and have only hunted twice anyway back in the 90's. I was wondering how likely is it to harvest a deer in any given season i.e. modern gun, bow and muzzle loader in public wma's like Heyburn and or Keystone or any others you suggest? Also, if kept in the freezer, how long does deer meat keep? If I were to get wildly lucky this year and bag 2 deer can I expect to use that for up to 2 years? Or is that too long?
I think your odds are very good with a gun or muzzleloader...a little more difficult with a bow but certainly possible. You probably won't see a lot of big bucks, but I've managed to take a doe or young buck (not to mention deer I've passed on) every year for the past four seasons on public land. Excellent eating too. Properly prepared meat kept in a good freezer will certainly be good for 2-3 years. Although I primarily eat venison now, so it doesn't last that long.
Redtape gave good advice. I usually kill one or two a year on public. They are there.
My advice for public land is to go early, walk in deep, and quiet, set up on a trail with the wind in your favor, and let the hunters that wait until daylight to get there, push the deer to you.
Yeah, especially if it's a trail that goes to a fence and over it, to adjacent private land. Be there when the shooting starts opening morning of the season, but every day, too.
My son and I hunt corp land around lake Eufaula. There is a lot of land that is not hunted very much. You can get a map from the corp website. Some of this land is near developments but certainly safe to hunt with bow. You can find places that no one else hunts if you hunt the land around coves, etc.
