Public trails

[HunterJB]

Hunted a piece tonight that seems to be fantastic habitat. There is a paved public trail next to it for walking, biking, etc. I set up about 150 yards from said trail and I could hear everyone going down it to the point where I could hear about 75% of what they were actually saying. Just wondering if anyone here has hunted similar situations and if so what effect you feel it has on deer bedding, movement, etc.

[218er]

I have many times. One thing is that deer become tolerant of trail activity. Additionally you can use the trails as a pinch point, like versus a creek or ridge. Also look for topographic advantages, deer prefer to be out of view so look for low points, additionally they prefer to cross at low points due to being less visible to trail travelers.

[justdirtyfun]

The deer are accustomed to people ON the trail. Once you venture into the woods they go into high alert as a general rule.
My biggest buck was shot within 40 yards of a hiking trail. Earlier in the day a group of teenage boys were walking by as I entered the woods. Their conversation allowed me to walk off the trail to my stand tree with minimal effort.

[A5BLASTER]

I find this a interesting subject since our public lands down here dont have or do not allow nature walks are jogging trails on them.

We have trails but they are for hunters.

[Cvanheel]

I like to use these trails to access some of my hunting spots. The deer in my area are used to people noise and smell coming from them, and are comfortable with it.

[redz]

The buck I got last week that I posted was killed 30 yards from a public trail. Had a mountain biker pass by as soon as I got into the stand, and a jogger went by right after I shot the buck. I think it can have positive or negative effects as a result of the amount or timing of the traffic, but also as mentioned previously it can make sneaking into your stand easier.

[G-Patt]

Never had a problem with it either. I've shot deer that were moving to avoid horseback riders. Also shot a big nanny 5 minutes after a hiker with headphones on was singing "Rocket Man" by Elton John at the top of his lungs. The sorry thing is he didn't know the lyrics to the chorus. He was making it up

[KPillinois]

and just in case you haven't seen Dan's new awesome video on overlooked spot by the road https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbJP1E9M6Ks