and all the ridges that are not leeward and end up only having to concentrate on 10 percent of the terrain. Located in the 850 acres of the off-limits-to-the-public . 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The elevation varies from 840 feet at the floor of Killbuck Creek near Holmesville to nearly 1,000 feet on hillsides parallel to the valley floor. All of these could be seen on an afternoon in May at the Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area near Shreve. The largest known specimen of trumpeter swan weighed in at 38 lbs (17.2 kg) and had a wing span of 10 feet (3.1 m). In talking to various wildlife officers in some of the counties Rex revealed as producing large late-season deer, a pattern developed. Find old logging roads, shelves, benches, and other flat spots just below ridgelines where deer will likely bed. Although the distant swans were too far away to identify visually, when I came home and listened to the swan vocalizations (linked to at the bottom of this post), I believe they were all tundra swans. Killbuck Marsh is a 5,761-acre wildlife area in Wayne and Holmes counties located near the town of Wooster. Contact Information: DEC Region 6 Herkimer Office (M-F, 8:00AM - 4:30PM), (315) 866-6330; information.R6@dec.ny.gov. When theres a logjam, the river finds a weak spot and creates a channel, said Dennis Solon, manager of the wildlife area. Wildlife officials had made a big effort to let everyone in Holmes and Wayne counties know about CWD, and the check stations. Or go there directly by typing the countys name after trekohio.com/, for example, https://trekohio.com/hocking. These areas often receive less hunting pressure and arent frequented as much by the rest of the deer herd. Then, if the CRP is bordered by timber, hunt the fringes where trails emerge. They brought in long-range backhoes to remove more than 30,000 cubic yards of silt from 3.5 acres, transporting it to higher ground within the wildlife area. The mature buck bedding areas I find on public land are in spots with very little human intrusion. Terrain Tip: The wind direction has to be steady and at least 10 mph to hunt these lower spots. As a result, ODA officials have now ruled all of the deer remaining on the Holmes County farm will be euthanized, according to a report in the Zainesville Times-Recorder. I just don't know what it is about water that hunters are scared of, but you put down a couple inches of water and it seems to stop hunters in their tracks. Upland game species are well distributed throughout the wildlife area because of the uniform distribution of cropfields, shrubby coverts, grasslands, and woods. That changed when a logjam created a breach in the bank of nearby Killbuck Creek. They love to bed down in areas where marshes meet hardwoods and other forms of standing timber. Deer get out of the wind there and they also escape prying eyes. They like oxbows where the dominant wind blows in from the dry land, they face the river and use the water as an escape. Its hard to get around this. Coming south on 83 turn right on county line road, go down about a mile and the first road on the left turn there on not more then 500 feet on the left is a parking . But while visitors are not allowed in the refuge that includes Big Spring, they still have plenty of opportunities to see the waterfowl and other species that benefit from it. The same is true at Alum Creek Wildlife Area. The property was acquired using multiple state funds and donations. That means there are plenty of protected places for deer to frequent when the hunters are out in force. 03 Where can I get tree seedlings to plant? It is the largest marsh outside of the northern Lake Erie region; over half its acreage is wetland. Its feathers begin to whiten in late December and by late March it will be white like its parents. When you look out over the cattails or swamp, look for small groups of trees or lone trees where there may be some hard ground to support buck bedding underneath. Terrain Tip: Food and water are still key. Barbara Mudrak was a reporter for 25 years, mostly with the Akron Beacon Journal, and recently retired from teaching English and news writing at Alliance High School. The Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area encompasses 5,671-acres and is situated in portions of Wayne and Holmes counties. Anglers age 16 and older must hold an Ohio fishing license. Dont Miss:5 Overlooked Public Land Deer Hunting Hotspots. 15 | River and Creek Oxbow Islands. amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; Bucks also like to bed down on mid-range benches located on the downwind sides of slopes. First, the breach in the bank of the Killbuck was repaired and the errant channel plugged. Crews cut trees to power the dredges as they went along. The juvenile tundra swan is gray with a pinkish bill. This means any dry land with easy access and parking. Just be careful to not spook the deer. Lovely post. With the landowners blessing, you can even clear a spot to plant a food plot. hVmoH+1Q{_,UH4)RIr+">8%N/]iZ `cH`AvS=Bc0OaF%oz0QR,_G wAcyx#ap`hjd1kyQi"rMq.MZ*.|{]fO/Mbt&)Aa6MzF*1 I*'YZz:;0%\kGiz Whether you need to know how to test the soil in your food plot, tighten the groups from your crossbow, or scope out the latest on that big buck you saw online, you've landed around the right campfire. They send the deer parts the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Reynoldsburg laboratories to be examined for CWD, a brain disease that is always fatal for deer and elk. Getting permission from the landowners. Life is getting back to normal.. amzn_assoc_asins = "B079J4ZQ6S,B0086GYPLU,B07G4L72NS,B076JJGMSY"; Just don't overpressure them or theyll be like all the rest. Finally we stopped at a pull-off near the bridge across Killbuck Creek on Centerville Road (west of P-22 on wildlife area map). TrekOhios Reviewsprovide an alphabetical listing of all the parks for which weve published illustrated articles. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. Your hunting might benefit from it. Solon said the company removed the dirt to a depth of five feet, recreating the enormous pool that could once more be fed by Big Spring. If it isn't constant or stiff enough, it will likely swirl. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Or, locate islands of mature timber within bigger stands of smaller timber. Key features include muzzle velocities of 2,215-2,400 fps. Master Sportsman Ranger Sleeping Bag in Realtree Xtra. If I can, I love to choose a nice, flat area inside of the cedars to plant a food plot. Similar to marshes, older bucks love to bed down deep in the swamps. Mohican State Park. CRP is a gun hunters wonderland. Roadside Hotspots. The shovels piled up the dirt they dug, forming huge dikes on each side of the creek. Mute swans are not native to North America, so these must have descended from escaped swans. An "oxbow" is a bend in a river or creek that forms a bowl shaped loop that almost forms an island with just a small area of dry land connecting to the mainland. Complete the following sentence by typing either real or spam: So, never get directly above or below a bedding area. . Over time, these can even create islands of land in the middle of the creek or river. CX Outfitter, 180 gr. If they do, have them point you in the right direction. As such, big bucks survive by going where they seldom smell people. Once level with the bedding area, then you can work into position with less fear of bumping deer. To kill bucks in daylight, we need to hunt them where they move during daylight. If you want to see wildlife, the best way is to just drive along the roads through Killbuck, Funk Bottoms and the other areas, Solon suggested. This is also the best place in hilly terrain to catch a buck cruising for does. May 22, 2019 |Brow Tines and Backstrap. Brown suggested contacting the landowner in a bid to try to retrieve the deer. Killbuck Creek offers good fishing for northern pike, carp, suckers, and bullheads. The Model 336 is expected to be launched soon; the Model 1894 should launch this spring. Especially I love Your swan photos. Now a member of the Ohio Wildlife Council, Rex remains active in the club and a serious whitetail hunter, and he surprised us both with some stats he discovered when poring over the record books. Some two-thirds of the wildlife area is in cropland and grassland. With the right configuration of other habitat to go with them, cedars can provide quality bedding. On Monday morning, he would have been happy just to see a buck or a few does. Deer will use the crossing. Ken Vitale with Buck Knives chats with Game & Fish Editorial Director Adam Heggenstaller about two new hunting knives for 2023the purpose-built Alpha and PakLite series. Further information may be obtained at wildohio.gov. We expect the eaglets to fledge soon, he said of the offspring of the renters in the heronry. Furbearers, especially muskrats, provide many hours of recreational opportunity for trappers. There ain't much left when you take a map and cross off everywhere people go to hunt. Then, you can set up on the fringe and hope they mess up. !K% jSl'TmWUeBqP@_^s. Dont Miss:5 Weird Ways to Kill A Late-Season Buck. The rifle has five caliber offerings, two barrel choices and three different riser stocks. Available in 180- and 200-grain sizes. Terrain Tip: Cedars are great for minimizing your scent but still be aware of the wind. Also, leaves and other forest duff naturally gravitate to the lowest point. Some figure that all the easy deer will have been taken by the close of the December 16-17 bonus gun season, and feel that it's just not worth the effort to take to the woods with archery gear or bear the elements with a muzzleloader in hand during the primitive arms opportunity January 6-9. Big Game Hunting (Examples Deer, Elk, Bear, etc..) Upland Bird Hunting (Examples Quail, Pheasant, Grouse, etc..) Listing Pricing. Be sure to check the sites official page for the latest updates. Its a lot of work but worth it, not only for waterfowl, but for songbirds, eagles, osprey and barn owls, as well as deer, turkey, rabbits and river otters that make their home at Killbuck. In timbered swamps, they can be a little tougher to see without walking it. You must make it into the stand or blind without making a sound. Nesting areas for prothonotary warblers and barn owls were built. It was filled with deer tracks and droppings. Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area is in Wayne and Holmes counties and is known for its many marshes and swamps, making this a go-to destination for hunters seeking big whitetail deer. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. amzn_assoc_title = "TrekOhio's Amazon Picks"; This can be difficult to hunt for several reasons, but the biggest is that the wind swirls more in valleys. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Bucks love seclusion. For small creeks, set up on the bank side where you think the deer will emerge. They will cruise the leeward ridges right in the thermal tunnel checking for does. Below is a list of the best overlooked hotspots that produced my best public land bucks. And with plenty of deer on the hoof hiding out in the thickest parts of the public area and venturing onto the private woodlots that surround the area, the late-season deer hunting can be productive. Farm and Agriculture News, Local Market Prices and Crop Reports, Columns and Commentary. But within those little leftover pieces is where youll find the mature bucks hiding. All Game & Fish subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. About 850 acres of the Killbuck wildlife area was set aside years ago as a refuge; controlled youth hunts for turkey and deer are the only human activity allowed. Terrain Tip: Use Google Earth and hydro maps to locate lowland areas that could be marshy. The NWTF is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area is located eight miles south of Upper Sandusky. This complex is Ohios largest remaining marshland outside of the Lake Erie region. This complex is Ohio's largest remaining marshland outside of the Lake Erie region. Its hard to kill a deer like this. While post-season scouting, you can do the same thing and walk trails to determine where you should focus. Wildlife District Four Wildlife District Four, in southeast Ohio, is a sought-after hunting destination due to its large population of whitetail deer. TrekOhio is an Amazon affiliate. Wyandot County Road 115 provides access from State Route 294, two miles west of Harpster, and from State Route 309, eight miles west of Marion. The wind can even be bad when you think its good, too. MILLERSBURG, Ohio The wetlands and woodlots of the Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area were surprisingly quiet on Monday morning, with the opening salvos of the annual deer gun season noticeably absent. Terrain Tip: Cut a trail into one of these areas and rake away all debris. And they love cattails. They plant corn and sorghum to provide grain, along with food plots in the upland areas. What's more, Gallia's County's bag limit has been increased from two to three deer for the 2017/2018 season. Solon and his coworkers estimate there were 300 swans and 500 sandhill cranes in the area last year, plus thousands of geese and ducks. 50As LaRue's Ethan Alexander talks about the Siete's features with Game & Fish's Adam Heggenstaller at SHOT Show 2023 in Las Vegas. Buy Alert:Realtree 7" Mini EZ Hangers 2-Pack. Wildlife Restoration federal funding was used to acquire the property. Use tracks, trails, and old rut sign to help locate them. Personal defense in the hunting woods could involve taking down a charging bear. Slip back in there three or four hours before daylight, get set up with several hours of darkness left to go, and wait for the deer to come back to bed. But they also make up the largest marshland in Ohio outside the Lake Erie region. Bedding will be along the river in the bowl shaped area. 11 What trees should I plant on my property? Lease. The area's terrain features numerous small streams and is rolling to rugged in topography, with elevations that vary from 515 feet to 1,060 feet above sea level. 7368 County Road 623 Or, if the season is open, go in and hang the stand at night while the deer is out feeding. Some blog, Ohios 15 species of frogs and toads at a glance, Hocking Hills: Overview of the Hiking Trails, Fairfield County: Overview of Hiking Trails, TrekOhio: Killbuck Marsh is located in both. The best islands for me have been ones that taper to a point on the dominant downwind side and have thick cover and good bedding there. Still, deer will sometimes use low-lying bottom land that offers quality bedding cover. Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area is a prime player in that regard. My comment is Pairs of sandhill cranes soar with necks outstretched as they search for muskrat huts or other suitable places to nest. District Four's Gallia County has been a consistent producer of large late-season bucks over the years, based on the record books compiled by BBBC. Edge terrain is where they find most of their food, water, and cover. With this in mind, think about the way you look at public land. Bucks, however, love water. Locals called it Big Spring. Ruger's popular American bolt-action rifle has been a hit with hunters for years. The best ones are the ones that point in the direction the dominant wind for the area blows. Share On. If youre hunting pressured public ground for mature bucks, you can throw out everything you learned on TV hunting shows and in most magazines. Research the general location and type of animal you want to take on. Brian Torrence, 53, of nearby Shreve has hunted the Killbuck area for years. From September through December, this unit receives an average of 2.75 inches of precipitation a month and the heaviest rainfall is in September. Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area Shreve, OH 44676. History and Purpose Acquisition of the Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area began in 1970 and continued through 2010. Up-to-date agriculture news in your inbox! Ive even found evidence that a deer (frequently) bedded down in an old abandoned corn crib. }! CQ 78[GhA?7,Y/g j~iv"o(Q?`LG5v@js1?No>!y9Q[;_CI{{5UojMjC%Lk+WbG "I've helped Justin get his deer out of the woods over the years," said Torrence, with a smile. Price hunts squirrels and rabbits here, and tagged a deer a couple of years ago. That's exactly what happened to an extremely important part of the 6,000-acre Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area, a place called the Big Spring.

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