Mindset when on Public Grounds

[PLB]

I think a lot of guys think my hunts are always calculated and perfect... But I go thru a lot of the same misserys as you guys and may have 3 or 4 horrible hunts, and the next one goes perfect. You have to keep a good attitude.

Good to know Dan, had many a disasters the past few seasons.

Last year opening day hornets nest at the base of my tree might be one of my favs. Tree blew up with bees, I went running for the hills. Next trip back to the tree to grab my gear, tree blows up again and I run for the hills. This time the swamp blows up with deer, I can hear them sloshing around in the water running the other way. Packed up and moved, never saw a deer that night.

LOL!! Those hornets don't mess around!! I can just see you running for your life!! LOL!!!

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[liveandletfly46]

I appreciate all of the war stories, guys. Being relatively new to the game, I have really enjoyed the off season scout on public land up to this point. Being able to go wherever and whenever I want and putting the thought process into it is a great feeling. It will be nice to see how it unfolds this fall.

[dan]

I think a lot of guys think my hunts are always calculated and perfect... But I go thru a lot of the same misserys as you guys and may have 3 or 4 horrible hunts, and the next one goes perfect. You have to keep a good attitude.

Good to know Dan, had many a disasters the past few seasons.

Last year opening day hornets nest at the base of my tree might be one of my favs. Tree blew up with bees, I went running for the hills. Next trip back to the tree to grab my gear, tree blows up again and I run for the hills. This time the swamp blows up with deer, I can hear them sloshing around in the water running the other way. Packed up and moved, never saw a deer that night.

LOL!! Those hornets don't mess around!! I can just see you running for your life!! LOL!!!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Hornets This post is bringing back some awful memory's that I can finally start to laugh at. Check out this old article about a miserable hunt me and Rat Slayer went on... Click the link:
viewtopic.php?f=159&t=1348&p=12305#p12305

[PK_]

Those are some great stories.

[Dewey]

I go out of my way to avoid other hunters and rarely see anybody else in the areas I hunt. Over the years you get to know all of the tricks to access spots nobody else wants to go anywhere near. Most times this is where the older bucks head as the hunting pressure picks up.

I tend to get a bit agitated if I see another hunter because I know more human scent means much less natural deer movement in daylight. It doesn't happen anymore since I usually hunt very deep in tough to reach spots. Because of this I won't shoot any does and pass on a buck unless it is really big.

I do have some overlooked spots that are close but only hunt them the first few weeks before the hunting pressure picks up.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[PLB]

I go out of my way to avoid other hunters and rarely see anybody else in the areas I hunt. Over the years you get to know all of the tricks to access spots nobody else wants to go anywhere near. Most times this is where the older bucks head as the hunting pressure picks up.

I tend to get a bit agitated if I see another hunter because I know more human scent means much less natural deer movement in daylight. It doesn't happen anymore since I usually hunt very deep in tough to reach spots. Because of this I won't shoot any does and pass on a buck unless it is really big.

I do have some overlooked spots that are close but only hunt them the first few weeks before the hunting pressure picks up.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

X2...

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[oldrank]

I guess I hunt like big bucks live. If I have other hunters around I move. I seldom see other hunters even though I hunt smaller chunks of public. The masses of other hunters all seem to generally go to the "good" spots. By that I mean they hunt the crop fields. They hunt the easy to find funnels, they hunt easy to find rub lines. There is deer activity in these places but it is all at night. The less knowledgeable hunters surround these spots by the dozens. If I find a spot then see it is getting other hunter activity I will out maneuver them if I can. If they are hunting a fixed stand then I know they are stationary and its not an issue because I know and pattern them just as a deer would. Bait piles are even better because I then know a food source and a hunters spot. Because I have so many possible stand sites I constantly am adjusting to human pressure. One thing I will do if I am getting out a little later is to take a quick lap around the stateland and see where all the guys are hunting. Then I look at wind and actually use them to my advantage by positioning myself to where their wind will push deer to me. This has worked a lot even during gun season. I know bucks get caught chasing does at night and have to get back to safety when the hunters move in at daylight. Here is a look at a spot and how I hunted it. It has produced during the second week of gun season when pressure is very high. The key is to catch the last parking lot empty. The way the woods is layed out most guys key on all the heavy trails down at the other side and the end I hunt almost never gets pressure in the center area between the parking spots. Also all the hunters on the west side bait like crazy and it pulls the deer in at night. The west side of the block is all open hard woods also.. then it transitions into super thick multifloura rose and autumn olive. This also makes it difficult to access and hunt.

Yellow = parking lots and human trails.
red x = hunter stands
light blue = deer trails