# Northeast Ohio public hunting areas



## exide9922

In a few weeks I'll be taking the hunting class to get my license. this is my first year hunting and i have my apprentice license currently, ive gone out 6-8 times with my father in law deer hunting and like it, have yet to get one though. he also lives rather far away so once I get my license i can go on my own.

I guess what I need is some advise on public hunting near me. I live in canton and was thinking either berlin or westbranch areas? am i wasting my time at these places? would there be better areas? anything I should know about being on public ground vs private? all the hunting i've done so far is on private land my father in law owns or has gotten us permission on. I will be using a crossbow, and going for deer. thanks for any help!


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## Snakecharmer

A young boy got a big buck 18 pt at Mosquito Creek Wildlife area. Here's link to the article. Where was Ezbite?

http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2011/12/a_15-year-old_nets_an_18-point.html


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## ezbite

thats a dandy for sure. i didnt even gun hunt ohio this year. ill hit skeeter or the grand river the last few weeks of archery season.

exide9922, west branch, mosquito and the grand river are all good areas. ive never hunted berlin so i dont know. but if you have permissing to hunt private land why would you want to hunt public?


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## exide9922

distance mainly. my father in laws private land is about an hour and a half away. it's nice to hunt, just a 3 hour round trip. i can get to berlin in 20 minutes. west branch a little longer than that


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## Huntinbull

I hunt both Berlin and West Branch. Exide, any time you want a guided tour, which may or may not include animals, let me know. I am ready to get into the woods and do some small game hunting. Deer season was depressing for me. Need to remind myself i am a predator. give me a shout. I will PM my number to you.


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## Snakecharmer

ezbite said:


> thats a dandy for sure. i didnt even gun hunt ohio this year. ill hit skeeter or the grand river the last few weeks of archery season.
> 
> exide9922, west branch, mosquito and the grand river are all good areas. ive never hunted berlin so i dont know. but if you have permissing to hunt private land why would you want to hunt public?


Tom - That has to be close to your backyard no? Hard to believe on public grounds there was such a beast.


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## bdawg

I hunted West Branch for a long time, but gave it up cause there weren't many rabbits out there. I would walk all morning and see 1 or 2. Didn't see many deer out there either while pounding the brush for rabbits. I hunt Ladue Resevoir now. It's better than West Branch but still not half as good as private land. You could also try Walborn Resevoir or Deer Creek Resevoir. They are in the stark county metroparks, so read the rules carefully on their website. 

Since you are down in Canton, it wouldn't be too long of a trip for you to try Tappan Lake or Leesville Lake. I've deer hunting at Tappan and had a lot of success except for this year. In two days down there during gun season this year, I only saw 2 deer. Didn't see a lot of fresh sign either like usual. My dad and I do a lot of mini deer drives so we usually walk the whole area that we hunt during the day and know by the end of the day what is out there. My dad thinks that people might be poaching the section that we hunt cause he saw 2 deer carcasses right together in the woods. It was a doe and a fawn. Do a little scouting this summer out at Tappan or Leesville and you should be able to find a good area, but expect to see a lot of hunters out there too the first day! I counted 7 trucks parked near us on the first day this year. 

Huntinbull, let me know when you're going small game hunting. I'd like to hunt with you some time.


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## Bulldawg

Since you live in Canton Atwood , Leesville , Tappan , Clendenning , or Piedmont are all good places to hunt . I used to hunt all these spots back several years and harvested many squirrels , turkey , deer , and rabbits . Turkey hunting I rarely saw any hunters , and as far as deer hunting goes find the smaller tracts of ground that most guys arent going to hunt and check them out . But dont rule out Atwood and Leesville , lots of land and lots of opportunities. Honestly though your best bet at killing a few deer are usually going to be before the orange army makes their way through the woods .


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## Danfc80

Just a comment on that Mosquito monster: The local ODNR office has lots of nice bucks on the wall that they found dead in the fields so I gave it a try last year. Inside information about found sheds is invaluable as is the youth season opportunity. Congratulations to that kid, he figured out the secrets of big buck hunting at an early age.


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## ezbite

Snakecharmer said:


> Tom - That has to be close to your backyard no? Hard to believe on public grounds there was such a beast.


ive seen a few huge scrapes out there.


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## c. j. stone

Those places you mention will take some extensive scouting to find the more inaccessible areas "where you need to be" to have a reasonable chance of seeing game, let alone bagging something. If you do not put the work into it, NO public area will appear to have game on it and you will quickly become discouraged. The game, esp. deer are not close by the parking areas, or other easy to get to places, due to the fact that is where 95% of the "hunters" go to. Berlin and WB are classic cases of what I am talking abt. Most "hunters" are just not willing(or able?) to hike back into the deeper woods-and out of the way places. WB, for example, has [4000 acres] of huntable land but I bet most people reading this would not believe this statement. Berlin in total is larger yet. "Woodbury" in Coshocton Cty is a special "Hotspot" Public area which many guys go to and, by comparison, is only 1500 acres!!(of course it is next to a huge former mining area that is now public!) Regardless of where you end up, you just have to put in the time to find your special spot in these areas and it will be a much more satisfying experience. Bottom line, you only get out of something, what you are willing to put into it.


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