"Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

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Singing Bridge
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"Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Aug 19, 2019 3:41 am

High pressure public land... spot on a spot... mature buck bedding in high pressure areas... overlooked spots...

We discuss these things on the Beast on a routine basis. We understand the value of locating mature buck bedding and it is typically in a relatively small area. We plan to do in season scouting too and if we are not careful we will impact our own hunting in a very negative way. Here in the lower peninsula of Michigan (where it appears the public land challenge will take place) there are high pressure impacts that take place every year... no matter what.

** Our bow season opens October 1st every year... no matter what.
** Our small game season opens September 15th every year... no matter what.
** Public land clear-cut / regrowth areas and swamp edges will get hit hard by dogs and orange hat guys with shotguns- not just on weekends...
** Bow hunters will trounce around the high pressure public land and scout / hang stands / and put bait out (bait being outlawed will have no impact) in the same areas they always do... late September.
** Even 2 year old bucks understand what is happening and move toward secure bedding. Too bad the yearling bucks can't resist going to the bait piles.

Bow season opens on the 1st of October and hopeful hunters head toward their normal stands... a lot of really serious hunters head toward islands in the marsh, points sticking into marshes and swamps, downwind sides of ridges, on and on... and are shocked to find other guys already there- almost all the time and even when it takes tremendous effort just to get there.. You will have to do better than that to be successful in truly high pressure areas.

The first 2 days of Michigan's bow season, October 1st and 2nd, are critical to have an opportunity at a good buck. By the 3rd day buck movement before dark is nearly non-existent and you had better be literally hanging over buck bedding areas to have any chance.

Which brings me to Micro Hunting on heavy pressure public lands. Understanding the events that will take place above leads us to realize that mature bucks will not bed in the usual areas we expect them to be, even when we are knowledgeable of advanced tactics. Where did they go? Why can't we find them? Which brings me back to Micro Hunting.

Dan and others often speak of hunting right next to the road, sometimes between parking areas, to look for buck bedding. This is a perfect example of Micro Hunting in that you need to find these little honey holes. Countless hunters here on the Beast have never watched a good buck stand up right next to the road from his bed. Once you see it and find that it is repeatable in other areas, Micro Hunting a small spot in these locations can become a major realization.

What about the road intersections on the heavy pressure public land where additional Micro Hunting can take place? No one expects buck bedding on the prevailing upwind side of the road intersection adjacent to the first heavy cover, sometimes a tiny but dense thicket. The buck smells everything behind him while he watches the unsuspecting hunters on the road drive by. There is no human scent on the ground there which is why the bucks bed in that location... almost no one hunts that little point of land sticking into the intersection of the woods roads. All the hunters are stand hunting elsewhere.

One of the absolute, most overlooked hunting takes place on incredibly small points jutting into swamps and marshes... this is Micro Hunting at its finest. You almost can't even recognize it with an aerial photo because they are so small and hunters walk right by them without so much as a glance. Every year I walk over to these tiny, tiny points and find buck bedding. The buck is more secure in his bed than on larger points.

And finally, my favorite heavy pressure Micro Hunting- what I call micro-islands in the swamps and marshes. Little humps of dry ground that normally cannot be seen on aerial photo's and unless you scout and find them, you may never know they were there.

There's countless other spots that would be a part of Micro Hunting, but I hope you begin to see the value in it. Truly high levels of public land pressure have the bucks adjusting to spots like those mentioned above. It's no different for truly high pressure private land but we often encounter extreme examples of it on the public areas that are overrun with hunters.

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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby oldrank » Mon Aug 19, 2019 4:20 am

If you think it looks great on a map...... so does someone else. Public land hunting rule number 1.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby MN_DeerHunter » Mon Aug 19, 2019 5:03 am

Singing Bridge wrote:And finally, my favorite heavy pressure Micro Hunting- what I call micro-islands in the swamps and marshes. Little humps of dry ground that normally cannot be seen on aerial photo's and unless you scout and find them, you may never know they were there.Bridge


I think that is what's happening in one of the marshes that I hunt. Are these little patches of dry ground found by following trails through the cattails or are there generally visible patches of dogwood that you can see and then check out? Also, i'm guessing that this can change seasonally or annually as water levels fluctuate. A drought year could leave dry patches of cattails where no other vegetation is present like dogwood or willow that you could normally see from the mainland.

I'd be interested to hear how you key in on these areas and also how they change year to year. Great post by the way!
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby greenhorndave » Mon Aug 19, 2019 5:36 am

Killer post Scott, and great comment too oldrank. Definitely keeping it in mind.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby oldrank » Mon Aug 19, 2019 6:56 am

Image

This is a great example of an overlooked, micro area. The green tree just north of my distance arrows has a buck bed to the right of it. The little strip of land leads into a couple swamps that get hunted hard. But nobody ever walks that tiny strip next to the road. From the road it is a steep 20 ft drop choked out with Autumn olive. He has a little hole made in that and beds there. Large rubs lead to it from the pines to the north. It looks simple and basic but it is one of the toughest beds I've tried hunting. Almost no way to get in close enough quietly. Somewhere I have pics of the bed and rub line.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby oldrank » Mon Aug 19, 2019 7:05 am

Image

Image

Image

Image

Here are the pics of the little tunnel going in the autumn olive, his bed and rubs. You can see the trees are rubbed from years past. As of last season bucks we're still using the bed and route.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Mon Aug 19, 2019 7:32 am

Great example oldrank!
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby mipubbucks24 » Mon Aug 19, 2019 11:44 am

Great thread! This is the type of discussion why I love this site!
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby oldrank » Mon Aug 19, 2019 12:35 pm

I'll give one more. Not real keen on posting my stuff but it is what it is. I have alot more.

This one is right next to a boat launch and parking area that gets alot of traffic. Kids partying and racing their 4x4s up and down the trail. Fishermen and hunters park here, hikers and joggers and cross country skiers.

The beds are approximately 100 yards from the parking lot.

Image

Image

The view from just inside the swamp from the trail.

Image

Bed.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby jwilkstn » Mon Aug 19, 2019 12:43 pm

Excellent examples, oldrank!

Am I crazy that this almost makes me wish that we had enough pressure in my area to force bucks into such spots? Almost ;)
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby oldrank » Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:33 pm

jwilkstn wrote:Excellent examples, oldrank!

Am I crazy that this almost makes me wish that we had enough pressure in my area to force bucks into such spots? Almost ;)


We don't have the large marshes but the rules still work. The trick after finding them is then learning how to hunt it properly. This spot is super tricky too. The buck can skate the entire lake without ever coming out of the cattails or tameracks. When human activity is high they will just lay till dark.

One of the keys is bad weather. When we have your typical good weather that increases human activity. This buck will know danger is present as he hears the cars drive in and out, guys slamming things around and talking and so on. But on a nasty day people stay home. Park up at the head of the trail and a quiet hike in puts me in the game. One of his trails out cross that two track trail and heads into the oaks. Hunting anywhere close dumps my thermals to him. I have to get over on the back edge of the next ridge. Finding a bed in places like this is only a small percentage of the key to a kill.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Tue Aug 20, 2019 11:07 am

MN_DeerHunter wrote:
Singing Bridge wrote:And finally, my favorite heavy pressure Micro Hunting- what I call micro-islands in the swamps and marshes. Little humps of dry ground that normally cannot be seen on aerial photo's and unless you scout and find them, you may never know they were there.Bridge


I think that is what's happening in one of the marshes that I hunt. Are these little patches of dry ground found by following trails through the cattails or are there generally visible patches of dogwood that you can see and then check out? Also, i'm guessing that this can change seasonally or annually as water levels fluctuate. A drought year could leave dry patches of cattails where no other vegetation is present like dogwood or willow that you could normally see from the mainland.

I'd be interested to hear how you key in on these areas and also how they change year to year. Great post by the way!


Good post, I will follow up with how I move in when I get a little bit more time.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby oldrank » Tue Aug 20, 2019 12:14 pm

Any overhead view examples Bridge? Sorry if I hijacked your thread a little. That kind of stuff excites me. I would like to see an example of your approach and how you would hunt a particular micro area.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Tue Aug 20, 2019 12:54 pm

Thanks for this post SB. This is exactly how I have been hunting the last 4 seasons. Overlooked pockets that no one sets up in because it is very thick and very close to the roads. My mature buck encounters have increased by focusing on this “micro hunting” technique.
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Re: "Micro Hunting" High Pressure Public

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Tue Aug 20, 2019 1:33 pm

The micro hunting idea reminded me of a lake with lots of atv traffic and fishing. People traffic of many sorts.
And after finding the beast ways I came across the safest bedding. And it was very similar to oldrank's second example.

Tall cover, wet, squeezed in between a busy trail and the lake. The people will always announce their presence well enough that if it sounds safe than it probably is.

My biggest buck came out of a different place but had some similarities. Busy area.I used the noise of a group of high school boys walking past to enter a safer zone where the buck appeared later on. Elevation played a role as well. The hiking trail had a berm that isolated it from the narrow strip I was hunting. Distance to bedding from the trail was under 100 yards.
OI000081.jpg


Also if you see the shed in the picture, it was found in between marsh and parking lot. Maybe under 100 yards as well.
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