your idea of "hunting pressure"

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Heavy hunting pressure is:

0 - 10 hunters per square mile
40
38%
11 - 20 hunters per square mile
30
29%
21 - 30 hunters per square mile
16
15%
31 - 40 hunters per square mile
9
9%
41 - 50 hunters per square mile
4
4%
51 - 60 huntersper square mile
1
1%
More than 60 huntes per square mile
4
4%
 
Total votes: 104
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Singing Bridge
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your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:16 am

One of my favorite topics (see my other posts :mrgreen: ) is hunting pressure... how much of it other Beast members have in their areas, what is tolerable, etc. There are many dynamics in different areas so I will attempt to keep this simple in order to get an idea of what we think.

Earlier today we had a Beast member post in a different area what he thought was a lot of hunting pressure... and perception is reality. I'm sure that based on his previous experience and hunting, what he has to deal with now seems like a lot in comparison. I get it- and yet there is no where within a four (4) hour drive of my home that has anywhere near that light of hunting pressure. Hunting pressure at that level would be "a dream come true" around here. I also completely get why hunters leave and go elsewhere around my home- they are smarter than me and won't put up with the insanity and circus of high hunting pressure. I am not fooled, however- I am sure there are areas with worse pressure than even what I have to put up with.

My DNR has estimated in the past that I have sixty (60) plus hunters per square mile on the public land around my home in gun season and half that in bow season (30). What are other Beasts up against?

For the purpose of this thread, how many hunters per square mile would you consider to be "Heavy Hunting Pressure". And... let's assume that the hunters are evenly distributed across that square mile, in other words they are not concentrated in a few different areas. Where would you draw the line and not consider hunting... ten hunters per square mile? ... forty or more?


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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby Brad » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:30 am

In my area we have it pretty good, I don't know how many hunters per square mile there are but there are usually a few vehicles in the lots. A lot of the public I hunt gets hit hard for gun deer and not so much during bow season though there are a lot of small game hunters and hikers on the trails. One spot of public I hunt I never see other bow hunters but almost always see a hiker, people on horses or small game hunters. They may not be after deer but its pressure either way. I would venture a guess that I'm in the 10-15 hunters,hikers, horse riders per square mile which is not too bad.

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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby hunter_mike » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:36 am

10 hunters/sq. mile = 64 acres per hunter
20 hunters/sq. mile = 32 acres per hunter
30 hunters/sq. mile = 21 acres per hunter
40 hunters/sq. mile = 16 acres per hunter
50 hunters/sq. mile = 13 acres per hunter
60 hunters/sq. mile = 11 acres per hunter
70 hunters/sq. mile = 9 acres per hunter
80 hunters/sq. mile = 8 acres per hunter
90 hunters/sq. mile = 7 acres per hunter


I have it pretty good where I live. There are plenty of hunters but there is habitat where deer can bed and probably only get bothered a few times a year. I have no idea how many hunters per sq mile I have but it can't be as high as other places. Glad I moved here!
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:38 am

hunter_mike wrote:10 hunters/sq. mile = 64 acres per hunter
20 hunters/sq. mile = 32 acres per hunter
30 hunters/sq. mile = 21 acres per hunter
40 hunters/sq. mile = 16 acres per hunter
50 hunters/sq. mile = 13 acres per hunter
60 hunters/sq. mile = 11 acres per hunter
70 hunters/sq. mile = 9 acres per hunter
80 hunters/sq. mile = 8 acres per hunter
90 hunters/sq. mile = 7 acres per hunter


I have it pretty good where I live. There are plenty of hunters but there is habitat where deer can bed and probably only get bothered a few times a year. I have no idea how many hunters per sq mile I have but it can't be as high as other places. Glad I moved here!


excellent, I should have added that data to my post. 8-)
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby whitetailassasin » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:50 am

I strictly hunt gratiot state game area and shiawasee state game area and early how its usually 10-15 hunters per but once late October thru gun season hits its at least double or triple that. It makes for tough sledding. Weekends are pounded but weekdays can be very productive. Bridge I'm pretty sure we discussed this before and I think you have hunted some of these grounds.

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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby Redman232 » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:56 am

We have small broken woodlots for the most part where I live. During gun season you can see orange in about every woods, but it's not nearly as bad as what people around here think it is. I would guess 10-20 max per square mile during gun season and 2-10 for bow. The public land I hunt probably gets less pressure than the private, just because everyone thinks it gets pounded.
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby dan » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:01 am

Are you talking hunter pressure per day? or all together for an area? I would say about a 1000 different hunters hunt the marsh behind my house that is 3300 acres, but certainly not all at once. On any given day it can vary greatly depending on what day it is, or what time of year.
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby cbigbear » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:06 am

Great post SB. A hunter's perception of pressure is all relative to where they normally hunt. When I ask someone how's "the pressure". I always feel the need to also add some qualifying info such as - how many trucks are in a given parking lot on a rut weekend. Around here (south) rut also means gun season & weekend means max pressure so I can gauge what I'd assume to be the max pressure on a place. If I don't qualify when asking I'll normally get - not bad, not too bad, pretty bad, or terrible & any one of those could mean 1 or 100 hunters per square mile.

I hunt one local area that is 100 acres bow only, & this season it was common to have two other trucks there with me. So that is a mini of 3 hunters per 100 or 20 per square mile. Most other places I hunt it’s less than 10 per square mile.
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby headgear » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:07 am

This is just a guess but I would image 20 per square mile is about right for gun season, that time of year I generally flee to far northern MN where I can have a square mile or more to myself. Not a lot of pressure up there but not a lot of deer either so you trade pressure for numbers.

Another thing I think that gets overlooks in these pressure thread is what the pressure is actually taking out of the herd. If 80% of the hunters aren't shooting young bucks that isn't a whole lot of pressure. If 80% of the hunters are shooting every legal deer they see that makes life a whole lot more difficult for us chasing mature deer. Hunting Pressure vs Killing Pressure.
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby Stanley » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:13 am

We have no where near 1 hunter per 11 acres. There are not that many hunters in the state. Keep in mind 400 acres in Iowa is a huge parcel. During gun season it would not be uncommon for groups of 30 guys to rake through 400 acres. I have seen guys lined up 75 yards apart as blockers and guys 75 yards apart pushing to the blockers. Not sure how that would equate to pressure though. During gun season groups push every available acre they can. They just jump from parcel to parcel.

When a deer is jumped it sounds like a war zone. Brown is down is the norm. You could not pay me to be in the timber when gun season kicks in.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby dan » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:14 am

On a rut weekend (bow) there is probably about 50 to 75 hunters in the 3300 acre marsh. To me thats heavy pressure, but its all relitive cause in marshes there is only so much dry ground. And thats where all the hunters are. So the actual spot I am hunting has low pressure, but the woods nearby has heavy. The 3300 acres includes a pond or mini lake that is at least a few hundred acres of that total too.. But thats just one spot, some of my areas have a lot less pressure, some more... The spot where Scott hunted when he came down by me has a lot less pressure than the stuff behind my house.
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:35 am

dan wrote:Are you talking hunter pressure per day? or all together for an area? I would say about a 1000 different hunters hunt the marsh behind my house that is 3300 acres, but certainly not all at once. On any given day it can vary greatly depending on what day it is, or what time of year.


My numbers are what to expect on opening day here in Michigan. The bow opener, the gun opener, opening day of trout, opening day of walleye are all like holidays here and you'd better brace yourself! :lol:
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:40 am

dan wrote:On a rut weekend (bow) there is probably about 50 to 75 hunters in the 3300 acre marsh. To me thats heavy pressure, but its all relitive cause in marshes there is only so much dry ground. And thats where all the hunters are. So the actual spot I am hunting has low pressure, but the woods nearby has heavy. The 3300 acres includes a pond or mini lake that is at least a few hundred acres of that total too.. But thats just one spot, some of my areas have a lot less pressure, some more... The spot where Scott hunted when he came down by me has a lot less pressure than the stuff behind my house.


Dan has lots of pressure around him. As soon as I pulled my truck into a public access lot I had guys pulling in wondering what I was up to, wondering if I was familiar with Wisconsin hunting laws... :doh: It was the same kind of stuff I get here in lower Michigan.

It is very interesting to see what fellow Beasts are up against in different States and areas.
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby dan » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:45 am

It is very interesting to see what fellow Beasts are up against in different States and areas.

Funny you say that... I was thinking it would be fun to research a different state each year and hunt a public spot and film an episode for extreme whitetail tactics (successful or not) about the hunt... Wouldn't mind targeting lower Michigan next fall just to see how bad it really is, and if I can succeed in that environment.
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Re: your idea of "hunting pressure"

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:46 am

dan wrote:
I was thinking it would be fun to research a different state each year and hunt a public spot and film an episode for extreme whitetail tactics (successful or not) about the hunt... Wouldn't mind targeting lower Michigan next fall just to see how bad it really is, and if I can succeed in that environment.


That would definitely be something to watch and is an excellent idea. A lot would depend on your definition of being successful.


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