Tensas Tips?

Pick you up some green boots to swap out for the white boots at the Spotted Dog on the way up.

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I agree with this.

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Grew up hunting it when it was still private. Back when it first turned public, the old timers who had hunted it for years would go find a ridge that was thick and nasty. They killed some damned nice bucks sitting on the ground waiting on bucks to head to those areas to lay up once the shooting started.

i hunt on private property in tensas on the mississippi river. best advice i can give for tensas bucks is like everyone else said and to find the nastiest and thickest place in there and once you think yall have walked far enough keep walking until your legs fall off. rut for the place i hunt on in tensas isnt until late december but they are going to start being more and more active as its colder. dont count yourself out so early.

Be able to identify honey locust

1. Deer love them
2. They will poor s hole in you and your boots

Ah one of my favorite events of the year. I missed last weekend but I ain’t missing the
next one. I’ll be posted up somewhere on Hwy 65 near Newelton Sunday after lunch sipping a Bloody and watching the mass exodus heading back south. It’s the damndest spectacle of F150s pulling piggy backed fema trailers pulling 4-wheeeler trailers double stacked with 4 wheelers, 3 wheelers, Mopads, spotted fawns, dirt bikes, jambalaya pots, tents, tarps, hammocks, 3pts, 5’ tall ladder stands, ice chests, fire pits, fish cookers, generators, cur dogs, old ladys, and various other essentials needed to survive the 2 day hunt. High quality entertainment

Here are some tips:

It won't be as bad as you think. The lottery only draws a certain number so I have found that the lottery isn't as bad as the open Primitive hunt this weekend.

Read through the rules and make sure you don't have any saws, spikes, screw in steps, screw in gunholders, etc. in your pack.

Make sure you have your paperwork in order.

Make sure you have a game cart available to haul your deer out of the woods. Some of those areas are tough to get out of.

As far as finding deer, there is plenty of good advice above. Look for normal deer sign that you would anywhere else. Deer in Tensas aren't any different... the only thing different is the location where you hunt. Pick a good one. Good Luck to you and your crew!

I hunt on private land adjoining the refuge. Deer are on the acorns big time. Also seeing a lot if scrapes (5 on the walk to my stand,(.3 mile).
There will be lots of folks in the woods. Try to get there a day or 2 early and scout, then get in early and way off the road.
Not hard to find plenty of sign, but everyone else can find it also.
Ditto on thickets. Go up and stay over a trail near acorns. The river bank is loaded.

Bring a sammich and stay all day.Most people get off their stands 9-10 and come back about 3.All that activity will spook some deer and get some of them moving.Some guys wander around some in the middle of the day looking for a good spot and that will also get some deer moving,hopefully your way.

Back in the day the roads were terrible. The whole Crystal road would have people in the ditches that slid off the road