Public land...how far is your walk?

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fenderbender62
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Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby fenderbender62 » Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:12 am

The pressure is starting to pick up around me so it's time to push in further. I'm looking at a 2 mile hike in/out.

How far are you guys going to get away from the pressure?


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SneakyHunter
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby SneakyHunter » Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:24 am

Some overlooked spots are only a couple hundred yards from the truck. Others are over a mile.
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elk yinzer
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby elk yinzer » Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:31 am

50 yards - 3 miles.

I will say trail miles are about 10:1 bushwhacking miles. 1-2 miles on a trail doesn't do much to get away from pressure around here and many cases increases it if it's an obvious access point.
Last edited by elk yinzer on Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby DhD » Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:33 am

Where I hunt all the pieces are small. You aren't out walking anyone. A mile is a long walk.
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby Moose » Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:51 am

I would say 1- 1.5 miles around here. We dont have really big chunks of land here.
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Mon Oct 26, 2020 12:19 pm

elk yinzer wrote:50 yards - 3 miles.

I will say trail miles are about 10:1 bushwhacking miles. 1-2 miles on a trail doesn't do much to get away from pressure around here and many cases increases it if it's an obvious access point.

I agree on this. Good explanation.
My bicycle can put me at a point farther away from the parking lot but hiking over a ridge or climbing through a thorn patch can do almost the same to limit pressure.
What the money question is
Do the deer pick their preferred area with ANY RELATION to hunter access points?
I find some areas are not influenced by parking, others are only there because of the parking/access.
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby fenderbender62 » Mon Oct 26, 2020 12:48 pm

I agree with relation to parking.

One of the WMAs I hunnt is about 2300 acres and only has 1 parking lot. Naturally, the further I get from that parking lot the more deer I see.
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby fishlips » Mon Oct 26, 2020 1:02 pm

elk yinzer wrote:50 yards - 3 miles.

I will say trail miles are about 10:1 bushwhacking miles. 1-2 miles on a trail doesn't do much to get away from pressure around here and many cases increases it if it's an obvious access point.


This matches my observations. Trails make is a lot easier for everyone to push farther in
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby MrT » Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:22 pm

justdirtyfun wrote:
elk yinzer wrote:50 yards - 3 miles.

I will say trail miles are about 10:1 bushwhacking miles. 1-2 miles on a trail doesn't do much to get away from pressure around here and many cases increases it if it's an obvious access point.

I agree on this. Good explanation.
My bicycle can put me at a point farther away from the parking lot but hiking over a ridge or climbing through a thorn patch can do almost the same to limit pressure.
What the money question is
Do the deer pick their preferred area with ANY RELATION to hunter access points?
I find some areas are not influenced by parking, others are only there because of the parking/access.

I know they will sit in view of a road or parking lot and can observe any danger that might come by. I guess if an access is frequented enough there's a good chance there's a nice bed nearby.
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elk yinzer
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby elk yinzer » Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:32 pm

I actually think a difficult drive can be a good opportunity.

Ex one of my favorite places I drive about 70 minutes, walk 5. I have a good spot locally, I drive 15 and walk 60. That's a net difference of 0.

I believe a lot of guys base their decisons on closest drive and try to figure those deer out.

Whether by windshield or quadriceps I am commuting. I understand very well the need to get home for my kids bedtime but there's a reason I don't hunt the several public properties closest to my home, they suck.
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby Trout » Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:36 pm

Michigan hunting license sales are up 95% this year. Im running into people where I never saw people before. The last two nights, instead of going deeper I hunted closer as the competition is going way in. Had the area to myself and was in deer.
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby UofLbowhunter » Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:06 pm

elk yinzer wrote:I actually think a difficult drive can be a good opportunity.

Ex one of my favorite places I drive about 70 minutes, walk 5. I have a good spot locally, I drive 15 and walk 60. That's a net difference of 0.

I believe a lot of guys base their decisons on closest drive and try to figure those deer out.

Whether by windshield or quadriceps I am commuting. I understand very well the need to get home for my kids bedtime but there's a reason I don't hunt the several public properties closest to my home, they suck.



I agree with the 50yrds to 3 miles.

I think something alot of people do that hurts themselves,is put to much effort into trying to make things easy or quicker, by settling for closest to home spot. Me i pick my hunting area by the sign i find, the ground that looks the best, it doesnt matter where it is or how far away! I try to avoid SUCK :lol:
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elk yinzer
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby elk yinzer » Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:25 pm

Trout wrote:Michigan hunting license sales are up 95% this year. Im running into people where I never saw people before. The last two nights, instead of going deeper I hunted closer as the competition is going way in. Had the area to myself and was in deer.


Around is the new deep. Place can be 400 yards off the road but a proper access is a 2 mile hike. Think 3D.
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby Ragepassthru » Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:48 pm

SneakyHunter wrote:Some overlooked spots are only a couple hundred yards from the truck. Others are over a mile.


I have 3 different spots, all in different areas of public land, that I can see my truck from my stand. One has been a solid "meat stand" for several years. Always guaranteed to get a doe from that stand. I can tell when people are starting to move around farther in the woods because the deer migrate towards me and the ag field across from the parking area
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Re: Public land...how far is your walk?

Unread postby Colddriver » Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:58 pm

20 minute wheeler ride on the 900acrs I have permission to hunt but park at the boundary and walk 1/2 hr into the national forest.


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