Hunting Public Today

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Wall hanger
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Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Wall hanger » Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:46 pm

Public land and the mobile hunting style is now King!!There are great hunting forums with valuable real world hunting information at our fingertips , mapping on our phones amazing podcasts detailing strategies from all kinds of big buck slayers from around the country.YouTube channels popping up all over the place .We have Tree Saddles , feather weight treestands and climbing sticks flooding the market.
It’s amazing right ? We have all this great information that will make it easier to kill a big buck !!!We have all the information !!!why is it getting more difficult !!! Guess what those old killing pressured mature buck tactics are changing.
Well everyone now hunts public land so we have more pressure then usual. Those remote secret spots aren’t so much of a secret anymore. People are willing to go deep now, I’m seeing it more and more lately. Those little overlooked spots aren’t so overlooked anymore either.
Haha , I bet Pretty soon we will be hearing everyone saying to kill a mature buck you have to avoid the people pressure on islands, transitions and overlooked spots .

I see it already with a lot of great big buck killers who’s strategies are starting to struggle a bit.I see it with Dan’s videos lately, he is running into pressure where there was never pressure.
I’m sure this is just a phase in the hunting culture that will not last too long .
In the mean time back to the drawing board, boots on the ground and Adapt and conquer!!


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Boogieman1
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:18 pm

Personally think the Wisconsin guys have it the worst. In my area down here things really haven’t changed. My average public is less than 300 acres with 6 parking areas. Not exactly a going deep leaving the others in the dust type scenario.Best thing I have found is let the new die hards have at it and wait for em to give up then slide in towards the end of November and make my move.

I don’t wanna be negative Nancy here but I will pretty much guarantee the majority will quit within the first 2 seasons. Blue prints of how to be a successful wealthy individual have been available for generations. Yet most choose not to cause it requires to much work and time. Best case for public hunting is getting new hunters who haven’t experienced anything else and have a willingness to learn and nothing to compare it to. You take hunters used to sitting food plots seeing 50 deer per sit on lush private and they are gonna run back after a weekend on public. Public isn’t for everyone some just need to figure that out the hard way. Doesn’t really matter to me, adapt and overcome is the name of the game.
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littlebuckhunter
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby littlebuckhunter » Wed Jan 06, 2021 6:50 pm

Boogieman1 wrote:Personally think the Wisconsin guys have it the worst. In my area down here things really haven’t changed. My average public is less than 300 acres with 6 parking areas. Not exactly a going deep leaving the others in the dust type scenario.Best thing I have found is let the new die hards have at it and wait for em to give up then slide in towards the end of November and make my move.

I don’t wanna be negative Nancy here but I will pretty much guarantee the majority will quit within the first 2 seasons. Blue prints of how to be a successful wealthy individual have been available for generations. Yet most choose not to cause it requires to much work and time. Best case for public hunting is getting new hunters who haven’t experienced anything else and have a willingness to learn and nothing to compare it to. You take hunters used to sitting food plots seeing 50 deer per sit on lush private and they are gonna run back after a weekend on public. Public isn’t for everyone some just need to figure that out the hard way. Doesn’t really matter to me, adapt and overcome is the name of the game.


Agree but guys that have access to great private land are never going to hunt public. None of my buddies with a good private spot even entertain the thought of public. They never had to. The guys coming to public are those who lost private access, only have limited private to go to, lost a lease, urban sprawl, out of state guys. They wrote it off before but the new public land shows give them hope.

To the OP— you’re not wrong. Public has been getting pounded and all those little secret spots deep or overlooked are being hunted more than they use to. Guys like Dan have even adapted by hunting more private and putting in some good food plots. I’d do the same if I had the option. The public pressure in Wisconsin and states like it is at all time highs IMO. It’s not going away anytime soon. Lack of access will keep the public lands packed for the long run. This is how hunting will be in our lifetime. We have to adapt and adjust expectations.
Last edited by littlebuckhunter on Wed Jan 06, 2021 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nocturnal
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Nocturnal » Wed Jan 06, 2021 6:58 pm

Yep 2020 was a slow year for alot of guys and gals. Which means more hunting time and I said this years ago hunting public in Wisconsin. The beast will impact southern wi and it has. I dont mean any disrespect either but alot of guys who are seasoned public land killers in Wisconsin (dan included) are struggling to kills bucks on public. Finding overlooked spots is an understatement. Im sure this is, just a phase, as most will realize that there is a real struggle hunting public and a serious commitment needed in order to stay consistent. I do hope things at least slow down because this past year was busy, busy!
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littlebuckhunter
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby littlebuckhunter » Wed Jan 06, 2021 7:04 pm

Nocturnal wrote:Yep 2020 was a slow year for alot of guys and gals. Which means more hunting time and I said this years ago hunting public in Wisconsin. The beast will impact southern wi and it has. I dont mean any disrespect either but alot of guys who are seasoned public land killers in Wisconsin (dan included) are struggling to kills bucks on public. Finding overlooked spots is an understatement. Im sure this is, just a phase, as most will realize that there is a real struggle hunting public and a serious commitment needed in order to stay consistent. I do hope things at least slow down because this past year was busy, busy!



For sure. I think it’s more us wishing the pressure will go down. I don’t believe it will. It hasn’t in several years and access is harder to get now. This is just how it’s going to be.

It’s fun to talk tactics and off the wall ideas but not much recent success in here and it’s definitely eye opening to how tough it is. All the videos of successful public land hunts in here lately are from years ago and just revamped. Cool to see but doesn’t give me confidence when the slayers of this site are killing on private land.
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Djp32 » Wed Jan 06, 2021 11:17 pm

I know this year on pa public was noticeably different where I’m at. I Usually run 15-18 cameras and for the first time in 5 years of exclusively hunting public I had one stolen. I had multiple hunters come across them in places where I normal never see anybody. There was even a lot of small game pressure. I took the first week in November off and I can tell you I was not the only one hunting everyday. So yea definitely have to adapt to the pressure but hopefully maybe just this year was a little more crowded than it should of been.
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Eddiegomes83
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Eddiegomes83 » Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:22 am

littlebuckhunter wrote:
Nocturnal wrote:Yep 2020 was a slow year for alot of guys and gals. Which means more hunting time and I said this years ago hunting public in Wisconsin. The beast will impact southern wi and it has. I dont mean any disrespect either but alot of guys who are seasoned public land killers in Wisconsin (dan included) are struggling to kills bucks on public. Finding overlooked spots is an understatement. Im sure this is, just a phase, as most will realize that there is a real struggle hunting public and a serious commitment needed in order to stay consistent. I do hope things at least slow down because this past year was busy, busy!



For sure. I think it’s more us wishing the pressure will go down. I don’t believe it will. It hasn’t in several years and access is harder to get now. This is just how it’s going to be.

It’s fun to talk tactics and off the wall ideas but not much recent success in here and it’s definitely eye opening to how tough it is. All the videos of successful public land hunts in here lately are from years ago and just revamped. Cool to see but doesn’t give me confidence when the slayers of this site are killing on private land.


Maybe you are not looking at the right place on here. Check out the "live from the field" thread. Looks like lots of public land success to me. Also dont just rely on Dan for your info. He is busy now which plays a huge factor and there are lots of guys on here that know how to kill bucks consistently that i am sure are willing to help out.

But to your point the woods are definitely crowded. In fact since covid hit everything outdoors in my state has been overwhelming popular all of a sudden.
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Jonny
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Jonny » Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:30 am

The buck lineup this year certainly suggests that there wasn’t a shortage of good bucks killed this year.

The pressure will die off again at some point. As guys aren’t successful in areas, they will just move on to the next.
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1STRANGEWILDERNESS
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby 1STRANGEWILDERNESS » Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:48 am

I like the hunting public guys but I wouldn’t be too excited about them pimping out my area.

They do a pretty good job of not pinpointing locations but if anyone wants to put a lil effort in you can probably figure it out.

I’m sure it’s lead to the demise of some Spectacular grounds in say southern Ohio, Iowa, Missouri type places.

Then again every great place I’ve ever found never lasts forever. Adapt
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Ryan549
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Ryan549 » Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:51 am

For the most part, where I hunt in NY- traffic has been consistent with years past. Bow pressure is very minimal until the beginning of November.
Opening day of gun was extremely quiet and didn’t live up to the past horror stories of a war zone, with the first gunshot heard around 9:30.
For the most part, most hunter sign is still relatively close to mowed trails or easy access, but I have seen some sign in deep. Not once, did I run into another hunter in the woods this season - which included 39 trips into public.
I saw one gut pile, and it was in deep. I went in to an area I prescounted well before light. I left my tree at 1:30 and stumbled on the evidence- so congratulations is in order for whoever got out there and made it happen.
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brancher147
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby brancher147 » Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:24 am

The new gear is great and still getting better. I still see way more pressure on private than public but I’m sure it’s a different story in the Midwest. We have big steep mountains with cliffs and boulders and rivers on public that most people will never want to deal with and baiting is still allowed on private. The first couple days of gun season you could see someone anywhere but other than that it’s not too bad. I did see more pressure this year but most people just want to kill a deer and aren’t hunting the right spots for a good buck.
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mipubbucks24
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby mipubbucks24 » Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:46 am

There are a ton of guys getting it done on public, some of these statements are just not true. I would even say more public land harvest this year then years past. Everyone keeps talking about all the extra pressure and they attribute it to this site and THP. If you were to actually break down the number of guys watching their videos and spread it out over the us, even just east of the Mississippi it would be next to no added pressure. I am not doubting that the pressure is up in many areas but it probably has more to do with covid this year. Dan has taught tactics for pressure deer, they work, many others have contributed tactics that work. I hunted public for 4/5 years and could not even see deer before I found this site. You can’t put 1 property or deer in a box, everything is situation and Animal dependent. Get out there scout, grind, hunt, & kill.
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Tim H
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Tim H » Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:48 am

This year I have ventured out in more areas and terrains than I have ever done. I've hunted in 7 counties in WI and have noticed quite a bit of pressure. I can't really say though that the pressure is more so because I have no prior years to compare it to. But by venturing out to new properties and areas, I've ran into more people than I'm used to. Small game hunters, duck hunters, coyote hunters, hikers, etc are utilizing the public lands to their benefit. It's really nice to see and discouraging at the same time. It's great to see people out using public lands, but at the same time I have to share the land with them. I'm sure there are several factors that are contributing to people using the public lands more. Dan, The Hunting Beast, and The Hunting Public are encouraging hunters to get it done on public land. COVID sure has brought people out of the woodwork. There could be other reasons out there that I'm not aware of.

Whether this will continue to be consistent will remain to be seen. I'm adjusting to the pressure of other people as its not something I'm acclimated to. In a way I hope it calms down and I get a little more of the public to myself, but if it doesn't, I'll just adapt and adjust and work harder to get it done.
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Hawthorne
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Hawthorne » Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:53 am

Every year I look for a reason not to hunt the public I roam. But I keep seeing slobs after putting in a good effort to keep me coming back. Kinda like golf, you hit a couple great shots per round that keeps you coming back
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby ajack » Thu Jan 07, 2021 3:01 am

NorthwoodsWiscoHnter wrote:COVID sure has brought people out of the woodwork.


This. I imagine it was banner year for tag sales and harvest numbers because there's a lot of people collecting unemployment checks or working reduced hours. Less people traveling for guided trips probably has a lot of people hunting locally as well. The pressure will drop off in the coming years one people get back to being busy.


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