Effects of rising popularity of hunting beast/hunting public

[Swedishbowhunter]

I started really thinking about what effect the popularity of the hunting beast/ hunting public is going to have on public land hunting. I first caught wind of all this from a fellow hunter and started digging in deeper watching every youtube video from Hunting Beast & the Hunting public I could find. I bought all of Dans Dvd's, and have been reading as much as possible on this sight. I have always employed the hunt deeper and farther-in tactic to get away from other hunters, but never paid particular attention to bedding till I started learning the ways of the beast. So much of it makes such perfect sense and I am grateful for all the info that was out there for me to learn. I went to Deerfest in West Bend Friday thinking I would get a chance to talk with the boys from the Hunting Public, I was under the impression that not many people had even heard of them, boy was I wrong. There was always someone waiting to talk with them. Today I saw a facebook ad, "the 5 most popular youtube hunting channels",(hunting beast was #2, hunting public was also listed) & began to wonder how this will effect pressure on public land if at all. One thing that I always think helped me was accessing land differently than most, and burning the boot leather to get away from the other people, and letting them move deer back to me. Will a good number of people who read about all this suddenly start hunting smarter and deeper? Will more people start hunting public in addition to their private land? Will this then cause a decline in the popularity of hunting leases? Or will it probably be about the same as always due to the extra work that goes into it all? Is the main motive for making these tactics all public so every tom dick and harry marches back into the hardest to get to jungles & moves the deer back up to the parking lot? lol, Just reading on here there are a ton of people purchasing better more Mobil gear to try hunting like a beast, so I am sure it has done a lot for sales of lone wolf, muddy, and xop. Are my usually "private" public land spots in danger of suddenly being hunted by another hunter? Just the questions that flow thru my mind!!!

[headgear]

Maybe in some locations but not all, most guys just aren't willing to do the work to hunt this way. Some people think you are crazy for scouting year round, hiking way back, hunting wet nasty stuff, taking out canoes or kayaks, setting up and tearing down your stands every night, hunting from opening day to the last day of the season. Now here is the best part, most of the time they think you are crazy for doing one of those things let alone all of them in one season.

There certainly will be more pressure here and there and you might have to move on from some spots but half the fun is funding new locations to hunt anyway.

[J Gilbert]

Definitely a valid question, and I think that there will be some initial influx on public land and hunting these types of tactics, but I also believe a lot of guys will give it up due to the work involved and the lack of instant gratification often involved due to the learning curves of both public land and hunting bedded deer. There will definitely be people that try it and stick with it, but if you've read some of the "How to get my dad/brother/buddy involved"-type threads, you'll see that this is often too foreign a concept and too much effort for most people for it to become and stay the new norm.

[Hawthorne]

The covered blind and food plot hunting isn’t going away. Most trophy bucks are still shot on private land. Like 90% I heard. Most of today’s hunters won’t put in the work. I think it’s a niche like 10%

[Tim H]

To be honest I've been thinking the same thing. But there is also a side of me that thinks that most won't put in the work and devote themselves to a true beast style hunting. I think many (not all) that are interested are more liking the idea of beast hunting and not that actual implementation. I'm not saying I'm super hardcore beast hunter, but what my opinion is, is that most people like to talk rather than show actions. At least in my experience.

[Jackson Marsh]

Probably depends on what state you are hunting. Wisconsin and Michigan have had exposure to the Hunting Beast for years and I can still find spots that are lightly or never hunted in Wisconsin. It's a lot of work to haul a stand in and out every hunt, most guys don't realize that if they come from cushy ground.

[Rancher43]

Well for one there’s no such thing as “going deep” where I hunt, too many roads. If more people get out of leases to hunt public then maybe the prices of private land will come down a little.

I believe majority of people will give this style of hunting a try but find it’s too hard and go back to there old ways of hunting. I have buddies that hunt but would not have patience or heart to try this style. Heck, I don’t consider myself to be a Beast style hunter.

[Babshaft]

I think Headgear and Jackson are 100% right. There's a lot of people that talk about scouting and hunting Dan's way, but when it comes to it, most don't put the work in.

I put in almost 40 days of scouting and I can't convince any of my hunting buddies to even try hunting the spots I am let alone to come scouting with me. Even after they see all of the sign I found, they're more content to take the shortest/easiest route to their stands that are in the middle of nowhere and hope.

[ghoasthunter]

im pretty sure most guys i talk too think im nuts it takes a different kind of drive to hunt this way and most people are not going to see it threw. i think the guys that always kill big bucks are just going to get better and maybe a select few with the will power and drive will be added to the list. the main thing is how bad does the person want it and are they willing to go above and beyond what they think they are capable of doing to succeed. and no matter how much knowledge you gain from the beast its still only a stepping stone to success. every person is a individual and they still need to figure out how too apply this information too themselves and their location. the only way to fully learn is threw practicing with a open mind.

[oldrank]

Of all the deer hunters I know personally and that probably adds up to 30-40. This includes guys I work with and friends and family. There is one guy putting in work right now...me. I think most people are too lazy or just don't have the fire.

Most people will just give up. I've seen this for years. I have had good success on public land since my early 20s. I've had many people want to come hunt with me. They thought it would be easy...you just go out and shoot deer. Well out of all them people ZERO are still hunting public land.

[dan]

I would like to believe im changing the way people hunt, but in the marsh by my house, everyone knows I hunt there, and I have sold over 10,000 marsh dvd's just in this area, yet, I have only seen a slight increase in pressure in the "right" spots.

[brancher147]

Anything that gets folks out into the woods and using/interested in their public ground is good IMO. I hope these channels inspire people to get out there. But I don't expect most people to see any real effect on pressure. Maybe a little extra pressure in areas close to where THP or HB is hunting if people can figure that out. Public hunting is not for most folks. Or people will try it a couple times, realize it is not as easy as they thought, and just to go back to hunting private.

[the__morg]

I say bring on the people! Just like Brancher said, the more people getting out in the woods the better for the sport. Yes I have noticed that the popularity of people talking public land hunting is at a rise but how many of those people will be in the "right" spot? Not that I know what the "right" spot is haha! But I recommend this site as much as possible, I was a lurker for a long time and have learned more here than anywhere else. I go in with the mindset that if I run into someone in my hunting area they are either just as crazy as me for getting in there, or they are lost haha!!

[WV Bowhunter]

I work in a industrial facility with 2-300 people. I’d guess at least half or so of those people hunt at least a little bit. Of the hunters, the ones that are really serious knocks the number down to less than 10. Of the 10, maybe one or two would be willing to scout, learn from places like the beast and have the drive to hunt in the places I hunt.

I drove 14 hrs each way to scout public land in Iowa. Every person I told that to thought I was off my rocker.

I study maps sometimes on my lunch break, people roll their eyes when they see it.

Lots of people want to shoot a big deer until they find out how hard it can be to go home empty handed 20 times in a row.

It’s a select group of people that are completely ate up with hunting the way the people are on this site. Definitely not the norm.

[Dewey]

Like mentioned very few are willing to put in the work. I still can easily get away from the crowd just by pushing deeper and hunting overlooked spots. I have seen much more pressure but it’s mostly on the fringes where I rarely hunt anyway. Interesting thing is the added pressure the last 2-3 years is coming strictly from crossbow hunters. Most are guys who only gun hunted before and are trying to tag a buck with an archery tag before the gun season. Rarely are they hunting the right spots and have never seen them hunting deep where I do. I suspect it’s not fun lugging those heavy things around with a stand on the back.

I tried turning many onto this style of hunting and so far none are willing to put in the effort. Talked a friend of mine into buying the Marsh Bucks DVD about five years ago and he still hasn’t watched it. So many talk the talk but never walk the walk. You have to truly love the work or you will never take it seriously. Work ethic is a rare thing these days but I can tell the guys here that really want to learn and will do whatever it takes. Always refreshing to see that especially from the young guys.