Archery Talk Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

Non resident Wisconsin Public land?

Jump to Latest
3.1K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  Littlebrook28  
#1 ·
A buddy and I are looking to book a quick trip this fall for OTC public land whitetail hunting. I stumbled on jackson county wisconsin, with massive amount of public land all within 50 miles. Any advice? Experience? What to look out for? We have been around and traveled a bit. Not looking to kill a giant, more of scouting, setting up, with the potential of shooting a decent buck. Looking to go early season to beat the crowds. I don't see any any posts within the last few years on the topic!

Let me know, worth the trip or not?
 
#6 · (Edited)
Yup all of Wisconsin has been in my work area for 18 years, but 3 turkey hunting trips along with 2 fishing trips ended my exploration of most of it. Due to massive amount of ticks. No thanks. An exception was turkey zone 2 for ten years, until bird population waned. Not many ticks there. A buddy of mine got Lymes disease and quit deer hunting there a few years ago.
 
#12 ·
It kind of depends on what type of topography you want to hunt. The western part of the state have tons of coulees and elevation changes, lots of hardwoods, lots of big bucks, but lots of thermals as well. The southern part of Wisconsin is driftless area in the west and as you move towards central/east it gets very wet. Lots of cat tail marshes, swamps, and wetlands. Just to the east of Jackson county is pine country. Central Wisconsin is known for their pine trees in that area due to it being primarily a paper mill industry. Waupaca county is known for having a ton of public land and one of the higher harvest rates in total in Wisconsin. In 2023, Jackson county harvested 501 antlered deer during the archery season. Here is the harvest summary for 2023. Notice Jackson county is split into 2 different management units: Wisconsin deer harvest summary | | Wisconsin DNR Good luck to you! Oh, and I was going to mention...WI has seen a record amount of rain this spring/summer. Lots of areas that were drier than a bone last year now have standing water in them. I'm sure you will want to consider having rubber boots along just in case and I would definitely have a ThermaCELL...the mosquitoes are usually terrible early season, especially with all the rain we have had.
 
Archery Talk Forum
posts
39M
members
240K
Since
2001
A forum community dedicated to bow and crossbow owners and archery enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about optics, hunting, performance, troubleshooting, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General Archery Discussion Bowhunting and Bowhunter Showcases Traditional Archery Crossbow Forum - General Crossbow Discussion F.I.T.A, N.A.A., Collegiate Archery, And J.O.A.D.