Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting DIY Public Land Deer Hunt Ohio or Kentucky?

Try the Pioneer Weapons Area.
Not sure about quantity of deer, but hunter numbers should be lower due to weapon restrictions. Also gives a new niche for you to investigate as far as weapons go. Sometimes it’s fun to learn new methods.

This would also give you a smaller area to focus your efforts to.

So....what weapons are eligible?

IYou didnt ask but......I'd look at western PA if I was you. Even central PA will have more deer than the Daks but it is mountainous terrain and has some nice bucks. Plus it's alot closer.

Have you thought about Delaware or Chenango County? Close to home, lots of public land and have always had more deer than the Adirondacks.

I been hunting the southern unit of Wayne in Ohio every year for 30 years. I wouldn't call it mountains but its pretty steep in there. There are pretty good roads in there that give you access. You can walk in about as far as you want to drag out. Im set up now to cut up a deer and carry out instead of drag if I choose. But when I do cut up one in the woods I would be the first guy I every seen do so there. Traditionally they field dress and drag out.
Back in the 90s and early 2000s there was a lot of guys hunting there so the deer got pushed real good. We killed a lot of deer every trip. Normally in three days I shot my limit of three deer. These days there are very few hunters so the deer arent getting pushed , so fewer are shot.
Shawnee is rough country by Eastern standards. Im a little old for that action.

Everything I hear about Shawnee says just that, apparently it’s very rough. Steep? Brushy or thick mountain laurel? Rocky? No access?
In either the Shawnee or the Wayne, roughly, what would you say the deer densities look like? 20 deer per square mile? 30?
Is the terrain conducive to still hunting, or at least moving around to four or five watches in a days hunting?

Pennsylvania has some odd rules about bucks...gotta have three on a side and non res people are pretty much not getting doe tags so you aren't going to fill your freezer that way either.

I have settled on WV as my state of choice. Can shoot a few does and the non res license and tags are cheap and no weird rules about antlers.

Also you can use pretty much any centerfire if I recall correctly

as a Pa resident thats the dumbest thing i have ever heard. non residents get all the doe tags they want. all you have to do is apply for them

I’m looking at getting out of New York this hunting season to see how green the grass is in other states. Although I dearly love hunting the Adirondacks, it gets to you after a while. The deer numbers are very low, and even if you do everything right, unfilled tags are still a real possibility.
I would like to keep the trip to a 12 hour drive maximum from Northern NewYork. Two states that seem to have a lot to offer are Ohio and Kentucky. I love hunting mountains, and even though deer numbers are usually lower in mountainous terrain, I believe that the densities should be considerably higher than the Adirondacks.
The Daniel Boone National forest in Kentucky looks real promising, but it’s so big I don’t know where to begin.
The Wayne National Forest in Ohio, and the Shawnee State Park in Ohio both also look good.
Any of you guys ever hunted any of these areas, I would love some guidance. Also, if there’s any areas that you know of let’s hear it.
I’m not looking for a monster necessarily. Seeing lots of deer would be a nice change. And truthfully, a buck over 110” would be great for me.

As a nonresident I can get one regular doe tag without a problem, but the rest are usually sold out before they open up for nonres second round