Some observations of public land pressure.

[ihookem]

There is some public land a few miles away from me that I hunt in the bow season. I drove around Sunday afternoon and counted about 35 cars . I figure that would make about 50 - 60 hunters. for about 6,000 acres. , or 1 hunter per 100 ac. I imagine there were a lot more hunters on opening day though but was not there. Up north there are very few hunters. The DNR reported a 3% decrease in gun sales and flat on the bow/ cross bow sales from last year. Has anyone else noticed less hunting pressure on the public lands in Wisconsin or other places. Sometimes I wonder if a lot of hunters went to leased land. Any ideas?

[BassBoysLLP]

There is some public land a few miles away from me that I hunt in the bow season. I drove around Sunday afternoon and counted about 35 cars . I figure that would make about 50 - 60 hunters. for about 6,000 acres. , or 1 hunter per 100 ac. I imagine there were a lot more hunters on opening day though but was not there. Up north there are very few hunters. The DNR reported a 3% decrease in gun sales and flat on the bow/ cross bow sales from last year. Has anyone else noticed less hunting pressure on the public lands in Wisconsin or other places. Sometimes I wonder if a lot of hunters went to leased land. Any ideas?

Pressure was lighter for gun season. I drove by multiple properties with ZERO hunting pressure. During the first week of November, bowhunting, I would have expected to see 20-30 vehicles on the same properties.

I will add the pressure on the big woods is higher during gun season than bow season. Not many hunt the big woods with the bow. Even during the rut.

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[Rich M]

In GA, 1 guy per 100 acres would be a decent lease to be on...they have a lot of leases with 20+ guys on 500 acres. Crazy IMO.

I always found that weather influences many gun hunters - real cold, rainy, windy will reduce amount of folks.

[Hawthorne]

I've been studying vehicles around some public the last two years in Michigan. Not has many guys hunt it has I originally thought. I actually think the private in the same area gets just has much if not more pressure than public. I know a guy in the same area that shares a 400 acre lease with 9 other guys. I've learned a lot of areas go unhunted at least during bow season. Usually thick nasty areas that you could only hang a lone wolf in.

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[dan]

Less pressure by me during opening weekend. Thanksgiving thru sunday pressure is much heavier. Maybe double. I think most guys go up north for opening weekend. Making the tags area specific helped. Guys had to choose if they wanted tags for here or there.

[tgreeno]

Since I didn't gun hunt this season, I drove around the public areas I bow hunt on opening morning. I thought the pressure was not horrible. It seems like the same areas are pressured year after year. I saw a few deer drives already at 9am Saturday morning. But I also think some people just drive around til they find a parking lot with low pressure and get out and hunt.

I'm planning on getting out and bowhunting during muzzle loader season. I think the pressure falls off ever more during that season.

[creepingdeth]

Bow season tough but new to it and tended to want to be too close to home...learned lesson, my fault...gun season up north was way down, usually same guys, same spots...must have moved to greener pastures.

[ihookem]

Just some more observations on public land up north and in S.E. Wisconsin. I have driven around during gun season around public land in S.E. Wis and it just seems like the deer harvest is very poor. I almost never see a blood trail down the walking paths in the snow, or gut piles , or hair that may have come from a dead deer being dragged. Does anyone else experience the same thing? Up north, my land is at the end of the road . This is where public land starts. It has been many years since I have seen any evidence of a deer being dragged out.

[tgreeno]

I bowhunted during muzzleloader season, and saw only 2 guys all week. No blood trails or drag marks. Only 2 deer on tailgates too. Seemed like a very low pressure.

[ihookem]

Tgreeno , I used to go around Kettle Moraine and look for blood or drag marks. Sure, I saw a few gut piles, but looking at the map I figure the acres and on deer drag or two on a square mile just is not a whole lot. Add a bow kill and the harvest seems light.

[tgreeno]

I think late season bow pressure is even less. I'm gonna be hitting it hard til Jan 8th. I saw 4 doe's tonight on my first sit after the gun seasons. A good start!

[Twenty Up]

Not sure if your states have been doing this, but GA just opened up a public PDF of deer harvested on WMA's (quota and non-quota hunts). Now not all WMA's have sign in sheets or even check stations... But the ones that do have logs and the wardens seem to do a pretty good job keeping the harvest records updated.

[bigwoodshuntn]

I would have to put a lot of miles on my truck driving around up north during gun season to find 50-60 vehicles. I hardly saw any other hunters outside of our groups on the public I was hunting this gun season, not that I want to be selfish but hopefully that means a few more deer will see another year to live.

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[ihookem]

Bigwoods, there is little doubt there are more deer running up north cause of the lack of hunters. I never could understand why the harvest is so light where I hunt. If it was not for corn, I am sure the harvest would be 1/3 less. I hunt Price co.

[naternate]

I exclusively hunt public ground in SW MI. I have a ton of public ground starting literallly across the street and I have scouted and hunted lots of it the last 5 years. I have seen a steady decline every year in the pressure it has received. First year I lived here there were 15 trucks on a 1.5 mile stretch we live off. This year there were 5. Shots on opening day shotgun have gone down so much I actually decided to hunt gun this year when I have sat out until now due to safety concerns. Bow pressure has remained steady to maybe a slight drop but isnt terrible. The deer numbers have steadily gone down but my buck sighting have stayed fairly consistent. I almost see 1 buck for every doe sighting but that may be related to hunting cover more specifically for bucks