Ohios best kept Secret
As a lot of you know Ohio is known for big bucks and has several in the top ten.
What most of you dont know is Ohio has an early Muzzleloader Season that is just before the rut. You are allowed now to take both buck and doe, and you can join in the fun with just the purchase of a Hunting license be it resident or non-resident and an either sex tag. That way you can bag a doe or a buck. You can buy an additional antlerless tag if you feel confident.
The hunt takes place in 3 areas Shawnee State Forest, Salt Fork and Wildcat Hollow. Shawnee alone is 60,000 acres of ROUGH A$$ Terrain, but hidden deep in its hollows are some huge bucks if you can get to them. It is not a hunt for the timid or weak. You need to be in shape to get back in there. You may have to drag a deer a mile or more, depending how deep you go, and they do not allow ATVs. You can hunt the edges to have success, but going deep as always provides the greatest payoff. This area is in the south central part of the state above Portsmouth.
Salt Fork in the southeast part of the state which has Ohios highest concentration of deer, but it also has more hunters. And it has some dandies, success is greater and the terrain is more forgiving.
Both Salt Fork and Shawnee rent cabins through the State Park that hold at least room for at least 6. So you can get a group do this hunt on the cheap in comfortable conditions. The cabins have full kitchens and a shower and bath, along with either a screened in porch or hot tub.There is also camping areas with showers on both areas and Wildcat hollow is close enough to camping areas or may allow primitive camping on the grounds. Shawnee allows camping throughout the forest along the road on pulloffs. If you are fine at roughing it, or have a nice camper this is as cheap an out of state hunt as you can get.
The real nice thing is that it goes on before the rut, bucks are moving in pre rut and it is well before gun season so plenty of trophies are still on all four feet. It is also not well attended and is not overly crowded. The leaves are mostly down and and you are allowed modern muzzleloaders with scopes so you can reach out and touch those big ones with a sabot.
Some costs...... A non-resident license is $125.00 and the Deer Permit for Non-Resident either sex is only $24.00 and the non-resident antlerless is $14.00. Cabins are run at $99.00 a night if you stay for more than 3 days, ask for the hunters special. Camping on the campgrounds/ w showers and hookups is $22.oo and in the State Forest it is free.
You can get maps mailed to you of the areas from the ODNR or find them online, although the mailed maps are better. I would also get geological maps of the corresponding areas to find water, funnel points and access routes. With a little planning you can have some real fun, real cheap. Make sure you have a compass or gps as some of these areas are rugged and dense.
If you guys have questions let me know.
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Originally Posted by jones
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