Identifying Hunter Pressure or Sign

[phade]

Have a spot 2.5 hours away drive wise that I just got permission for. I plan to scout it before green-up once. It is about 70 acres or so, and I will cover that in one day including the drive both ways. Never set foot on the property and will only do so once (scouting) before I arrive with bow in hand this fall.

The owner is rather elderly and now has dementia - his wife is in legal control of everything and she has granted me permission. I'm not convinced she has a good grasp on "who" has been out there hunting, but has made it clear that I have carte blanche access.

I will obviously scout for deer, but I also want to scout for human/hunting activity. I don't want to plan out more time there for the fall if there is a lot of hunter sign. It's in a different state and I'll be investing money in the tags and drive time/gas to hunt it.

So, outside of the obvious, what do you look for when attempting to locate hunter pressure or sign?

[dan]

I hunt a lot of public with a fair amount of pressure, so your comment kind of surprises me. The way I see it, if its private land, it may get trespasser pressure, but I doubt that pressure is near as heavy as public... I guess what I am getting at is you are concerning yourself with the wrong thing.
My 1st concern would be if there are big bucks on the property. Sign don't lie... If you find big rubs, big tracks, or a big shed, I would just note the trespasser pressure and hunt around it.
If the property has no trespassers and no big bucks, I wouldn't hunt there. But in the same regard, if it has 5 trespassers and 4 or 5 big bucks I would be smiling from ear to ear.

[gjs4]

Its out of state and worried about pressure Brad? lol. Has to be better than home.

Looks for trails off aerial photos and overall judgment of neighbors property (which is paramount for scouting anyway, right?). Youre going to have to burn up some boot soles no matter what. If you can head there during their turkey season youll get a great idea of who hunts there.


As Dan said, focus on the deer ... thats where you have to start.

[phade]

Yeah...probably not as bad as home, lol.

I just want to get a gauge on hunter pressure there. I want to be able to pattern the hunters as well as the deer, but also allocate my hunting time appropriately.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

Any public in the area Phade? Your property sounds good, but I would want another place to spread your pressure out a bit. If your spending money on tags, gas, lodging, etc it would good to have some backup plans.

As far as trespassing is concerned, walk the area out and look for saw marks where people trim shooting lanes...Most people are lazy when they trim and the stuff sticks out like a sore thumb before green up.

[JoeRE]

I spend quite a bit of time studying what other people are doing, but I would agree in your situation where perhaps you have only to worry about tresspassers, that would make it less important than noting what everybody else is doing on public access.

On properties with lots of people running around there are different levels of human sign. First you have the beaten trail, these are always smoother and wider than game trails not to mention all the litter along them, that always tells you what direction 90% of people are heading. Then there is the sign at stand sites. When I find a good spot I always check for climber marks on trees, cigarette butts, scent wicks on branches (NO ONE seems to pick these up and they hang there for months, pet peeve of mine!) and like was mentioned cut limbs - those stand out like a sore thumb. I would say almost all hunters leave sign like this at their stand site that is relatively easily detected. Its just about impossible to climb a tree without showing that you did it.

Another thing - hit a patch of public woods around here with a spot light at night and the reflective tacks will light up like a see of stars

[MOBIGBUCKS]

I spend quite a bit of time studying what other people are doing, but I would agree in your situation where perhaps you have only to worry about tresspassers, that would make it less important than noting what everybody else is doing on public access.

On properties with lots of people running around there are different levels of human sign. First you have the beaten trail, these are always smoother and wider than game trails not to mention all the litter along them, that always tells you what direction 90% of people are heading. Then there is the sign at stand sites. When I find a good spot I always check for climber marks on trees, cigarette butts, scent wicks on branches (NO ONE seems to pick these up and they hang there for months, pet peeve of mine!) and like was mentioned cut limbs - those stand out like a sore thumb. I would say almost all hunters leave sign like this at their stand site that is relatively easily detected. Its just about impossible to climb a tree without showing that you did it.

Another thing - hit a patch of public woods around here with a spot light at night and the reflective tacks will light up like a see of stars

I forgot about the tacks. We also see the survey tape everywhere down here!! I think most dudes are scared of the dark or something.

[Spysar]

I'm with you Phade, I like to study human sign just as much as deer sign. To me it's real important. The deer sign might suck just because humans have been there.

I look for old stands, ribbons, tacks, cut sticks, trails that look too good to be true, litter, vehicle tracks, boot tracks, scars on trees from climbers, piles of brush, bait piles, ect.

Patterning humans can sometimes be as important as patterning deer IMO.

Will the owners let you post it? Will they let you boot people you find there? I'm sure there are trespassers that know the land is owned by elderly folks and take advantage.

[PK_]

If nobody patrols it, you may find several ladder stands, atv trails etc... But most trespassers like to bring in their climbers and hunt an afternoon and pack it out. Look for climber marks.

I can tell you a couple trespassers on 70 acres isn't a big deal if it has good bedding. My family HAMMERS their properties that I hunt in PA and there are still some awesome buck beds being used by some awesome bucks, during daylight, during season.

[dan]

I can tell you a couple trespassers on 70 acres isn't a big deal if it has good bedding. My family HAMMERS their properties that I hunt in PA and there are still some awesome buck beds being used by some awesome bucks, during daylight, during season.

Right!
Its all a matter of how the land lays out... Think about public. The dry land that is easy access and simalar terrain thruought gets hammered and driven by gun hunters, bow hunters, small game hunters, hikers, etc. And is pretty worthless to a guy looking for a mature buck. But the property that is diverse, has lots of edge and over looked pockets, isolated areas, areas surrounded by water, pockets of dense cattails or dogwood, etc. Usually have great bucks despite pressure.

So pressure certainly does make an impact, but what really matters is if the property has mature bucks bedding on it. It will be pretty obvious where hunters and/or tresspassers are hanging out.

[phade]

Thanks for all of the tips.

I'm working on obtaining another nearby piece. There's also a couple small public parcels I could go to around the corner, but this parcel looks much better layout wise as it is creek bottom ground. I expect I'll find one more piece around it between my latest outreach efforts.

I expect there to be some trespass sign and those hunting who probably shouldn't be hunting. I want to determine that first and then see what the owners will allow me to do. Being that it is a drive and out of state, I won't be there all that often, so if I can post it for her with permission, then I will certainly do that and have a roll of signs ready to go.