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Post by parkerbow on Jul 6, 2011 21:03:32 GMT -5
A buddy and myself have put in for big oaks. The gun hunt as well as the Bow hunt. How does this work as far as draw days because I was not able to put in for certain dates? Also we have never hunted BO before and I would not know where to start to find a place to hunt. Any good info on where to hunt and even camp would be much appreciated if we are lucky enough to get drawed.
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Post by jembry13 on Jul 7, 2011 5:48:31 GMT -5
BIG OAKS HAS CERTAIN DAYS FOR ITS HUNTS MOST ARE 2 DAYS, EXCEPT FOR THE FIRST 2 GUN HUNTS, THEY ARE ONE DAY. ONCE YOUR DRAWN, THEY GIVE YOU A DAY TO CALL IN AND RESERVE AN AREA. THEY DONT LET YOU SCOUT, SO YOU HAVE TO GO IN BLIND. SO A TOPO MAP COULD BE HELPFUL. AS FAR AS WHICH AREA IS GOOD- GO TO THERE WEBSITE AND THEY HAVE STATISTICS ON EACH AREA ABOUT PERCENT OF SUCCESS. BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF DEER IN ALL THE AREAS.
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Post by INDeerhunter on Jul 7, 2011 10:04:42 GMT -5
Isnt Big Oaks the place that used to be called Jefferson Proving Grounds or something like that ? If so I hunted there a few times about 10 to 15 yrs ago and we seen alot of deer yet they were too far off for us to take with a bow !
Some of the deer we seen were on the road to and from our area and some were in "restricted areas" LOL. Seems like all the deer were everywhere I wasnt but thats how it goes sometimes.
I remember we were in "area 38" and it was a good area had lots of deer sign and some descent trees for us to get in with our climbers, the main thing I didnt like about it was the fact we had to go in blind and guess were the deer would be on the fly ! Guess I we picked wrong since we didnt harvest anything.
The first day was a nice day but by the end of day one a big storm blew in and we were unable to hunt the following day due to gale force winds and trenchal down pours not too mention lots of lightning !
The one major thing I didnt like about hunting there also was we had to be there at 3 am for a saftey briefing and to fill out some sort of paperwork that released the property from any potential harm that may happen. If we were told once not to touch or get close to any ordance we came across we were told a hundred times lol. And that stuff was everywhere in the area we hunted.
There were trees that were black as could be and big holes in the ground were "bombs" went off. and great big shells laying everywhere that appeared not to have went off !! But anyway the thing I didnt like was we had to be there at 3 am but by the time we had the safety briefing, filled paperwork out, and all the people finished there paperwork and had been briefed it was nearly 8 am before we were released to go to our area !!
By then it had been daylight nearly an hour, then we drove to our area and walked in to a place we had never stepped in before and tryin to scout on the fly, be quiet in our approach, and not get turned around ending up lost LOL.
I just didnt enjoy the hunt as much as an area that I have hunted a few times or atleast had the chance to scout a time or two, plus entering the woods at that time just bothered me alot. Im used to being in "my spot" or "on stand" before daylight not looking for a place on the fly at 8:30 am !!!
The area we hunted though was a great area so you may want to try and look it up on a topo and see if you can do a lil scouting that way to help you out if you are even interested in hunting the same area I did, like I said we seen some deer but we werent in the right spot lol.
There is a creek that runs throught the property on "area 38" and a small pine thicket on the East side of the creek, about 100 yrds from the far end of the pine thicket was where the deer we did see were crossing the creek about 10 am. I had set up 30 yrds on the opposite end of the pine thicket near the creek and just had chosen the wrong end ! LOL. The end with the action was North end I hunted the South end.
Good Luck to you up there if you get teh chance to hunt there, and sorry I couldnt help you I only hunted there one day about 15 yrs ago, and 2 days in "area 36" about 10 yrs ago and that area was a bust !
~INDeerhunter~
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Post by throbak on Jul 7, 2011 14:16:24 GMT -5
BO now allows squirrel hunting in certain areas deer hunt those same areas you squirrel hunt in
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Post by fullrut on Jul 7, 2011 20:05:48 GMT -5
Those squirell hunting areas are also great deer hunting areas as well.
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Post by daworz on Jul 8, 2011 13:48:53 GMT -5
Great advise, And Fullrut you are the King at B.O.?
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Post by fullrut on Jul 8, 2011 21:21:49 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words DAWORZ but I have just done my research on the place and hunted it many, many times, thus resulting in great success. 3 bucks all in the mid 140s or higher in the last 5 years and a few others that were close are all a result of alot of hardwork. I squirell hunt in the areas that allow squirell hunting.......try and figure out those areas and then deer hunt them. I score alot of deer from Big Oaks every year and the biggest bucks killed in the place year after year are from the North end of the place. Lots of crops up there that the deer can eat resulting in some great racks. If you want to hunt for convenience then hunt the South end. If you want to hunt for big racks and great deer success then go to the North end. Good Luck to everyone!
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Post by parkerbow on Jul 8, 2011 22:51:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the advise fellas. I did not really expect anyone to give up their honey hole (unless you want to PM me what area is good) HaHa. I am looking at topos and the area numbers on the map and trying to figure a good a handful of areas. I am just trying to hunt a different area. My Buddy and I hunted in Ohio last year and stayed with his aunt but she is just found out she has cancer and we are not going to burden her with hunting her place this year. So we decided to put in for BO instead.
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Post by bigdaveinosceola on Jul 9, 2011 7:51:07 GMT -5
I have nailed a few deer at Big Oaks.....I love it there........I try to go every year BUT, the last 2 years of bow hunting I haven't seen many deer there. However, I usually get drawn for both and I have great success in gun season! Good Luck!
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Post by parkerbow on Jul 9, 2011 15:43:41 GMT -5
How many hunters do they allow in one area at a time?
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Post by throbak on Jul 9, 2011 17:51:02 GMT -5
all areas are different according to size
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Post by duff on Jul 9, 2011 19:24:42 GMT -5
Even if you don't get drawn they have no-show draws to fill in all the areas they can. Even on the first gun you can get drawn. Might not get exactly the spots you want but I bet a guy could hunt all year there on the daily draw alone. That was several years ago but I am sure they still use that system, I'd call first to confirm though!
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Post by antiwheeze on Jul 10, 2011 15:40:02 GMT -5
There was talk that BO was going to allow turkey hunting this Fall. Anyone know about this?
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Post by elmo on Jul 12, 2011 21:46:35 GMT -5
if you are going to camp and can come down on Friday there are safety breifings at 7a noon and 3p I think. This makes it so that you can be in the woods before daylight. Make sure that you bring a cooler with food and drinks especially if you are going north. It is at least a 30 minute drive to the northern areas. There is a camping area down by the river and there is always Clifty State Park. If you are hunting from a tree stand then the north is the place to be, but if you like to hunt from the ground the south has not been as thick and you can sit and kill deer. I like to hunt the middle. There are more unexploded shells there, but most of them didn't have charges when they were tested. The army shot a large number of them through plywood to see how fast they were going so they could figure trajectory and range. There are a lot of deer in bo, but that doesn't mean that you will see one, because the place is huge. They do still have no show draws at 6am for gun hunts and most people do get drawn.
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Post by parkerbow on Jul 13, 2011 21:41:26 GMT -5
Thanks for the info elmo.
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