No access to private land? Crown land has plenty of opportunities for hunters willing to do the work

PROMISING SPOTS

So, you’ve identified a large area of public land that is open to hunting, but where do you begin? Start by turning to the various online tools now available. Google Earth and other satellite-based mapping products allow you to identify features such as hidden lakes, beaver dams, valleys, ridges and different types of vegetation—everything a hunter would want to know when choosing a starting point. Just keep in mind the best-looking spots are readily identified by everyone; the real challenge is to find an area that’s attractive to game, but not other hunters.

Also remember all game animals have three fundamental requirements—food, water and escape/bedding cover. These are the key things you should be looking for, understanding they differ from species to species. For example, elk are grazers, preferring to feed on grasses and forbs, while moose are browsers, most often selecting shrubs. That means prime elk habitat will look different than the best moose habitat, though the distribution of the two species may overlap.

So, are all the best spots available to the public hunted hard? Not necessarily. Time devoted to looking for out-of-the-way pockets of good habitat is usually well spent. Another effective tactic is to check out those small tracts of public land that often see little hunting pressure. The crowd generally follows the crowd, but if you find areas people don’t visit, you’re likely to discover game animals seeking a little relief from the hordes. The key to finding wonderful places to hunt can be as simple as out-thinking the competition.

And if you do encounter other hunters, remember they have rights, too, even the right to unwittingly mess up your hunt. When that happens, and eventually it will, have another parcel of public land as a back-up that might offer more solitude.

Not surprisingly, public land is hunted most heavily on weekends. So, if you have the option, hunt midweek if you hope to avoid other hunters. This is particularly the case during opening weekends or long weekends throughout the season.