Hot spot places to hunt

[Lefty]

Go big or go home!

Or not
My wife is from SE Idaho, most of her life her family exclusively hunted big game in National Forest
I’m from souther Minnesota and gained dozens of hunting and trapping permissions each year on Private property But I also found public lands
I’m not speaking of Forest Service , BLM or evening other department of the interior lands

Years ago I often went to county court houses looking for public lands life is now easy with mapping software.
Years back my secret locations were county, city and township gravel pit properties old and abandon , current use or just sitting there Airports military or USA government Department of Transportation
And one of the slickest discovered finds I found when hunting Utah was unused rail roads gave me all sorts of access

As a youngster a neighbor hunted a huge buck for years . All of the surrounding public land was closed to any public access, other trophy hunters had paid big dollars for leasing surrounding property
In exchange of brush mowing the elderly property owners extended lawn acreage just once each year to hunt the property
Years back I was acquainted with a bounty trapper. .He trapped abandoned and wild industrial properties in Cook county ( Chicago)

What are some private and public lands your have hunted or fished

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

I have a little spot. But that's all I'll tell you right now. This is the age of the internet. Everything is a google search away.

[Tigger]

I have nothing in terms of secret spots. I hunt public land out west and do well, but nothing is secret about it. I guess the secret is to get out of your truck. We leave a lot of people behind by doing that. I remember one time we slept in late after hauling my bull out until 3 am. We were staying in this little campground and a truck rolls up, sees my bull, and asks where we got it. They were wearing insulated bibs and pac boots. Yeah, uh, they weren't a threat to steal our spot.

[Swede]

Hunt elk where the elk are and deer where the deer are. That does not mean where our internet buddies talk about. The good ones are not all 5 plus miles back in the forest. Most of you would not even consider hunting where I have been the last couple of years. Part of the key is how you hunt, and not just where you hunt.

[saddlesore]

I use to hunt the Jicarilla Apache reservation in Northern New Mexico when the trespass fee was $20 and 2nd deer was $5. Now it is 4 figures or more.

[Lefty]

'''' not all 5 plus miles back in the forest. ,,,,,,,,

Sometimes their is a nitch , unfilled by other hunters for all sorts of reasons.
The town I lived in Minnesota has a city park archery season.
A friend ran an extensive raccoon trapline in peoples back yards.
A couple friends from my youth have killed dozens of P and Y deer in a Metro area
Other places it took a boat or waders to cross . or 3000 foot elevation change, or public islands ,

Another neat place was beside a trailhead, Wide open, high elevation 8500 that dropped off into a highway at the bottom of the canyon and the trail di go back to some great country. But a simple walk over the rocks to the steep canyon a small groves of dark timber always ( Im quite sure always during season) had some big game , moose elk or deer.

My "private" goose hunting permission in Utah: I saw a rancher feeding
Walked out an talked to him. He owned over 20,000 acres of GSL salthgrass and it was leased into two parcels divided by public waterway. But it had a 7 acre island. And he really didnt like the attitudes of the leases.
The conditions were simple I had to take a boat in and do not access the island via the leases. Ad watch out for that ma-ma cow in the spring

I have one place. thick and nasty creek bottom. US highway on one side a county road on another and busy FS on the third side. Everyone drives by the little 200 acres. I just dont like highway noise so I dont hunt it

Over the years some of the best places are the ones loaded with no trespassing signs.

[Indian Summer]

I use to hunt the Jicarilla Apache reservation in Northern New Mexico when the trespass fee was $20 and 2nd deer was $5. Now it is 4 figures or more.

I believe that over 5 figures now.

[Swede]

Don't get me wrong here. Elk are still generally ranging over the same country they have for decades and even centuries now, but places that used to be hot spots are very cold now. Habitat and activities change. Predators move in and hunting pressure has caused elk to use different areas. I felt forced to relocate a few years ago, because three days of average hunting over a few spots was not worth the time and effort to stay. I wanted more. Elk hunting may or may not be unique, but we sure have a lot of reasons to stay flexible.

[ishy]

My first bull spot was a great one. Unfortunately I didn't get to experience much of it before things changed. Little piece of river bottom right next to a paved road that houses rut central. I didn't know it at the time but I went to school in another state and the buddy that helped me pack mine out kept giving reports that seemed more like a LE unit that a heavy pressured OTC hunt while I was gone. Several encounters of bulls ranging 330-370. He had multiple shots at trophy bulls year after year. Not only shots, but after shooting one had another trophy bull pass 5 yards from him after he got to one he just killed inspecting his fallen competitor. I moved back my buddy who is the biggest spot hoarder you've met. He got mad I had a pic in my house of use packing one of his bulls because he thought someone might recognize the mountain in the background. We are in North Idaho and every mountain looks exactly the same all green! There was no differentiating part of that pic whatsoever. He is pretty mental when it comes to spots. Well his true colors came out when I moved back. He told me he had a confession, all the action he had while I was gone all happened where I had shot my bull that he helped pack. I really would never would have had an issue, but the way he did it and kept back his location until I was back was a crappy deal.
The spot the last ten years has had out of state hunters camping there, and there's not enough room for that kind of human scent living there to still hold animals. Never been good since.

[Swede]

The private land next to a spot we named "Old Faithful" was logged heavily then sold. There are no elk there and Old Faithful is no longer faithful.