Phases of public land pressure? When? Do you avoid it?

Unread postby **johndeere506** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:17 am

If you divided the season up into:

Early season Bow

Prerut/Rut Bow

Firearm

Muzzy December

Late Bow

When do you see the pressure peaking on public? Do you avoid these times and hunt when others are not? Are there too many bucks already gone for your late season efforts? Does the answer depend on how you hunt?

I would guess most public gets pressured most during firearm, followed by rut/bow, then muzzleloader. I dont have enough experience to know though.

If you had some priavte land to hunt as well, what phase would you be there, or spread them asll throughout the season?

Unread postby **oldrank** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:27 am

id say that the gun opener gets the most pressure.. bow opener is up there too... after bow opener there is a steady flow of consistant pressure up to pre-rut. It drops off around November n stays pretty light till opening week of gun. I think alot of people burn out. After gun opener it declines daily with pickup on weekends.. into December there are only a few guys hunting n by seasons end usually just me. I dont avoid hunting the areas I just adapt to the pressure.

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Unread postby **Crazinamatese** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:50 am

Gun season is a nightmare. Not many people bow hunt the public land in my area luckily. I hunt pretty hard mid to late October. I like to get my freezer filled by November's gun season.

Unread postby **Trailcamaddict** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:03 am

Opening weekend of bow season seems to be getting more and more popular on the public lands I hunt. After that the pressure drops back a bunch. I like late September through mid October for the public spots I hunt. The pressure is low because guys think it's the "October Lull" - the deer are still there though.

During the rut has been tough for me on public - I don't have much luck mostly due to the pressure ramping up with all the fair weather guys that just hunt the rut and start throwing down scents and rattling and grunting so loud that I can hear them 1/2 mile away.

I don't gun hunt on public too often so I don't have a good feel for that, but I'm sure I wouldn't like it!

I haven't had to late season hunt in many years but do quite a bit of scouting then - Nobody is in the public where I hunt during late season!

Unread postby **remmag** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:21 am

The parcels I hunt stay pretty low pressure all through October except for the duck hunters who hunt the potholes up by the road. From the beginning of november when rut starts kicking in until the end of firearm season can in some cases be a downright nightmare.

I try my best to be tagged out before gun season or at least have my buck by then. Starting this season ille only be gun hunting on the couple small parcels of private I have access to. Battling with the orange army gets me frustrated to the point of not enjoying my time in the woods. After the pressure of gun season, and the temps dramatically dropping most parcels around here are vacant for muzzleloader & late season doe.

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Unread postby **kenn1320** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:47 am

The public i hunted in central mi had tons of sign in the swamp via aerial photos, but when I hunted early November there wasnt much fresh sign. I believe the pressure ramps up 10 fold come gun season and pushes the deer to the swamps. I saw several trucks hunting the same area, but not enough to push the deer into the remote areas.

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Unread postby **dan** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:52 am

The amount of pressure does not dictate whether I hunt there or not, whether or not there is a target buck living there is the deciding factor. As a matter of fact, I do best in heavy pressure cause the pressure puts the buck Im after in the most predictable spot for me to hunt.

Unread postby **Bayshorebuck8** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 3:42 pm

Valid point danno makes sense

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Unread postby **Trailcamaddict** » Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:26 am

dan wrote:The amount of pressure does not dictate whether I hunt there or not, whether or not there is a target buck living there is the deciding factor. As a matter of fact, I do best in heavy pressure cause the pressure puts the buck Im after in the most predictable spot for me to hunt.

This exact situation has been my most difficult mental block to overcome on Public Property. I have always tried to find the lowest pressure places I could but those little gems seems to be fewer and farther between than even a couple years ago.

I need to get more confident with my scouting and hit some of the heavy pressure areas and try to forget about the circus at the parking area.

Unread postby **Twenty Up** » Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:44 am

dan wrote:The amount of pressure does not dictate whether I hunt there or not, whether or not there is a target buck living there is the deciding factor. As a matter of fact, I do best in heavy pressure cause the pressure puts the buck Im after in the most predictable spot for me to hunt.

And this is the difference between a "Beast" hunter and the average Joe.

Unread postby **deereload** » Wed Sep 30, 2015 6:57 am

for the public I hunt - its mainly rut - use it to your advantage by setting up in escape areas

Phases of public land pressure? When? Do you avoid it?

Phases of public land pressure? When? Do you avoid it?

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