Pressure

[Mescalero]

This year I have to hunt a piece of public land. From 2013-2017 and 2019, I hunted the same lease. I used to think hunter pressure was just shots or kills. Now I've realized it's hunter presence. Whether that's an orange army on one piece of public land, six hunters hopping on their ATVs and zipping out to their stands, a few hunters still hunting a different piece of public over a season, or a single hunter hunting the same stand multiple days in a row. It's all pressure. Public or private, you'll have it.

I'm interested if anyone or club or lease has figured out a good way to manage hunter pressure?

 

[Shed Hunter]

I think that would just fall back on communication.

Now on public land you can use pressure to your advantage!

 

[DoubleRidge]

One thing we have done on the private ground we hunt is we have designated certain areas as refuge....two or three areas on the farm that we do not go period....not to hunt...not to run cameras.... absolutely no human pressure what so ever.....only reason we will enter these areas is to retrieve a dead deer.

We do run cameras and hunt around the perimeter of the "refuges"....but never penetrate the border.

I know this approach isn't possible on public land....but on private ground....in order to not blow deer off the property... I believe you have gotta give deer a place to go where there is zero pressure.....over the years we have had proven success hunting the travel corridors going to and from these refuge areas.... especially during the rut when bucks are cruising.

People look at me like I'm insane when I tell them I'll be 51 years old this month and there are places on the farm that I haven't walked since I was a teenager....but again....giving deer a place to go with zero pressure is helpful with reducing the effects of hunter pressure.

 

[megalomaniac]

On my local MS lease, pressure is the only reason I kill the mature bucks while the other 17 members pick up a few young scraps...

Seriously, in the past 3 seasons, I've killed 4 mature bucks, and the other 17 have killed 9 bucks, only one of which was mature.

The key on my lease is I put a lot of effort into ensuring our food plots look beautiful, and encourage other members to keep the corn feeders on the plots full. Everyone else just can't resist hunting the beautiful plots in front of a corn feeder, and they hit them heavy as soon as season opens (Nov 21st), even though our rut is Jan 5th thru 12th. By the time we get to the prerut and the old bucks are actually moving a bit in daylight, the plots have been burned and the deer never step foot in them in daylight. Meanwhile, I hunt the travel routes in between the plots near a thicket in the woods or pipelines and manage to scrape out a shooter every year during the rut.

We have had over 80 hunts by the members so far this year.... only 1 doe shot (and I suspect it was a 1.5yo spike with 1in antlers, checked in as a doe).

My success on this heavily hunted lease with extremely low deer density is directly related to using the other members to force the deer into becoming completely nocturnal during the first half of the season when I am hunting in TN then Starkville/ Greenwood, then starting to hunt my local lease in south MS around Christmas when there is actually a chance of killing a mature buck in daylight.

 

[redblood]

I try not to jump around from farm to farm and i rarely ever hunt the same farm, or at stand on consecutive days

 

[Lost Lake]

I'll second DoubleRidge's advice on leaving a sanctuary, if possible. I've done that, and it's about a five acre block of woods in one spot, and 3-4 acres in another.

Both sanctuaries are difficult to hunt without being blown out anyways, so leaving them seemed to be a good choice.

Deer retrieval is the only reason they might be entered, and as thick as they are, no human is going to want to venture in them without armor on, or risk bleeding to death from briars.

Public, well that's a whole nuther ball game. Like was said earlier, use that pressure to your advantage if possible. I've gotten to where on public, I hunt when pressure is lowest. Most times that's not gonna be the month of November.

 

[Bushape]

I have not been able to implement any of the advice that I will give as I am low man on the totem pole and am just happy to have a place to hunt. We have 8 members on 700 acres. I would almost be willing to pay double just to cut the membership in half. As others have said a sanctuary is huge. Community deer cameras in which all photos are shared. Game plans put together by all involved to harvest mature deer rather than everybody doing their own thing to the detriment of others. Having "x" amount of hunting sites for a prevailing wind from any direction. If acreage is an issue I'd even go so far as to holding a draft where members took turns scheduling their hunts.

 

[catman529]

Find out where everyone's hunting and don't hunt there while the pressure is there

 

[JCDEERMAN]

One thing we have done on the private ground we hunt is we have designated certain areas as refuge....two or three areas on the farm that we do not go period....not to hunt...not to run cameras.... absolutely no human pressure what so ever.....only reason we will enter these areas is to retrieve a dead deer.

We do run cameras and hunt around the perimeter of the "refuges"....but never penetrate the border.

I know this approach isn't possible on public land....but on private ground....in order to not blow deer off the property... I believe you have gotta give deer a place to go where there is zero pressure.....over the years we have had proven success hunting the travel corridors going to and from these refuge areas.... especially during the rut when bucks are cruising.

People look at me like I'm insane when I tell them I'll be 51 years old this month and there are places on the farm that I haven't walked since I was a teenager....but again....giving deer a place to go with zero pressure is helpful with reducing the effects of hunter pressure.

I wholeheartedly agree with this if you hunt private ground. Our ground consist of 9 areas scattered around that we do not penetrate. They are all 5-15 acres and have been select cut in the past and are thick as all get out. I recently got certified to burn and will burn these areas every 2-3 years. We will hunt on an adjacent ridge from them and around the perimeters, but do not go in them (unless for deer retrieval, after season scouting, burning, etc....). 11 food plots are all scattered as well. Hardwoods are separating them all. Slipping in between the food sources and cover undetected is key.

Like mega mentioned, a lot of the guys will hunt the pretty food plots - I do not, unless it is early season where the deer a little more predictable and the pressure hasn't been put on them yet by our other hunters

 

[BSK]

Some absolutely GREAT advice in this thread! Should be pinned to the top!

As others have stated, designating some of the best cover habitat on the property as "no entry" sanctuaries, at least during the season, is a key to keeping the effects of hunting pressure to a minimum. In addition, either have hunters use climbing stands, or put up as many ladder/strap-on stands as you can afford. On my place, with 4-6 hunters on 500 acres, we have up 40 stands, accrued a few each year for many years. We move about 15 of those stands to new locations each year. To help with keeping pressure down at each stand, we do two things: first, I create a list of which stands can be hunted under each wind direction, to aid those less experienced with judging the "right" and "wrong" winds to hunt a location. Second, we keep a sheet listing all of the stands and on which hunters keep a running tally of the date each stand was hunted. That way hunters can quickly see which stands are getting hunted the most and the least. The reason this is so important is, with more than 30 years of detailed hunting/observation data to work from, we've found that - statistically - the chances of seeing a 3 1/2+ year-old buck from a particular stand goes down DRAMATICALLY once the stand has received only 12.5 hours of total hunting time. Basically, that's just 3 or 4 hunts. Not to say 3 1/2+ year-old bucks haven't been seen from heavily hunted stands, but that statistically the odds go way down. We have one hunter that has figured this system out and just goes around from hunt to hunt trying to be the first hunter to hunt each stand! And that process works!

 

[JeepKuntry]

I'm willing to wager some of the experienced hunters here who historically take good bucks love pressure. They are hunting escape routes and using terrain features to their advantage. Many places may have minimal sign.

 

[Rem7600]

I have 600 acres private and have about a dozen trees I'll sit in i watch the wind and roll the dice i really don't like sitting the same spot multiple days in a week. Really scent control is a must.

Public land i just go sit I'll even sit the same spot multiple days had a spot i sat for 3 days not one deer then shot a pig nice 8 and a guy 100 yards from me shot 6 on the same day.

I belive after getting to know a area really good you'll find there is places the deer just natural will travel or stay year after year and finding these a nice buck will not be too far off

 

[Mescalero]

A lot of great information and recommendations.

I also think how we access property or stands can increase pressure. ATVs are great and some properties can't be accessed very well without them. But when multiple guys are jumping on them and riding out the same logging roads or trails into the property, even to hunt different stand locations only a few times a season, the sound and movement of those ATVs has to be pressuring the deer. Multiple hunters walking the same bush hogged trails to access favored locations on public land. Ran into a guy this season using a canoe to access his stands on public. He was seeing a lot deer.

 

[BSK]

I'm willing to wager some of the experienced hunters here who historically take good bucks love pressure.

I think mega's description of how he uses early season hunting pressure on food plots to his advantage is a classic post. Really, REALLY love it.

We've got a number of small food plots on our place (from 1/3 of an acre to 2 acres each). We've got hunters that love hunting them. They've killed some middle-aged bucks from those plots from time to time, especially around the peak of the rut. However, although we've killed a fair number of mature (4 1/2+) bucks from the property, NOT ONE has been killed from a plot. Near plots yes, as bucks skirt around them in the woods, but not IN plots.

If I'm going to use a plot to my advantage, I want to be 30-40 yards back in the woods from the plot edge, on the downwind side.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

We've got a number of small food plots on our place (from 1/3 of an acre to 2 acres each). We've got hunters that love hunting them. They've killed some middle-aged bucks from those plots from time to time, especially around the peak of the rut. However, although we've killed a fair number of mature (4 1/2+) bucks from the property, NOT ONE has been killed from a plot. Near plots yes, as bucks skirt around them in the woods, but not IN plots.

Same with us. This is our 21st year owning this property. Only one mature buck has been killed out of our fields., and you guessed it, that one buck was killed during the velvet hunt. I do not like to hunt the fields at all, unless it's a scenario where it's during a time period they are patternable and pics are showing that. Or if I am trying to knock back a few does

 

[Gravey]

I have not been able to implement any of the advice that I will give as I am low man on the totem pole and am just happy to have a place to hunt. We have 8 members on 700 acres. I would almost be willing to pay double just to cut the membership in half. As others have said a sanctuary is huge. Community deer cameras in which all photos are shared. Game plans put together by all involved to harvest mature deer rather than everybody doing their own thing to the detriment of others. Having "x" amount of hunting sites for a prevailing wind from any direction. If acreage is an issue I'd even go so far as to holding a draft where members took turns scheduling their hunts.

Used to be on a big lease and it was chaos. There are now 5 of us on 830 acres and we share everything just hoping somebody will put one on the ground. We share in all the work and have a great time but having the same like minded guys is key.