Hunting Public Today

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dan
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby dan » Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:15 am

there is more public pressure than there used to be, and its a smarter more educated pressure. Some say its a phase that will die out, me? I sure hope not. I am happy to see more people enjoying and utilizing our public lands. They were hunted even harder when I was a kid, but with TV hunting and deer farming more people started going that rought. i have struggled tje last few years cause of the pressure increase in my back yard, but have done well traveling to othet less popular areas that hsve not popped up on peoples radar like my back yard has... Its all good if your on this for the right reasons. If your looling for self promotion, its a long hard road, but if your looking for a challenge you can still get on amd hunt mature bucks on public and constantly be on target animals... Yea, it aint easy to kill them... it aint supposed to be, and if your in this for a guaranteed monster on the wall you can brag to your friends about? You might want to lease or buy and grow ypurself some deer, causethis way takes a lot of effort and sometimes, or should I say most of the time ends without s giant buck... Im not trying to sell anyone down the path of public land monsters, more so helping them find more enjoyment in the chase, and putting them in the game.


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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby d_rek » Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:51 am

Wall hanger wrote:Well everyone now hunts public land so we have more pressure then usual.


Personally, up until 2020 and the pandemic, I was seeing declining hunting pressure on the public land near me. Either that or i've been incredibly lucky at picking spots and avoiding other hunters the last 5 years. Here in Michigan our tag sales tell a story of double digit participation drops YoY for the last 5 years. This year we rebounded but I don't expect that trend to continue after the economy stabilizes again.
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby MichiganMike » Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:04 am

I really havent notice much more pressure where I hunt. If it does become more pressured or run into people- I just move to other areas, scout it out and hunt it. I think that is the fun of it. Just keep moving. Deer - especially mature bucks do the same, they adapt and find other areas. Be the deer
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby jkelley1487 » Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:51 am

If killing big bucks on public land was easy, none of us would be on this site.


It's never going to be easy, it probably won't ever be consistent every year. If you can put a good buck down every 2-3 years on public, you're doing something right. Nothing wrong with mixing in some private land access if you have it. Make the best of your situation and be reasonable with your expectations. You can't kill what isn't there consistently.
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Thu Jan 07, 2021 6:26 am

I heard on the radio yesterday that fishing license sales went up 300% in my state for 2020. They did not mention hunting license sales but if there was an increase I didn’t see it at least around here. Now Duck hunting has exploded in popularity in my parts in the past few years. Believe this is do to quality/ample opportunity.

A big trend I see happening in my area for whitetails is day hunts. I’m not talking about guided trophy hunts and 5 star meals. But 150$ per day to get a section of pasture to yourself to kill whatever. Works out well for the meat hunter types. Hard to say 2 deer for $150 isn’t worth it if meat is your sole purpose of hunting.
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Swedishbowhunter
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Swedishbowhunter » Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:12 am

I am fairly certain the extra popularity this year on public is 3 fold, People having time off due to Covid, even if they are working, having most kids sports cancelled, freed up a ton of time for parents and those school aged hunters. The 2nd reason I feel is the growing popularity of you tube shows, THP, The beast, etc. I also believe that technology is making it much easier to hunt public, ONX, lightweight stands, saddles, cell cams, packs, all this makes hunting public much more desirable.
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:48 am

Pudster wrote:I am fairly certain the extra popularity this year on public is 3 fold, People having time off due to Covid, even if they are working, having most kids sports cancelled, freed up a ton of time for parents and those school aged hunters. The 2nd reason I feel is the growing popularity of you tube shows, THP, The beast, etc. I also believe that technology is making it much easier to hunt public, ONX, lightweight stands, saddles, cell cams, packs, all this makes hunting public much more desirable.

Good insight Pudster. I really don’t know if I agree or disagree. Seems logical. Guess the only thing that gets my wheels turning is the new fisherman. Mainly cause they are a lot more visible and not hiding in the woods :lol:

But fishing technology has also exploded the last few years. Look at some of the graphs today that turn fishing into a video game. Boats have came a long way, lightweight rods/reels u name it. But the avg new guy I see doesn’t have none of this. Believe the majority of this 300% increase are bank fisherman with zebco 33’s or budget tackle.

Don’t see a introduction to public hunting to be any different personally. If a person has thousands to spend on stands/sticks, cell cams, stylish camo, and all the other bells and whistles I see them leaning more towards a high odds guided hunt. The blue collar guys just getting started don’t have the bank to buy all that stuff. Eventually if they stick with it they will determine what works and what doesn’t. Save money and upgrade to the things they care about. Just the way I see it around here.
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Rob loper
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Rob loper » Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:17 am

Wall hanger wrote:Public land and the mobile hunting style is now King!!There are great hunting forums with valuable real world hunting information at our fingertips , mapping on our phones amazing podcasts detailing strategies from all kinds of big buck slayers from around the country.YouTube channels popping up all over the place .We have Tree Saddles , feather weight treestands and climbing sticks flooding the market.
It’s amazing right ? We have all this great information that will make it easier to kill a big buck !!!We have all the information !!!why is it getting more difficult !!! Guess what those old killing pressured mature buck tactics are changing.
Well everyone now hunts public land so we have more pressure then usual. Those remote secret spots aren’t so much of a secret anymore. People are willing to go deep now, I’m seeing it more and more lately. Those little overlooked spots aren’t so overlooked anymore either.
Haha , I bet Pretty soon we will be hearing everyone saying to kill a mature buck you have to avoid the people pressure on islands, transitions and overlooked spots .

I see it already with a lot of great big buck killers who’s strategies are starting to struggle a bit.I see it with Dan’s videos lately, he is running into pressure where there was never pressure.
I’m sure this is just a phase in the hunting culture that will not last too long .
In the mean time back to the drawing board, boots on the ground and Adapt and conquer!!


I believe that hunt how you want to hunt and do what works for you.
Dont know why this forum came up on my phone but it did
And this topic was there. I must have but dialed the beast app. Just saying.
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PK_
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby PK_ » Fri Jan 08, 2021 12:42 am

The low hanging fruit will dry up. But if you know how mature bucks evade pressure it will be business as usual...
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Re: Hunting Public Today

Unread postby Thesouthpaw » Fri Jan 08, 2021 1:35 am

Where I hunt in WV, and PA, there is still way more pressure on the private ground that I have access to, than there is on the public. I'm assuming its because a lot of people don't want to hunt in the mountains. I have definitely noticed more pressure in some of the areas that I hunt in the midwest, but it seems like a lot of the guys that I run into don't really know what they are doing, and are typically pretty upset about not seeing much. My guess is that most of these people see the success that THP, or other shows are having, and think public land is going to be easy, when in reality in order to be consistently successful, you have to be really good.

I would say within a few years, the craze will start to go down a little. The people that aren't willing to put in the extra work will head back to private ground, where they at least see a few does on any given day.
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