Non existent big bucks

[Lukebroz30]

How many of you guys hunt public land that’s super pressured and all you hear guys say is “there’s no good bucks” but you go out there and killed big ones? The pieces of public around me are not too big and I’m actually wondering if the amount of pressure here will truly drive all the big bucks out of them. The biggest piece around here is about 2000 acres.

[crossfitcarpenter]

How many of you guys hunt public land that’s super pressured and all you hear guys say is “there’s no good bucks” but you go out there and killed big ones? The pieces of public around me are not too big and I’m actually wondering if the amount of pressure here will truly drive all the big bucks out of them. The biggest piece around here is about 2000 acres.

It depends what you consider super pressured. I hear a place is covered up by hunters and I head out there and there is 4 trucks on 3500 acres. That's nothing in my opinion. I don't know a lot but if a buck can feel safe on an acre during the day and roam all night he will. I see big bucks but I cant kill them, yet.

[ghoasthunter]

2000 acres with the right cover and advantages for a buck could hold a lot of good bucks

[Lukebroz30]

How many of you guys hunt public land that’s super pressured and all you hear guys say is “there’s no good bucks” but you go out there and killed big ones? The pieces of public around me are not too big and I’m actually wondering if the amount of pressure here will truly drive all the big bucks out of them. The biggest piece around here is about 2000 acres.

It depends what you consider super pressured. I hear a place is covered up by hunters and I head out there and there is 4 trucks on 3500 acres. That's nothing in my opinion. I don't know a lot but if a buck can feel safe on an acre during the day and roam all night he will. I see big bucks but I cant kill them, yet.

That’s true I suppose. On the weekends these places get kinda silly 10-15 trucks on less than 1000 acres. But I guess there’s worse. I guess I’m just gonna start thinking outside the box and do stuff no one else is willing to do, guess that’s why these are called beast tactics huh?

[Lukebroz30]

2000 acres with the right cover and advantages for a buck could hold a lot of good bucks

That makes sense. I’m really coming to the realization that most weekend deer hunters stick to the timber stuff and not the bottoms, crp, or marsh stuff. So I think if I do stuff differently things will start happening

[ghoasthunter]

2000 acres with the right cover and advantages for a buck could hold a lot of good bucks

That makes sense. I’m really coming to the realization that most weekend deer hunters stick to the timber stuff and not the bottoms, crp, or marsh stuff. So I think if I do stuff differently things will start happening

hunt where everyone else wont go plain and simple

[Thesouthpaw]

I heard this over and over about a piece of public last year. My first sit on that piece, I missed a 140 inch ten point (shame on me). Two days later, I killed a 130 inch eight point (solid deer for the area). It's really hard to believe people sometimes, because most people don't hunt with a beast style.

[Boogieman1]

My belief is the more pressure there is usually results in more younger deer being killed which in return leads to less mature deer. Even on overlooked spots on high pressured ground there's not many. Guess it all comes down to each of our opinion on what qualifies as mature. Some guys circumstances consider a 2.5 mature while others in more restricted states consider it 5.5!

End of the day a buck can't read public signs, but he can find a large track that isn't getting stomped all over and being forced to move in daylight which he knows makes him volnurable.

I don't have the option of giant tracks of public. There is no overlooked spots on 200 acres with 6 parking areas. I rely heavily on public spots that for one reason or another were not intended for hunting and no one thinks to hunt. Around here with over a 2 month rifle season it's the only method I know of to give myself a legit chance. It's hard to shoot what is not there. Some might frown on my methods or think I'm full of BS but I promise ya u come to a state with 1% public land and with 75% of hunters who can't afford to lease there's just no over looked area in marked public grounds.

[mipubbucks24]

My belief is the more pressure there is usually results in more younger deer being killed which in return leads to less mature deer. Even on overlooked spots on high pressured ground there's not many. Guess it all comes down to each of our opinion on what qualifies as mature. Some guys circumstances consider a 2.5 mature while others in more restricted states consider it 5.5!

End of the day a buck can't read public signs, but he can find a large track that isn't getting stomped all over and being forced to move in daylight which he knows makes him volnurable.

I don't have the option of giant tracks of public. There is no overlooked spots on 200 acres with 6 parking areas. I rely heavily on public spots that for one reason or another were not intended for hunting and no one thinks to hunt. Around here with over a 2 month rifle season it's the only method I know of to give myself a legit chance. It's hard to shoot what is not there. Some might frown on my methods or think I'm full of BS but I promise ya u come to a state with 1% public land and with 75% of hunters who can't afford to lease there's just no over looked area in marked public grounds.

I would say I pretty much agree with you on the public I hunt, too many access points, most of the younger age class deer are killed during gun, land is chopped into smaller sections making everything relitivly easy to access.

A 2.5 year old buck on the public I am hunting is a top 10% buck maybe even more, I’m not saying older deer don’t exist, but because of the way the land is chopped up they move over to private which gets way less pressure. This is why I believe if I want to get on more bucks I need to travel to some bigger chuncks that will hold more deer. But I really want to know the local public like the back of my hand before I move on and I am getting there. Thankfully Michigan has a lot of public land just got to be able to drive a little.

[Evanszach7]

How many of you guys hunt public land that’s super pressured and all you hear guys say is “there’s no good bucks” but you go out there and killed big ones? The pieces of public around me are not too big and I’m actually wondering if the amount of pressure here will truly drive all the big bucks out of them. The biggest piece around here is about 2000 acres.

It depends what you consider super pressured. I hear a place is covered up by hunters and I head out there and there is 4 trucks on 3500 acres. That's nothing in my opinion. I don't know a lot but if a buck can feel safe on an acre during the day and roam all night he will. I see big bucks but I cant kill them, yet.

That’s true I suppose. On the weekends these places get kinda silly 10-15 trucks on less than 1000 acres. But I guess there’s worse. I guess I’m just gonna start thinking outside the box and do stuff no one else is willing to do, guess that’s why these are called beast tactics huh?

1000 acres at 23 guys (15 trucks * 1.5 guys- 1/2 having 2 guys)= 44 acres per guy. That’s still far less pressure than most private 40 acre blocks. Assuming 70% of those guys are traditional timber hunters there’s still over 200-300 acres unpressured, but that’s gonna be split up into pockets. Add in surrounding private that’s good for bedding and not hunted. That’s plenty of space to produce mature bucks.

I do this kind of math on a lot of the new public I’m scouting/hunting. Typically gets me thinking positive and excited for the challenge of finding those pockets.

[bowfreak8]

I think back to a THP episode where they were hunting a piece of very highly pressured public. On that Public was a giant 6 or 7 year old deer. That deer lived in a very small area where he had tons of natural advantages that helped him stay alive. Even with those guys knowing where he lives they were unsuccessful in killing him.

[Lukebroz30]

How many of you guys hunt public land that’s super pressured and all you hear guys say is “there’s no good bucks” but you go out there and killed big ones? The pieces of public around me are not too big and I’m actually wondering if the amount of pressure here will truly drive all the big bucks out of them. The biggest piece around here is about 2000 acres.

It depends what you consider super pressured. I hear a place is covered up by hunters and I head out there and there is 4 trucks on 3500 acres. That's nothing in my opinion. I don't know a lot but if a buck can feel safe on an acre during the day and roam all night he will. I see big bucks but I cant kill them, yet.

That’s true I suppose. On the weekends these places get kinda silly 10-15 trucks on less than 1000 acres. But I guess there’s worse. I guess I’m just gonna start thinking outside the box and do stuff no one else is willing to do, guess that’s why these are called beast tactics huh?

1000 acres at 23 guys (15 trucks * 1.5 guys- 1/2 having 2 guys)= 44 acres per guy. That’s still far less pressure than most private 40 acre blocks. Assuming 70% of those guys are traditional timber hunters there’s still over 200-300 acres unpressured, but that’s gonna be split up into pockets. Add in surrounding private that’s good for bedding and not hunted. That’s plenty of space to produce mature bucks.

I do this kind of math on a lot of the new public I’m scouting/hunting. Typically gets me thinking positive and excited for the challenge of finding those pockets.

I like the way you put that. The main piece I want to get to know really well is probably the least accessible piece around, less than half of it is timbered and more than half you would struggle to shoot a bow further than 10 yards, super thick bottomland. In my mind there HAS to be mature deer there because they have so much cover. I’ve scouted out there a handful of times but I can’t get to a lot of stuf very easily so I think I’m probably gonna just walk and walk and walk until I bump something or find food sign. Gonna be a relatively blind year.

[Lukebroz30]

I think back to a THP episode where they were hunting a piece of very highly pressured public. On that Public was a giant 6 or 7 year old deer. That deer lived in a very small area where he had tons of natural advantages that helped him stay alive. Even with those guys knowing where he lives they were unsuccessful in killing him.

THP does a great job of showing that big deer are pretty much everywhere... they have inspired me a lot to do stuff that most people would think of as crazy lol.

[Brandonkinchen]

How many of you guys hunt public land that’s super pressured and all you hear guys say is “there’s no good bucks” but you go out there and killed big ones? The pieces of public around me are not too big and I’m actually wondering if the amount of pressure here will truly drive all the big bucks out of them. The biggest piece around here is about 2000 acres.

I have a few buddies that won't hunt a particular WMA anymore. They say "Way to many people and its dangerous"......their experience is the 3 day either sex rifle hunt after thanksgiving. I will say, this is the biggest weekend of the year and the only rifle season for either sex. The first year we hunted that WMA I was up my stand before daylight. When it got light out I counted 13 hunters!!! I didn't climb down until they all left.

Since that experience, I have hunted areas where people don't go. My buddies still won't come hunt and say "there's no more good deer on that WMA", even though I've killed 4 pope & young bucks along with some smaller bucks and does. Three of my family members that hunt with me have killed 6 bucks in the 120's and some does. Honestly............i have come to enjoy inviting them, get turned down, then send them a picture of a dead big buck.

If you find an area where people aren't at....you will find deer. Even if it's a small area, thier may be 5-20 acre area people don't go. The deer will hunker down till night. Ease into the area an kill them.

[oldrank]

I think back to a THP episode where they were hunting a piece of very highly pressured public. On that Public was a giant 6 or 7 year old deer. That deer lived in a very small area where he had tons of natural advantages that helped him stay alive. Even with those guys knowing where he lives they were unsuccessful in killing him.

Could you shoot me a link to that episode if possible.