eastern backpack hunters?

[Bru1055]

On the podcast where the show had some guys who i think filmed a eastern back pack hunt into a wilderness area or national forest area, I cant figure out what episode that was I wanted to listen to it again and try to find their video or or footage

 

[NCSU_Lewis]

Is it the Orion Chronicles on YouTube? It was the episode with Damon Bungard if so.

 

[Big Fin]

Is it the Orion Chronicles on YouTube? It was the episode with Damon Bungard if so.

Yup, here is a link to the video they produced about that hunt - https://youtu.be/DmEhOuwan5w

Very well done. Damon is the real deal.

 

[Bru1055]

awesome thanks i was way off on the guest!!

 

[beginnerhunter]

I loved the TN backpack hunt episode. Anybody know of a hunting show that features a lot of eastern public land hunting? Realistically this is the kind of hunting most easterners are going to be able to do. It would be nice to see it featured more. Could persuade more of us to care about public lands... Plus I'd just really like to watch how others are doing it.

 

[Dougfirtree]

No, I don't. I think it is far more demanding in terms of filming, enough so that few try. However, if you enjoy big woods deer tracking, you'd probably get a kick out of some of the videos made by the Benoits, or Big Woods Bucks.

 

[MW357]

I do some pack hunting in Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. It's not the rocky mountains but a guy can experience some steep terrain and find great whitetails. It's great training for a western hunt. Look up the Ozark National forest or Ouachita Forest. Be happy to assist anyone wanting to visit and yes more shows about the south or eastern pack hunts would be great. Not all of us hunt over bait stands around here. Lol.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

I do some pack hunting in Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. It's not the rocky mountains but a guy can experience some steep terrain and find great whitetails. It's great training for a western hunt. Look up the Ozark National forest or Ouachita Forest. Be happy to assist anyone wanting to visit and yes more shows about the south or eastern pack hunts would be great. Not all of us hunt over bait stands around here. Lol.

Don't foget the heated blind with satellite tv, thats standard on this side of the Mississippi.

 

[mdunc8]

I loved the TN backpack hunt episode. Anybody know of a hunting show that features a lot of eastern public land hunting? Realistically this is the kind of hunting most easterners are going to be able to do. It would be nice to see it featured more. Could persuade more of us to care about public lands... Plus I'd just really like to watch how others are doing it.

I agree, but I think it would be a filming nightmare. Typically much fewer encounters than Randy et al. experience out here. Those areas are usually thick, which makes filming difficult unless you get in a treestand and then you're right back to every other whitetail show. I spent most of my time in Virginia hunting "big" roadless and wilderness areas. I hope to make it back a few times to wander around my old spots. In the meantime, hopefully a few other guys will produce a few episodes to fill the void.

 

[beginnerhunter]

I do some pack hunting in Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. It's not the rocky mountains but a guy can experience some steep terrain and find great whitetails. It's great training for a western hunt. Look up the Ozark National forest or Ouachita Forest. Be happy to assist anyone wanting to visit and yes more shows about the south or eastern pack hunts would be great. Not all of us hunt over bait stands around here. Lol.

Yeah I hunt in the Winona WMA which is actually not that far from you (I'm in LR). Also hunt Caney Creek some. I mostly wing it, walk in a ways, get high on a hillside with a view and favorable wind. Sometimes still hunt. Sometimes carry a climber during bow season (If someone can spot and stalk deer with a bow in Arkansas they should write a book). I see deer more often than not when I go out there, just haven't closed on any yet, hence my screen name. I'd be interested to know how you're doing it if you are having success!

 

[beginnerhunter]

I agree, but I think it would be a filming nightmare. Typically much fewer encounters than Randy et al. experience out here. Those areas are usually thick, which makes filming difficult unless you get in a treestand and then you're right back to every other whitetail show. I spent most of my time in Virginia hunting "big" roadless and wilderness areas. I hope to make it back a few times to wander around my old spots. In the meantime, hopefully a few other guys will produce a few episodes to fill the void.

That's the beauty of YouTube, don't have any requirements for encounters, etc. Hope the Orion guy does more of these as I find them entertaining.

 

[ethanm.18]

I do some pack hunting in Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. It's not the rocky mountains but a guy can experience some steep terrain and find great whitetails. It's great training for a western hunt. Look up the Ozark National forest or Ouachita Forest. Be happy to assist anyone wanting to visit and yes more shows about the south or eastern pack hunts would be great. Not all of us hunt over bait stands around here. Lol.

I live in Oklahoma, and am looking to backpack hunt the Ouachita National Forest in my state's part and was wondering if there were any locations that would be good to look into. And any other tips you have, I am somewhat of a novice hunter.

 

[Scott85]

I live in Oklahoma, and am looking to backpack hunt the Ouachita National Forest in my state's part and was wondering if there were any locations that would be good to look into. And any other tips you have, I am somewhat of a novice hunter.

Look at the dates of the thread and when they last been online before responding.

 

[EKYHunter]

Kentucky has a lot of public land. They’re called Wildlife Management Areas or WMAs for short. Most are forests that surround a lake. I live about 5 minutes from a WMA. There are many areas that are only accessible by boat. The bad thing is, state law prohibits you from camping on these properties unless it’s a designated camping area.

 

[Bullshot]

Backpack hunting on eastern lands, I am
talking the largest tracts like NF, is simply not worth it. Sure there are a few heavy horned deep woods bucks (and big bears) that will likely die of old age out there, but simply backpacking in doesn’t do much except give you exercise and a gold star for effort. 100X, probably 500x more deer, and higher scoring deer, will be shot within a 1/4 mile of a road or farmhouse. Most deer live near people and eat their crops, landscaping, or early successional disturbed areas. The farther you go from people most anywhere in the east, the fewer deer you will find and the more difficult those deer will be to hunt. Add in that glassing opportunities and even medium let alone long distance shooting is not prevalent or possible most places due to dense trees and other thick cover, and the backpack hunting situation just isn’t anything like out west. There are LOTS of reasons to hike, backpack, and explore the deep forests in the east, but hunting probably isn’t at the top.

Annnnd finally, Deliverance was filmed in the east and if you needed any additional reasons not to work that hard for a whitetail, there ya go!

 

[Dougfirtree]

Backpack hunting on eastern lands, I am
talking the largest tracts like NF, is simply not worth it. Sure there are a few heavy horned deep woods bucks (and big bears) that will likely die of old age out there, but simply backpacking in doesn’t do much except give you exercise and a gold star for effort. 100X, probably 500x more deer, and higher scoring deer, will be shot within a 1/4 mile of a road or farmhouse. Most deer live near people and eat their crops, landscaping, or early successional disturbed areas. The farther you go from people most anywhere in the east, the fewer deer you will find and the more difficult those deer will be to hunt. Add in that glassing opportunities and even medium let alone long distance shooting is not prevalent or possible most places due to dense trees and other thick cover, and the backpack hunting situation just isn’t anything like out west. There are LOTS of reasons to hike, backpack, and explore the deep forests in the east, but hunting probably isn’t at the top.

Annnnd finally, Deliverance was filmed in the east and if you needed any additional reasons not to work that hard for a whitetail, there ya go!

There's a lot of truth to this, but it's not the whole story and I'll push back a bit. There are some good reasons to get back in the woods and camp for deer. Among them:

1. You can hunt deer that are unpressured. Are they dumb? Of course not, but they're behaving like deer and haven't gone nocturnal.

2. You can surround yourself with public land and not have to deal with private boundaries. This is important to me when there's snow on the ground. Tracking is the best way to hunt deer around here, if you have snow. But, you need the room to track a deer for a few miles without losing it to the posted signs. I had to give up on a buck I tracked for a good while, this Fall, when it crossed onto private (and just when I was catching up). I hate that!

3. If you're limited to public land and you hope to shoot a mature buck, the low-density big woods might still be your best bet in the northeast. So many of the smaller bits of public get blown out by pressure and rarely hold bucks of any age.

4. Being out there camping means you're away from home and not available. Sometimes, as a parent, that can be the only safe way to reliably devote yourself to hunting for a while, without getting sucked back into home life.

 

[woods89]

I backpack hunt here in the Ozarks. I don't talk about it a lot, though, because I'd prefer it didn't get popular........

 

[damonbungard]

Hi all. Just seeing this post and some good dialogue on Eastern backpack hunting. I recently made another backpack hunt video in Tennessee from last season, called ‘Popping Smoke’. can find on my personal ‘Damon Bungard’ YouTube channel:

 

[Treeshark]

That was awesome, Damon!

 

[Pahoundsman]

very cool video,and a nice public land buck.