Is pressure a bad thing?

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blizzardhunter
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Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby blizzardhunter » Sat Jun 27, 2015 3:11 pm

I'll probably get hammered on this post but it is just food for thought. I know many of you hunt extremely pressured areas. However, one place here has light to moderate pressure. It's tons of open timber with very little open ground. Scouting it is tough because even though deer relate to the very little thick cover most of the "rules" on here don't apply as much. It's extremely hard to hammer down a set pattern. I have been looking into a large public section of thick creek bottom to hunt and was told it gets hit pretty hard. That's what got me thinking maybe some fairly heavy pressure isn't bad. It forces deer to frequent the isolated pockets on a more regular basis. Just a thought.

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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby Ryan » Sat Jun 27, 2015 10:29 pm

I think in some cases pressure could let you narrow down where the buck would most likely be, im planning on hunting land the dog hunters use, and I'm going to go to this very secluded island that from aerials looks like the only place the deer will get pushed to, ill let you know how that goes..also i remember listening to one of the podcast and Dan killed a buck after he walked by a bunch of guys hunting the rub line, i'm not sure if that helped him narrow down where the buck was but it seemed like it helped him to know exactly where not to set up..
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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby dan » Sat Jun 27, 2015 11:15 pm

I have hunted every extreme of pressure, from cushy managed land to walmart parking lot pressure and have succeeded in each extreme... In pressure situations deer are bedding where you would expect them, but, in every instance big bucks are always using those spots.

Pressure has its ways of helping you, but it is certainly a lot easier to hunt a low pressure buck. They move farther in daylight and allow you to make some mistakes you would never get away with on an adult pressured buck.
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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby Florida » Sun Jun 28, 2015 1:18 am

I'm really interested to see how well the island works.

In the hunt Dan talked about in the podcast, he already knew where the bed was. He walked past the other hunters to get to the bed. It was the only way to get there otherwise he'd take another route.

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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby PK_ » Sun Jun 28, 2015 2:56 am

I believe it does, especially in certain types of terrain.

Even on the private land I hunt out of state, there are ladder stands everywhere and lots of hunting pressure. Just by hunting around the permanent sets and frequented areas I have had lots of mature buck encounters. They can almost be looked at as funneling terrain features. Plot them on the map, draw lines for trails throughout the property avoiding them and you will be surprised how those 'trails' you marked turn out to be rub lines or heavy trails or bedding etc… Not always, but many times.
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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby backstraps » Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:24 am

PK_ wrote:I believe it does, especially in certain types of terrain.

Even on the private land I hunt out of state, there are ladder stands everywhere and lots of hunting pressure. Just by hunting around the [glow=red]permanent sets[/glow]and frequented areas I have had lots of mature buck encounters. They [glow=red]can almost be looked at as funneling terrain features[/glow]. [glow=red]Plot them on the map[/glow], draw lines for trails throughout the property avoiding them and you will be surprised how those 'trails' you marked turn out to be rub lines or heavy trails or bedding etc… Not always, but many times.




this has worked for me in the past , great tip
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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby headgear » Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:36 am

Once you get the hang of where the pressure is it can certainly help you narrow down the best locations to hunt in a given area. At some point the scales are tipped and it's not worth your time to hunt that land. However, if you can find those pockets of daylight activity on pressured land then you still have a chance to fill some tags.
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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby BHC » Sun Jun 28, 2015 6:47 am

I believe the same principle apply everywhere. Don't give ppl to much credit. Deer have other predators that they worry about much more, as they hunt them day and night 24/7. Granted a heavily pressured public land is going to have some differences than a private property where human access and presence is limited... On our property "most would probably call it relatively low pressure. Most guys hunt food plots and open hardwood bottoms. The deer still bed the same. I posted a pic on here once of maybe 500acres of our property. Dan marked likely bedding for me and literally may have marked 20-30 spots. You could likely scout a dozen of those spots and think "man the deer just aren't concentrated, where they should be" . The key I believe is learning not only where they bed, but also travel in regard to terrain and food. Then connect those dots and all the sudden they come together.. Also a few weeks backs a scouted five points in one area. All had good sign big rubs, scrapes, trails. But only two had all that plus beds right where it they were supposed to be, that made since for our predominant hunting winds. And also allow the deer to travel toward food nose to wind. There are 3-4 more good spots to scout nearby and again I only expect 1-2 to be any good...

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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby JoeRE » Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:26 am

I know what you are getting at. Up to a certain point pressure can help you - as long as there is still a decent number of good bucks around, pressure just tends to concentrate them and if you do your homework and are not lazy you can find them easier because you don't even need to scout the easy to access areas.

Of course if extreme pressure means there is only one 3 year old buck for every 50 deer, then that is just tough.
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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby headgear » Mon Jun 29, 2015 1:56 pm

JoeRE wrote:
Of course if extreme pressure means there is only one 3 year old buck for every 50 deer, then that is just tough.


Just think of it as a heck of a challenge, I think I hunt a lot of areas like this. :lol:
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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby oldrank » Mon Jun 29, 2015 2:31 pm

Pressure for me is a two headed snake.. I use it to my advantage in certain situations but curse it in others. I expect it hunting public.

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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby whitetailassasin » Tue Jun 30, 2015 1:03 am

If you have the knowledge, as a lot of us on this site do, hunting heavy pressure can make a mature buck easier to locate. As Dan said in the above precious post. But getting him to move in daylight hours and to get close enough to his core area is the tough part. I've often thought of the mature bucks in my area much like I do dogs. Some dogs hear a knock at the door or approaching footsteps and go right to it out of curiousity, some dogs will stand and watch on alert, some dogs will scatter and hide in there safe place. Mature bucks are a lot like the later. They don't hang around when they hear sounds that aren't the norm. At the slightest change they are out. Which makes heavy pressure hard to hunt. But I have also seen heavy pressure deer hold tight and not move until you have literally almost stepped on them. But where I hunt that's not so much the norm. Core areas have the advantage of sight, sound and wind. I think less pressured mature bucks moving in more of there natural capacity would allow for great observation stands and a more predictable pattern. I think you just need to locate some well used primary beds, aerials and topos and boots on the ground. With it being later try to cyber scout areas and when conditions are right go in to these selected areas and hunt them. Set up on fresh sign. Start eliminating possiblities. May help you out a lot for the years to come.

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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby dan » Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:34 am

I remember finding a really nice 12 point typical by shining some public ground and then hunting him in that area by hunting mobile and trying to hit the right bedding area at the right time... I saw a spot on the aerial that looked remote near where I seen him and appeared to have good bedding. It was gun season and it was very thick and due to some circumstances out of my control I was running a little lkate so I really had to creap in and find a tree and set up. I ended up having to creep closer than I wanted due to trails, wind, and good trees. I was really disapointed when from up in the tree I could see 3 different hunters within 500 yards. There were 3 good looking spots surrounded by water and thick dogwood I was expecting a good buck might be laying. One of these spots was within 40 yards, part of the reason I had to sneak so slow... At closing time I saw the other guys were already gone and I just started packing up as a fairly nice buck stood up in the bedding area next to me probably less than 30 yards away and completly unaware of my presence.
I am not sure if I would of shot him, he was nice but not the target buck. However, I would not shoot after hours anyway. I sat there till dark and he never moved out of the bedding area, he was really cautiously surveying the area, wanting to move towards me... I finally got down and spooked him.
In case your wondering where my tangent was heading, it was to make a point at how close you need to be to kill a mature buck under pressure.... Obviously, some move farther, but we see some real extremes with pressured bucks, and we see 4 year olds sometimes move an hour or two before dark in low pressure...
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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby blizzardhunter » Tue Jun 30, 2015 1:44 pm

I totally understand what you are saying. Pressure does make buck hunter extremely harder. My point was pressure narrowing down where a buck will bed and make it more consistent.

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Re: Is pressure a bad thing?

Unread postby dan » Wed Jul 01, 2015 2:01 am

blizzardhunter wrote:I totally understand what you are saying. Pressure does make buck hunter extremely harder. My point was pressure narrowing down where a buck will bed and make it more consistent.

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And my point was that big mature bucks are already bedding in those spots... Smaller immature bucks are scattered filling the voids till pressure is on then they too go to the pressure beds... However, there is some validaty in your assumption, even some of the big bucks do some shifting due to pressure and it does get a little easier in pinpointing... But, the best spots usually already have the big bucks for the most part.


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