public land for deer recommendation

[norsk]

My father very recently moved to the state because his health is bad and he wants to spend his time with me and my family here. He has said several times that he would like to go deer hunting; he hasn't hunted for many years since we would go together when I was young (and I have never hunted in Indiana). Given the short time window, we would be going on public land. And, because of his health, the land and specific hunting area would need to be a short walk from parking and Dad will need to be sitting while hunting. We figure we will just find some cover and sit, or I may walk out around the cover to see if I could chase a deer his direction.

So, could anyone make a recommendation of public land around the Monroe county area that would fit our needs and possibly result in a deer? I know there are several public lands, but would any suit our needs better than the others?

I am not asking for advice on how to hunt, and I realize this is not the best strategy. It is, given Dad's health, probably the only way we can get out this season.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fishersjohn48]

You might take a look along SR 46 near Belmont. There are a couple of state areas that have hunter check in stations that have some easy access flat areas to hunt. These areas do get used a lot but I have seen deer there. Mid-week would be better as these areas always have hunters in them on weekends. these areas are on the South side of SR 46. Good luck and I hope you and your father get a chance to get out.

 

[Lonnie]

Try the Fish and Wildlife areas , there is one just south of Lagootee and several around the state. Each one has the ability to set their ouw rules as far as parking and even allow handicap hunters to drive the fire lanes into the hunting areas.

Several years ago I hunted a lot at the Winamac Fish and Wildlife area and they let a few hanicap guys drive their trucks into the areas using the fire lanes
Just a thought if walking is a issues.

also you can go to the Hoosier National Forest office in Bedford and get a good detailed map for a few bucks and you might be able to loacte a public area near the road with very little pressure

 

[Lonnie]

You can hunt the Morgan / Monroe state park , it has easy parking and walking but it gets a lot of traffic and pressure and your chances of seeing a deer a short distance from the parking lot will be slim to none

 

[HICKMAN]

hunting.in.gov

Click "where to hunt"

several areas around Bloomington.

several small spots owned by the State between Unionville and Helmsburg

 

[jbell_64]

If your father is legally disabled as per the state of IN, there are designated areas on the Hoosier where you can drive off the public roads etc. If so let me know and I can get you the contact info for the guy who handles this.

 

[norsk]

Thanks all for the info, it is helpful.

 

[norsk]

If your father is legally disabled as per the state of IN, there are designated areas on the Hoosier where you can drive off the public roads etc. If so let me know and I can get you the contact info for the guy who handles this.

He is legally disabled in Minnesota, from where he just moved, but I'm not sure how Indiana handles this (e.g. does one have to "apply" to be disabled?, etc.). He can walk a bit though, but then would need to sit down to recover. I will see if he knows about the disabled status.

 

[shooter1054]

Yellowood State Forest on 46 between Bloomington and Nashville has some good places that are easy access as well as some designated handicapped hunting areas. Noone else(other than the person who is assisting) can hunt these areas. Go to the forrest office or call them, and they canpoint you in the right direction. Yellowwood has some very good deer in it. The picture in my album is a 140 class, 163lb dressed 10 pointer I took from YSF a couple of years ago.

 

[HICKMAN]

Yellowood State Forest on 46 between Bloomington and Nashville has some good places that are easy access

what, my clue wasn't good enough?

 

[shooter1054]

what, my clue wasn't good enough?

Wasn't sure how familiar he was with the area. I didn't give him any of my "secret honey holes".

 

[fireman1323]

Also if you are disabled you can get a permit to hunt from an atv on Public land

 

[norsk]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I called and spoke with the person at Yellowwood, who then passed me on to someone somewhere else. For Yellowwood, one can apply for a handicap access pass. All it does though is allow the handicap hunter and an assistant to open a gate and drive down an access road. The road provides access to the same land that everyone else is hunting in, and you still have to walk out from the road. The assistant cannot in any way be hunting, only helping. So, it really doesn't sound like going through the permit application process would be worth the modest increase in accessibility. There was no mention of any ATV possibilities, so I will look into that next. If I can get some info I will post it up here.
Thanks again.

 

[Lonnie]

call the IDNR and get him a handicap permit it will allow him to hunt from the truck or ATV. This will help ( so it sounds like)

it might take a while but if you let them know he has one for Minnesota that might help exspidite the process.

Call the down town indy office listed on the site


i called them once for my uncle and they send you a form to fill out etc.