Is Pressure the most important??

[Coach1310]

From reading a different thread, the idea of hunting pressure came to mind. I think this may be the most important variable when referring to public land especially in big woods situations. Public land is different every year. New groups move in, old groups expand and move, areas are clear cut or selectively cut etc... I like to do a bit of scouting prior to rifle season to get a feel from what areas are being used, buck activity etc.. We've been on the same tract of land for 6 or 7 years and I am starting to realize more and more than hunters locations and the pressure they provide is looking like the #1 factor in our success. We have a pretty good handle on some of the main travel corridors, but every year it is different. Sure the rut plays a part as do individual deer, weather, etc., but I think the pressure and location of other hunters is sometimes overlooked. I picked out a new area this year, mostly because I was trying to get away from competition and have at least a visual area to myself. I ended up seeing a bunch of deer and it worked well, but next year, if someone sets up a few hundred yards to the West of me, I doubt I will have as much luck as that person will be either A) shooting at most of the deer I would eventually see... providing more scent and awareness to the deer that something isn't quite right. I think the spot I had this year was great, but pressure will change that in a hurry. Does anyone else feel the same way??

[Jameson]

Yes.

[wannafish2]

I usually try to find out who will be hunting around the area I hunt and where they will be for safety reasons too. Then I try to think about how their presence will affect the deer movement, then apply it to the wind direction, stand location, etc....sometimes I just wish I could think and had the sense of smell like a deer. I'm probably putting way too much into it, and the deer are just going with the flow - around the stinky humans - trying to get to breakfast or lunch - or the business of procreation - or just a snooze.

[zzammon]

Pressure is a very important part of my set up, near little falls. I set up along a tried and true travel corridor and usually shoot a deer before 9. But if not, once the guns start going off and people start moving around, I find it to be a heavily used escape corridor. Many deer have been shot between 10-2. This year was no exception.

Pressure should not be viewed as a negative. If played correctly, it will push deer to you much more often than you push deer away.

[Arctic]

Pressure and the impact of human scent is one of the reasons I hunt vast tracts of public land beyond what is accessible by ATV. In many years the deer are still acting on the last weekend of the hunting season as if there was no hunting season. I like that. Gotta stay fit for that type of hunting though.

[surewood]

Hunt the other hunters. I scout an area and where the other hunters like to go and I go the extra mile. I've had success doing it.

[Musky Buck]

Pressure is the main factor in my area, once opening morning is over then the word hunting really comes into play. This is all private ground pressure and the deer didn't disappoint, we relocated them in an 80 that for some reason the guys aren't hunting this year, sunday night 29 came out before dark, my dad was like what on earth. Other good deer ground in the area have a few fawns basically and are scented up and pressured so much the deer pack their bags and go searching for the unpressured hide aways which are few and far between. Another 15 acre slough had lots of deer in it vs. a 100 acre swamp that gets pressured, they really change their ways in my area after opening day and it usually takes a few days for them to get any level of comfort back, you'd think the rut would trump it, but it doesn't in my area,they mate and find new mates usually in the night, there's always the occasional random buck after a doe but it's rare today,in my area, the deer are stacked at our non-hunted neighbors, bucks are even together there because the breeding does are there in big numbers, dad saw 4 bucks sunday night, seems like pretty good tolerance of each other, they'd rather be alive then in a human scent machine 40. Weather and crops have been a factor also, corn is gone so they are on an alfalfa diet which is still green and mild weather, pressure is the biggest factor that shuts down deer movement in my area and these deer stay away, long enough for rifle season to end, I think they at times try to reenter where they once were but they smell it and remember why they vacated in the first place, otherwise they are bedding so tight and not getting up until after dark. Need to connect opening day or my odds go down to basically 1% at a mature buck after opener, they just don't make the mistakes the young bucks do.