Pressure...

[Gesell23]

When/how are you guys deciding its time to forget about a public land spot due to pressure? Are you writing things off from a map or do you need to step foot on it?

[MikePerry]

With me it would be after putting boots on the ground

[Boogieman1]

I might write things off for a season, but that doesn't mean I won't be back next year to check again. It's not the pressure I'm necessarily marking off, it's is there a big buck there. Sometimes the two go hand in hand but not always. If there is a big deer there I won't cross it off just because of pressure, but I also wouldnt put all my stock into it eithier. Give it my best shot acouple times and press on.

[Lockdown]

I agree with Mike and Boogie.

Sometimes a property can surprise you. In my SD days I drove by a property for two years because I felt there was too much pressure. I finally decided there’s a reason everyone keeps going back so I checked it out. It ended up being my best spot and I kicked myself for not checking it out sooner.

Pressure will either help or hinder. You just need to find out if there are bucks there worth chasing. Like Dan says, if there are big bucks there, then there are also overlooked spots.

My two stand locations at the above mentioned piece were 100 yards off the road and waaaay in the back. Both locations were void of hunter sign. Boots on the ground was the only way to get the answer.

[wolverinebuckman]

I covered a lot of ground scouting the last few days of the season, and even more immediately after. I searched for stands, blinds, cameras, junk... anything hunter, as much as I was searching for deer sign. I located several areas where the deer were skirting these locations, and bedding up away from the pressure.
I won't completely eliminate the potential of hunting around those hunter's locations, but I don't think the deer I'm looking for are going to be too close to those spots either.

[Hawthorne]

I look for big wetland complexes at least a couple hundred acres for public land. Usually if it’s all high ground there won’t be any mature bucks there because of heavy pressure so I usually write them off.Boots on the ground and trail cams have proven this to me.

[Dewey]

Pressure changes from year to year on public properties. I might not hunt a certain area due to known pressure but always monitor it for future hunts. I never completely write them off. From time to time I will do a speed scout thru the area just to check the situation out. Hunters move on especially after burning an area out and never come back. The next season it may be great hunting again.

[elk yinzer]

Pressure changes from year to year on public properties. I might not hunt a certain area due to known pressure but always monitor it for future hunts. I never completely write them off. From time to time I will do a speed scout thru the area just to check the situation out. Hunters move on especially after burning an area out and never come back. The next season it may be great hunting again.

This is similar to how I feel, but with the added caveat that there were certain areas that just map scouting I know are never going to fly. Near cities, obvious and easy access, pheasant stocked areas, etc.

[Jonny]

Pressure changes significantly weekend to weekend where I predominantly hunt. Some weekends there are tons of deer hunters. Then another it’s all squirrel hunters. The next month is a ghost town, then suddenly every forest road is a highway.

Each property is unique. Hard to write one off until you physically step foot on it. But some you can tell pretty quick aren’t worth it. I’ve found some like that, but I needed to walk it all to confirm it.

They were all smaller with no barriers to keep people out of spots.

[Missionshooter]

Just bc the lot is full, doesnt mean the other hunters are in the spot I am going. If the spot was REALLY promising by the sign when i scouted, I am going back there heck or highwater. I try to hit the pressured spots early season before the pressure picks up.

I try to get there earlier in the morning and by the time I get back to the truck at night, they are all gone anyway. They never know where I am hunting. I like it that way.

If I see them at the truck, i say something like "Yeah, they are REALLY hitting the corn. "

[Rob loper]

When/how are you guys deciding its time to forget about a public land spot due to pressure? Are you writing things off from a map or do you need to step foot on it?

i will never give up public because of pressure its our land to hunt so im just gonna keep tabs on both humans and bucks and find the overlooked or out of the way spots that has no human scent . no matter where you hunt on public there is always somewhere overlooked thats where you gotta be and almost always where the mature bucks will be
i will never pay to hunt a property again . i will pay to hunt public in another state for lisence but thats it

[headgear]

If there are no places for a buck to escape the pressure I usually don't bother. Too much rifle pressure can make a good looking area bad as well, those bucks never get a chance to get old and often if they do they will move to safer cover a mile or more away. Things can get a little trickier in spots where there is pressure but there is enough cover for a big buck to hide, I have spots that some years don't hold mature deer and other years they do so you have to stay on to of the area when you scout or hunt to determine if an area has gone hot or cold. For the most party I try to only hunt areas that hold mature deer every season but some of those marginal spots can still hold some really nice deer so you have to be flexible.

[elk yinzer]

Another way you have to approach this depends on your goals, I believe.

If your goal is just any old 3.5 year old buck I think in some cases it is better to seek out areas that hold multiple bucks of that caliber. Headgear said something similar, and it's how I approach my scouting. I have areas that hold a lot of deer, but the bucks just get hammered in rifle season. Sure a few make it through the gauntlet, but I feel I am better off hunting lower deer density areas but where the bucks have good escape cover or low rifle pressure, where a buck has a good chance to put some age on him.

If your goal is to chase true giants, 4 years olds and up, I think you really can't rule anything out. Because those bucks that do slip through the cracks, once they hit 3 years old they often do live another couple years, even in high pressure areas. I'm no expert on this side of the equation but I think the guys that kill giants relentlessly seek them out wherever they exist, whereas a guy like me I can key in more on general areas vs. the specific deer.

[UofLbowhunter]

I gonna say the same thing as others, you cant rule anything out till its scouted! Look at it all, you will hear many on here tell you the same thing, over looked spots are everywhere, presserured or not pressured. Right by the parking lot, by the road, or 2 miles back! You just have to scout it.
Now the when? Any time you can is the best. Spring,summer time,in season scouting or late season there are tactics for all of them. Just doing it id the key!

[matt1336]

Pressure creates opportunity. I like to cross water to get away from pressure. Deer like to do the same.