#2013713 - 08/01/10 11:56 AM
How far are you willing to walk?
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Poser
14 Point
Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 8112
Loc: Tennessee
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As our general consensus on drive time appears to about 1.5 hour for a day hunt, I'm curious haw far you are willing to walk on a approach to your tree stand/ blind location.
ATVs excluded.
My observation is that few are willing to walk more than a 1/2 mile approach. On public land, I try to stay a minimum of 3/4 of a mile from any access point, but a prefer a mile or more and have some set ups that are 2 mile+ approaches. Admittingly, there aren't many hunting areas in the Southeast where you can walk 2 miles without a access point, but where I find them, I try to exploit them.
My primary reasoning for long approaches is to escape pressure. On public land, unless the entire area is difficult to access, I generally assume that anywhere within a 1/2 mile of a access point is over pressured.
_________________________
It doesn't have to be fun to be fun. Wild & crazy, can't be stopped. Only the strong will survive. Keep your knife sharp and your skillet greasy. http://www.GoCarnivore.com
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#2013733 - 08/01/10 12:19 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: Poser]
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cecil30-30
16 Point
Registered: 12/05/06
Posts: 13179
Loc: Morgan Co
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I don't even own an atv..Had one for about a year one time but never was allowed to use it to hunt (landowner restriction) so I sold it...But I hunt soley on my feet,never use a atv,im willing to walk as far as it takes..As long as its a good spot with deer sign,i'll walk to it,but while walking in,there is a nagging thought in the back of my head reminding me about the "drag out" if I do get lucky and harvest a deer! LOL Im used to walking everywhere while hunting..
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The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." -Thomas Jefferson
Ban Liberals!!! Save America!!!!
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#2013746 - 08/01/10 12:39 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: Poser]
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redcorn
4 Point
Registered: 09/07/06
Posts: 252
Loc: Chattanooga, TN.
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Last season I was without a 4wheeler, so I had to walk everywhere. My longest walk was probably only 30 or 45 minutes, but there is always at least one steep ridge to climb. The worst part for me is trying not to sweat, then sweating, then sweating more because i'm stressing about sweating in the first place. Most of the time I walk without a shirt on, or at most wear a cotton t-shirt.
The absolute worst part about having to walk everywhere is setting up a new stand location. That same 30 or 45 minute hike turns into an arduous ordeal when having to carry a lock on and climbing sticks or a climber and other necessary gear.
I find it difficult on the public land i've hunted to locate a deep hidden spot. In fact, all of my scouting time is usually spent/wasted on finding such a spot, only later to find another access point nearby, or evidence of other hunters. If I had a dollar for every time this has happened to me at Catoosa wma, I would be rich. Even though long hikes can be tiresome and frustrating at times, I still enjoy the overall process.
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#2013753 - 08/01/10 12:48 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: redcorn]
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stylishblueticks
6 Point
Registered: 10/14/07
Posts: 867
Loc: spencer,TN
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I hunt behind my house and I have a couple spots that are about a mile from my house and I dont have a fourwheeler but it wouldnt make a difference cause of all the fences. If I kill a deer along ways from the house I usually get my dad to help me drag it out.
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#2013757 - 08/01/10 12:51 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: redcorn]
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Poser
14 Point
Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 8112
Loc: Tennessee
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Last season I was without a 4wheeler, so I had to walk everywhere. My longest walk was probably only 30 or 45 minutes, but there is always at least one steep ridge to climb. The worst part for me is trying not to sweat, then sweating, then sweating more because i'm stressing about sweating in the first place. Most of the time I walk without a shirt on, or at most wear a cotton t-shirt.
The absolute worst part about having to walk everywhere is setting up a new stand location. That same 30 or 45 minute hike turns into an arduous ordeal when having to carry a lock on and climbing sticks or a climber and other necessary gear.
I find it difficult on the public land i've hunted to locate a deep hidden spot. In fact, all of my scouting time is usually spent/wasted on finding such a spot, only later to find another access point nearby, or evidence of other hunters. If I had a dollar for every time this has happened to me at Catoosa wma, I would be rich. Even though long hikes can be tiresome and frustrating at times, I still enjoy the overall process.
I hear that, Redcorn. Public land can sometimes be infuriating. Even when you find a difficult to access spot, you realize that a adjoining land owner can walk 10 minute to get to it or that, apparently, someone else is just as hardcore as you are.
I don't own a ATV either. It would be nice to have sometimes, but since I hunt all over, it would too troublesome to haul around, load and unload. Besides 75% of the land I hunt doesn't allow it and more times than not, there are no trails close enough to make it worth the hassle. In the areas that do allow ATVs, I have noticed almost no bowhunters use them and once gun season opens, I move elsewhere due to pressure. Nothing spells pressure like ATV access. -not that there's anything wrong with using a ATV, but doesn't jive with my personal style and I believe thaty pressured deer know all too well what the sound of an ATV equals.
_________________________
It doesn't have to be fun to be fun. Wild & crazy, can't be stopped. Only the strong will survive. Keep your knife sharp and your skillet greasy. http://www.GoCarnivore.com
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#2013758 - 08/01/10 12:53 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: Poser]
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bowriter
Non-Typical
Registered: 08/31/02
Posts: 40299
Loc: Lebanon,TN USA
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You canl only walk halfway into the woods. My atv wont start so if I hunt at all this year, I will have about a 100 yard walk.
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Constipation has ruined many a good day. Not as many as stupidity, though.
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#2013760 - 08/01/10 12:54 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: Poser]
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TN RDG RNR
12 Point
Registered: 06/28/07
Posts: 6086
Loc: Rhea County
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I generally try and stay 1 mile from any drivable road (as a crow flies) but have killed good bucks in spots within a couple hundred yards of main roads.
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WARNING: The above post may contain sarcasm and/or sophisticated satire. I will not be held liable for any psychological damage sustained.
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#2013798 - 08/01/10 01:59 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: TN RDG RNR]
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BowGuy84
10 Point
Registered: 09/16/07
Posts: 4847
Loc: Nashville, TN and Louisville, ...
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I do alot of public ground hunting and have some spots that by GPS are 1.5 miles as the crow flies from the truck. Most are in the .5-.75 mi range. This gets me away from a lot of the pressure especially since they are off the fields everyone likes to hunt.
Redcorn, I feel you on the sweating and work of packing a stand/setting it up. This year I bought 5 cheap hang-ons and am putting them out in evening locatons that I hunt during the week. It makes it so that I can cut my set up time down big time and just carry my lone wolf sticks and go.
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#2013819 - 08/01/10 02:21 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: BowGuy84]
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Bone Collector
12 Point
Registered: 09/09/09
Posts: 6110
Loc: Murfreesboro, TN
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I pretty much only hunt Percy Priest WMA and MOST places due to boat access, you can't get too far away from other hunters. The good news is from what i've seen not a lot of hunters will go in as far as I do, so the chance of seeing anyone is slimmer as i will walk between .5 and 1 mile to a stand location if the sign is good. But i've found on public land that no matter how far in I go I still always find a least sign that others have been there at some time before.
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Don't let the screen name fool you spikes are made of bone too  Semper Fidelis! The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. - Thomas Jefferson
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#2013836 - 08/01/10 02:53 PM
Re: How far are you willing to walk?
[Re: Bone Collector]
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Poser
14 Point
Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 8112
Loc: Tennessee
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Interesting that after you spend enough time in the woods, your eyes can detect the slightest intrusion and alterations such as Pruned twigs, sawed stumps, bark pile around a tree... not to mention bait pile scars!!) made by hunters.
In the past, as soon as I detected sign of another hunter, I would not waste any time moving on to find a unmolested setup. I did a intense amount of scouting this Spring and on into the early summer and, to entertain myself, made it a habit of analyzing and evaluating other hunter's setups.
_________________________
It doesn't have to be fun to be fun. Wild & crazy, can't be stopped. Only the strong will survive. Keep your knife sharp and your skillet greasy. http://www.GoCarnivore.com
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