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Public land

Looking to hunt Indiana next fall and will be hunting public land preferably in southern Indy. Any suggestions I will be coming up in march to do some scouting. Thanks

Depending on what part of southern indiana you want to be in, there are plenty of options. Southwest Indiana=Hovey Lake. Midsouthern Indiana=Hoosier National Forest Harrison and Orange Counties along Interstate 64. Southeast Indiana=Crosley FWA/Splinter Ridge/Clark State Forest by Henryville. Those would be my public land choices that I know of. Some other places are open to draw like Big Oaks NWR. Check out the Indiana DNR public land site under "Where To Hunt". Also, you might consider a cheap lease. Public land gets hit pretty hard every year, especially during firearm season. Good luck!

Thank u sir for the info. Is private land pretty easy to come by?

You would have a hard time getting private land just knocking on doors. It's possible but if someone lets you hunt, they are probably letting anyone hunt. If you are willing to get away from roads a bit, the public land in Southern Indiana is pretty good. Don't expect deer behind every tree but a good hunter should be able to get into a few.

Thanks. What would you consider a good deer for southern indiana?

I cant talk for the Southern Indiana areas but I hunt public land North of Indianapolis. I sure wouldn't plan a trip to hunt the Northern half of the state. I have well over 200 hours in my stands so far this year and I have only SEEN about 8 deer and 3 of those were either along the road driving home at night or walking out from my stand after dark. Its almost not worth it to hunt and I live here, I sure wouldn't put anything into a trip here.

My definition of a good deer is the one God put's in my crosshairs :)

Still, plenty of big deer are killed on the public land in Southern IN every year though it's pretty tough to do consistently unless you spend a lot of time at it.

The main thing that limits buck size on public land is pressure during the rut. Our general gun season falls right in the midst of it and rut-stupid bucks are easier to kill. We did have a pretty decent outbreak of EHD in the southern part of the state a couple years ago so populations are down a bit. It's pretty country and worth the trip at any rate.

Amen to that," the ones that Gid puts in my crosshairs". Thanks guys for the help I've hunted southern illinois for 9 yrs looking for something different and cheaper. I'm coming up in march to do some scouting maybe will find some good looking spots.

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