Park Hunt...Never Again..!

Today I encountered the most disrespectful hunters in the field that I've ever witnessed at a park hunt or any other public hunt. Its a shame what some guys will do just to kill a deer. I doubt I will ever hunt the parks again. The only thing I regret is not calling the C.O....h.h.

I was drawn for Ft. Ben one year and after going to the safety briefing and hearing some of those guys questions to the C.O.s I decided not to hunt.

You cannot leave us hanging. We want the stories! Purely for the entertainment value.

I have my share of past park hunt stories. Never a dull moment on these things.

I can share mine, the question that made me stay home was this, mind you he stone face asked a C.O. this "Could I be charged with murder if Im shooting at a deer, miss and accidentally shoot someone?" This was a bow only hunt and this guy was dead serious. Also a lot of what if Im driving in and see a deer can I just shoot it from the back of my truck or open my van door, that day I learned draw hunts weren't for me.

I killed a real nice 8 at Pokagon in 2014. I let him lay in sight of me about 75 yards away. Some hunter came walking down a trail with NO hunter orange on (it is a vest and hat hunt) and gun over shoulder. He was glassing and saw my deer laying dead. He looks all around ... how he never saw me I don't know ... and stalks over to my deer, gun leveled on my buck in case he jumped up. As he gets to my deer he reaches out to grab his antlers. I yelled a 4 letter string of obscenities followed by "I have my cross hairs on you". He took off like a bat out of he11 running through the woods.

I did Brown County once. Man it was a zoo. Every 50 yards was orange along one draw I was set up in. Many people came in after first light and just plopped anywhere they could. Several folks walking through all morning. I hated it.

Did Atterbury once too. It was more like a circus than a zoo. That whole check-in made me feel more like I was going to a concert at Deer Creek (aka Klipsch aka Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center) and then to some work presentation than a hunt. Way too much of a bureaucratic social affair for me.

I agree...never again.

Several years ago on a Pokagon hunt, I was perched up on an observation platform on what they call He11's Point. Real steep hills. I dropped two does with my muzzleloader (the one actually watched me reload from the first shot, so I shot her too ... LOL). They were at the bottom of a steep hill with a nasty drag to the top where there is a road access. Some guy comes walking up right after I shot them and goes "hey if you are done can I hunt this spot". Mind you that this was probably 4 hours into the hunt. I said "sure if you go help me drag these two deer out". He actually did it, which I not only appreciated, but I had to laugh too because I doubt he saw a deer the rest of the day in that location.

Park "hunts" are always a mess. I use the word "hunt" loosely because deer basically are running for their lives as they get bumped from one orange blob to another. It is really more of a live target shoot out, you just have to be in the right place at the right time. I have done the Pokagon deer shoot three or four times now and I doubt I will ever do one again.

I was on the Brown County hunt with a friend. At lunch we met back near a trailhead and were talking to one of the park rangers when two deer come busting through. My friend takes aim and drops one of them. It was literally like one of the deer drives you see on youtube where running shots seem to be the norm. It was not a shot I would have taken but it was pretty impressive.

I’ve hunted brown county quite a few times as well as turkey run, McCormick’s creek, and harmonie. Atterbury too. I’ve never really had that bad of an experience. Where I hunt in brown county the last three times, I’ve only saw one other hunter back there and that was while i was dragging a doe back to my vehicle. I just go in with the attitude that it’s public land and I’m just looking for a few extra deer for the freezer.

as of last years Dunes hunt, I will never do another either .... I know the idea is to kill deer... any deer, but I cant stand being that close to goofs with guns .... waaaaay to many for my liking ... I'm done with 'em... I tired of being cut off, I'm tired of dopes setting up waaaaay to close ...

My Dad and I were at Shakamak Monday and Tuesday. A lot of rule changes since last time we had been there. Last time we were there, if you were in a cabin you could just get up in the morning and go into the woods and call in to report you were out. Now you have to go to the gate and get in line to go back in and go to the gate to check out. Honestly, I get it, makes it safe and fair and they have a good account of everyone. Weren't many deer. Monday, we saw one small buck, but didn't have a clean shot at him. It was kind of funny, it actually walked right behind my Dad as he had just got up to stretch his legs and come chat with me. I didn't have a shot because my Dad was in between and he didn't have a shot obviously with his back turned. We froze, hoping he'd continue past us and eventually be broadside to us, but after looking us over for a minute he turned and trotted into the brush. Monday we heard six shots with two of those sounding like the same guy shooting twice. We were told later five deer were taken; four does and a small buck. And we heard that lots of guys left Monday night instead of staying for both days. We left the park about 1:00 yesterday having heard one shot and the gate said one doe had been taken and only four hunters were left in the woods. We had good interactions with everyone, never even seen another hunter during hunting hours except for one guy that was driving around. Staying in a cabin on a lake and spending the day in the woods sure beat being at work.

I had hunted big oaks many times in the past without any problems. Then about 7 years ago I was hunting there with my son on a firearm hunt, we were drawn for a area the was about 450 acres with a limit of 6 hunters. We had hunted this section the year before and scouted several places in case other hunters were there. So the morning of our hunt we get to our first pick and no one was there, while we were getting ready a truck pulls up and parks about 50 yards from us. My son and I walk in before daylight carrying climbing tree stands, we split up about a quarter of a mile in. It's still dark when I settle in the tree and I see flashlights coming in on the trail we just walked in. When the light gets 50 yards from my tree I turn my light on and say there are people in this area. One light keeps coming my way and comes under my tree, I turn my light on again as he walks by.
Like I said the area we were hunting was 450 acres and big oaks allowed a maximum of 6 hunters. When daylight came there was me and two other gun hunters on less than a acre and that didn't include my son. I couldn't believe that they wanted that close and if a deer came by it would have been interesting.
As i was about to get down and move, my son radioed that he got a doe, I got down to help him get it out and vowed to never to hunt there again.

OMG that's hysterical and sad all in one moment!!
Sometimes you really have to wonder, don't you???

This thread makes me laugh.

I've taken deer, ALL walking never running, at park hunts every time I've hunted them. This is a TOTALLY different hunt and everyone here obviously approaches it like they're hunting a private land lease. But because most hunters approach it this way, it allows me to have a super experience.
At a park hunt, you don't have to outsmart the deer...but rather outsmart the hunters.

They remain my favorite Indiana deer experience.

I had a buddy call me to vent last week regarding the recent hunt at Shades State Park. If his numbers are correct they killed something like 120 deer in there. His family owns a lot of ground bordering Shades and they have seen almost zero deer this year. What the heck?!!

I hate that it appears that all the Indiana DNR wants to do is eradicate ALL deer! Are they really that controlled by the farmers and insurance company lobbyists!

We need to back off on the doe permits and overkilling of deer in Indiana!!

Great Question!
Your buddies family owns a lot of ground bordering a park that had AT LEAST 120 deer in it one day and your buddy can't see a deer?

Deer are getting SMARTER. I can't get anybody to hear me on this. All this trail cam, driving side by sides, hanging multiple stands and moving them every time the trail cams say they deer have moved, and lets not forget FOOD PLOTS...All this traffic is educating deer.

Gimme 40 acres...keep EVERYONE OUT OF IT till Halloween and I'll see deer every time I sit and I'll get an opportunity at a nice buck.

HS I didn't run one trail cam and only did one small plot and seen more deer then the last couple years. But we also fight with a landowner that likes to walk and drive his property constantly. I think deer can be conditioned to certain things. I remember feeding deer at brown county when I was a kid

Ok...So you tell me then, If you stayed out of there, then why do you see almost zero deer next to a park that's overrun with them?

My guess is, they find places to hang out where they aren't being bothered? Just a guess. I hunt shades almost every year. I'm pretty familiar with the area. I'm guessing that at least half the deer leave the park when 300 vehicles drive in the morning of the hunts. I'm guessing they already know they will encounter plenty of hunters in the woods around it. So I bet they are out in the middle of those huge corn fields bedded down all day waiting for darkness.
I think our herd is def down...but I also think we have driven them nocturnal because we are in the woods all year long now. I mean guys are paying thousands of dollars every year to have a place to hunt, so they are making good use of their investment by using it as much as possible. Not to mention ATV enthusiasts are EVERYWHERE and they are riding around these properties all year long...even at night. It's crazy if you think about the amount of human intrusion deer see nowadays

I wholeheartedly agree. The ground my buddy and I hunt on in Fulton County we only step foot on it is on opening weekend and that is it for the entire year.

I actually sit in the open field behind an irrigation tire and I killed my biggest deer (body size) last year while he was chasing a Doe. They ran up from behind me and completely ignored me until I started shooting.