I like it. The place where all of the pics I added except the beech tree rub are from a heavily hunted area.. even though it's a safety zone LOL! I walked up on two guys hunting it and a game warden was at my truck hoping I was them. He had a cell camera in there and let me know the 150-160" deer wasn't really a big deer comparable to a couple in there. Unfortunately he said I'm far from the only shed hunted going in there as well
I'd suspect he's right, and I bet I know where you were at. First couple years it was opened to bow hunting it was a gem you could have to yourself. I'm sure covid changed that.
My brother & I came across a scrape line along a ridge one year with scrapes every 10-15yds for nearly 1/4 mile. It was late September. I swore it had to be an inexperienced hunter getting overzealous with mock scrapes but my brother hung a camera anyway. Good lord you should've seen it. He caught half a dozen bucks in a bachelor group and none were under 140". The biggest pushed world class. I went back up the week of Thanksgiving and on my second sit shot the biggest one. A few days later my brother shot another one. It was a busy piece of public, too.
So when the warden tells you that 150-160 is NOT a big guy on campus, he's telling you the truth. It's not an exaggeration. Ever since covid and Youtube public hunting shows, it's gotten more challenging because there are lots of people hunting from out of state. But the tough terrain, very short gun season post rut, and one buck tag make it all but impossible to put too much dent in the big buck population. Most people focus on the big public like Wayne National & Shawnee. Lots of the smaller areas get completely overlooked even though they hold the same quality deer.
