Here's my bio from up above, next paragraph down... I hunt heavy pressure public most often. Around home, the public land is riddled with roads and hunters. Typically you cannot walk a quarter of a mile without hitting a woods road, hunters / vehicles. Very few sanctuaries exist for the bucks around here, which dictates a lot of scouting for those "overlooked" areas. A two year old is a good buck here, and will score around 90" as an eight point. The very few three year olds out there average about 106" as an eight point. Poor nutrition, oftentimes no access to agriculture, and extreme hunting pressure make hunting here quite a challenge.
Scott Shawl
"Pressured Whitetails"
Scott Shawl is a lifelong Great Lakes State resident that began his hunting career in the public land cedar swamps of northern Michigan- the fourth generation of his family to do so. At age twelve, the first year he could legally bow hunt, he shimmied up a tree and took a buck with his recurve bow- despite having no tree stand, tree steps, or bow sight. Since then Scott has expanded his hunting to the extra-heavy pressure public land in Mid-Michigan, state and national forests of Michigan 's Upper Peninsula, and the wilds of Ontario , Canada . Scott is a public land, do-it-yourself specialist that has never been privy to a lease, or outfitted hunt for deer.
Scott is a Paramedic Supervisor that has worked for Mid Michigan Medical Center for the past 27 years. He began his EMS career by attending a local college for Emergency Medical Technician training at the age of 15. That same year he received his State license and began working on the local volunteer ambulance. He followed that up by becoming a state licensed Paramedic as a teenager. He currently serves on the Region 3 Bio-Terrorism Defense Network, hospital committees, and is charged with coordinating PR activities for Mid Michigan Medical Center EMS. Scott has organized and executed various marketing and volunteer campaigns to promote community awareness and involvement. He has been interviewed for newspaper articles as well as appeared on local television stations on issues ranging from healthcare to community projects and mileage proposals.
Scott earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Davenport University . Scott's greatest hobbies and passions include hunting and fishing. His birth gift on the day he was born was a fishing rod and reel. He is also a pro staff member for Stealth Outdoors and actively shares his sportsman knowledge through hunting forums and outdoor hunting and fishing shows. Scott and his family reside in Michigan with regular trips to the Canada region. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's some buck pics I have uploaded to Photobucket... If you read my bio you will see that I am a fourth generation hunter in Michigan. The last pic is my great-grandfather in 1913 Michigan.
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Regarding tactics, my style of hunting beds with a bow is heavily influenced by Dan's techniques.
In gun season and late season muzzleloader, when all else has failed, I approach things a bit differently... here is my post regarding late season and buck beds when bowhunting has been unsuccessful:
If you are hunting your home area of MidMichigan, you really have your work cut out for you. Even private property has any bucks with several birthdays behind them bedded well before daylight, typically. Public land in your area…. Nuff said. It sounds as though you are hunting a marsh? If you know where the buck you are after may be bedded, try moving in at first light with your treestand and muzzleloader (or hunt the ground) so that you make as little noise as possible. Set up downwind or crosswind from the typically small bedding area, within sight of its edge. Stay on stand and glass and/or watch that edge for the buck getting up and moving over a ways, to relieve himself or browse a bit before he beds back down. Stay alert and let him have it at the first good opportunity. I’ve shot a buck as he stood up in his bed, and I’ve shot a buck that moved 18 feet from his bed before I put him down hard, amongst others. Stay alert while hunting, and watch for birds flying out when he stands up, or a blue jay screaming at his movement, or a red squirrel alarm chattering…. You get the idea. My number one signal is hearing a twig snap in the bedding area if the wind isn’t blowing too hard for me to hear it. It takes excellent woodsman ship to approach a buck that close when you set up. If you don’t know where the bucks are bedding, study aerials and topo’s and scout for the rubs/tracks/droppings in the area while avoiding suspected bedding areas. Then make your play with the knowledge your scouting has given you, I’ve shot a buck when he stood up that I knew was in there somewhere just from the aforementioned scouting.
If you are hunting with a bow, it is even tougher on the heavy pressure areas. Foul weather may get him on his feet a little earlier than he has been, but it’s really hit or miss. You must have some days off where you can hunt in the evening? In the morning, you have to be even more creative…
If you are seeing late arrivals in the bedding area (first ten minutes of light), you probably do not have an area with the pressure I am speaking of, and consider yourself fortunate!