Prison Farm hunt

[MThuntr]

Anyone done the MT Prison Farm archery deer hunt? Any thoughts?
I snagged it as a leftover tag without any thought and really don't know how to start since scouting onsite is not allowed. Seems so heavily restricted that I might just eat the tag to avoid the hassle.

 

[Bambistew]

Used to be able to get 5 tags and they were OTC.

I hunted it probably half a dozen times over a couple years, but it was years ago. Lots of hunters, in lots of places, but also enough deer to keep it interesting.

Its a pretty sweet area for deer hunting, lots of cover, broken terrain, big cotton woods, hills etc. You need a tree stand to hunt it efficiently, IMO. A climber would be your best bet as you can move/scout/set up all at once. Another option would be to find a coulee they're using and set up a ground blind. Spot and stalk whitetails is tough with a bow in that country.

There are a lot of good choke points, and a lot of areas to hunt, but there are also a lot of tree stands hanging in trees... or used to be

You have to play is smart, those deer are pretty smart and have been hunted a lot. Big woods tactics similar to hunting heavily pressured eastern deer will pay dividends there. Find your tree a few days before you want to hunt, mark it and find an easy trail to it that avoids most deer areas. Go in well before daylight, and if you hunt the afternoon, go in at least a couple hours before dusk. Don't bust though bedding areas. Usual stuff.

I'd hunt mid week, and starting now for the next 3 weeks. After that I think it would be pretty tough. They'll be quite educated by then, and once the rut is starting to wane they get a bit more weary.

Good luck.

 

[phutch30]

I used to hunt it. Like was stated it can be tough. You pretty much have to either spend a couple days glassing from off site or hunt/scout it on foot. Lots of the whitetails lay out in the fields. If you get weather late season the higher stuff will see elk and mule deer. Some large bucks running around Rattling can work if you can get away from the people in the bottoms. Which can be tough especially on weekends.