Public land hunting… aggressive or conservative?

[troy_w_7]

I mainly hunt tried and true travel corridors that have usual scrapes rubs and bedding areas in the mix and wait it out.I have found getting out in the middle of no where during bow season way up a tree you can spot a lot of deer,then hone in on their daily routes.But this is big piney woods east Texas land I’m hunting.

I like this tactic a lot. I'm not in the piney woods but this is a sound strategy for any topography or habitat!

[luna-tuna]

Yes sir. Thanks again. I got a sneak peak but out of respect for the author/writer I would like to wait until the offical publication is completed beforehand. Never met the guy in person but he is great to converse with and seems to be a very well rounded experienced hunter, 60yrs of age and still an athlete.

For the OP: Good question. It really all depends on the species, property/ecoregion, timing & alloted hunt period(alot), pressure, weather, sign fresh or old, experience, available setup, etc. Its alot. The only way I could actually try and help is through private message and go from there. (I'm not the best at private messages, I get alot and don't and can't answer them all.)

A short answer: BOTH. You just have to make judgement calls in the moment and learn by trail and error. I lean on more of the give it a try rather than wait PATIENTLY.

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The article about your public land hunting success was in our weekend edition today. I enjoyed it, as well as the photos. Congrats again on some hard-earned trophies. Good luck on your upcoming hunts this season

[BW96]

I've only hunted the same tree probably 3 times in last 5 years. I've killed 7 bucks in those 5 years too. But that's my style. I know I've missed out on some deer by not sticking around. My brain is just wired for the next sit. Just be aware, hunting public land is the cool thing to do now. Pressure is getting higher and higher.

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[Beargrasstx]

I've only hunted the same tree probably 3 times in last 5 years. I've killed 7 bucks in those 5 years too. But that's my style. I know I've missed out on some deer by not sticking around. My brain is just wired for the next sit. Just be aware, hunting public land is the cool thing to do now. Pressure is getting higher and higher.

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That (THP and Hunting Beast to thank) and the cost of leases, finding a lease is hard, and the cost of feed going up, and a bunch of yanks coming down from blue states because of the Texas economy.

I wish Texas had more public land available to hunt spread evenly throughout the state or at least within an hour drive of heavily populated areas. Even if smaller acreage but make bow only. More opportunities are always better

[Stites_Bites]

I've only hunted the same tree probably 3 times in last 5 years. I've killed 7 bucks in those 5 years too. But that's my style. I know I've missed out on some deer by not sticking around. My brain is just wired for the next sit. Just be aware, hunting public land is the cool thing to do now. Pressure is getting higher and higher.

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But when you move you’re stationary and “sitting” between different spots, correct? My buddy likes to spot and stalk and constantly be on the move. I just don’t see how that would work in south Texas brush. Getting within 50 yards of a mature buck while moving through brush ain’t easy. We bow hunt. Maybe that would work with a rifle? Who knows. Most public land bruisers seem to be shot out of a tree stand.


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[Stick bow]

I have found that saddle hunting suits me best for the public land hunts. It’s very easy to move locations when dealing with other hunters that get to close. It a lot easier than packing ladders and stands around. Scout the lands before season don’t wait until the season is already on you.

[Mr. Public]

The article about your public land hunting success was in our weekend edition today. I enjoyed it, as well as the photos. Congrats again on some hard-earned trophies. Good luck on your upcoming hunts this season

Wow! I did not even know it was published yet! Cool. Thanks the heads up and compliments.

[Blood Trail]

If you’re taking spot and stalk, you’re more to get tired than get a deer, especially on public land. And you’ll tick off every other hunter in the area.


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[DLoop]

If you only have time for a trip or two like you mentioned in OP, I’d say you can’t afford to be too conservative. As some mentioned don’t kill too much time in one area. Pay attention to what’s going on around you and move accordingly.

[aaronwragg]

might get more feedback on the public hunting forum...???

Or no feedback cuz they don't want the competition.

[Kirby86]

Public land hunting… aggressive or conservative?

There’s not a right or wrong answer to it because there are so many variables. I’d begin by asking some major questions to begin with.

1) Is this a limited time hunt (3 days, two weeks, a month, etc)? If so, how much hunting pressure the animals get (like if we’re talking a wildlife refuge) will factor in.

2) Are you limited on time to specific dates, days of the year, week, month, vacation,etc?

3) Is this an out of state hunt, or is it a local area you’ve scouted already? Because if it’s out of state and I’m super limited on time, I don’t have the luxury of being conservative. Whereas if I’m hunting an area I know I’ll be frequenting throughout the season I’m not going to go sit a rut funnel and sweat my *** off in early October.

4) Can you bait that particular area? It can help or hurt. It’s not magical, but it is a tool to remember to keep in your arsenal! (I’m not a fan of scent lures)

I have a different approach to each part of the season. It’s pretty rare for me to do an all day sit in early October, but I’ve done it and had it work if I had a hot persimmon tree or white oaks dropping.

Last week (or weeks) of October things change again, but once you get into the rut phase what I’ve found is that the key to doing an all day sit is having confidence in the terrain feature you’ve selected. I almost moved the stand I shot my biggest buck out of when I watched him chase a doe past it at 9am only to have him run under my tree at 10:30am and shoot him at 12 yards. Since then, I’ve killed most of my bucks during the rut from 10am to 4pm by staying put. I say that because I’ve gotten my crap packed up and bumped bucks that were bedded not 50-75yds away and never realized they were there. Rut bedding is a totally different animal.

Really it comes down to knowing your area. The better you know it the more you’ll recognize patterns. It’s all relative, but terrain factors in too, because river bottom tactics aren’t going to work in hill terrain because of different thermals, just like open grassland won’t behave the same either.

I will say this. Andre D’quisto’s interview last year around this time is what I would attribute to my killing the first buck I killed last year. On October 13th he was pushing a doe (cold front, plus it looked like an old lead doe). She actually worked a scrape in front of me before he came roaring in. This particular area is one that I wouldn’t have hunted as hard, but I’m starting to find that there are some spots where deer are smart to pressure, but also don’t seem to get completely blown out by human pressure. And that’s what Andre’s whole point was. If that buck absolutely loves the spot he’s in, it doesn’t matter how aggressive you are. You can’t hardly push him out. Of course, I’m not mentioning the full context so don’t crucify me for that because there are variables but those types of spots do exist, albeit they’re hard to find. Andre even talked about having to bump the deer multiple days in a row to get them to totally leave a core area, but even then it seems like they’d come back.

That’s a lot of info I know, and I rambled, but in short, every deer costs something. Public land deer will cost you in time and private land deer will cost you in paychecks.

[PlanoDano]

Or no feedback cuz they don't want the competition.

Not exactly, it's complicated.

We need more public hunters to help protect our access to the resource. Most of us enjoy helping other hunters when we can. On the flip side I remember taking up bow hunting because it was much easier to get tags. That is certainly not the case now. So adding people to the sport did not help our cause on an individual level.

To the OP question, I do not have the skills to routinely spot and stalk whitetail. Though I believe I might have success spot and stalk in J&P.I have used 2 methods for whitetail set in a hiding sport waiting to ambush. I usually sit up a tree or other hiding spot - except I will not sit in a ground blind anymore. Other method is still an ambush and I have not used it in a few year but I have had success running and gunning a new area by carrying a ghost blind and setting up on a likely area when I find it.

[PlanoDano]

Clarification - will not set in a ground blind, by ground blind I meant those pop up contraptions. I have had a little success from them but more success from being out in the elements.

[FLASH_OUTDOORS]

There’s not a right or wrong answer to it because there are so many variables. I’d begin by asking some major questions to begin with.

1) Is this a limited time hunt (3 days, two weeks, a month, etc)? If so, how much hunting pressure the animals get (like if we’re talking a wildlife refuge) will factor in.

2) Are you limited on time to specific dates, days of the year, week, month, vacation,etc?

3) Is this an out of state hunt, or is it a local area you’ve scouted already? Because if it’s out of state and I’m super limited on time, I don’t have the luxury of being conservative. Whereas if I’m hunting an area I know I’ll be frequenting throughout the season I’m not going to go sit a rut funnel and sweat my *** off in early October.

4) Can you bait that particular area? It can help or hurt. It’s not magical, but it is a tool to remember to keep in your arsenal! (I’m not a fan of scent lures)

I have a different approach to each part of the season. It’s pretty rare for me to do an all day sit in early October, but I’ve done it and had it work if I had a hot persimmon tree or white oaks dropping.

Last week (or weeks) of October things change again, but once you get into the rut phase what I’ve found is that the key to doing an all day sit is having confidence in the terrain feature you’ve selected. I almost moved the stand I shot my biggest buck out of when I watched him chase a doe past it at 9am only to have him run under my tree at 10:30am and shoot him at 12 yards. Since then, I’ve killed most of my bucks during the rut from 10am to 4pm by staying put. I say that because I’ve gotten my crap packed up and bumped bucks that were bedded not 50-75yds away and never realized they were there. Rut bedding is a totally different animal.

Really it comes down to knowing your area. The better you know it the more you’ll recognize patterns. It’s all relative, but terrain factors in too, because river bottom tactics aren’t going to work in hill terrain because of different thermals, just like open grassland won’t behave the same either.

I will say this. Andre D’quisto’s interview last year around this time is what I would attribute to my killing the first buck I killed last year. On October 13th he was pushing a doe (cold front, plus it looked like an old lead doe). She actually worked a scrape in front of me before he came roaring in. This particular area is one that I wouldn’t have hunted as hard, but I’m starting to find that there are some spots where deer are smart to pressure, but also don’t seem to get completely blown out by human pressure. And that’s what Andre’s whole point was. If that buck absolutely loves the spot he’s in, it doesn’t matter how aggressive you are. You can’t hardly push him out. Of course, I’m not mentioning the full context so don’t crucify me for that because there are variables but those types of spots do exist, albeit they’re hard to find. Andre even talked about having to bump the deer multiple days in a row to get them to totally leave a core area, but even then it seems like they’d come back.

That’s a lot of info I know, and I rambled, but in short, every deer costs something. Public land deer will cost you in time and private land deer will cost you in paychecks.

Where can you find the interview?


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[Kirby86]

Public land hunting… aggressive or conservative?

Where can you find the interview?


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This particular one was on Wired 2 Hunt.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wired-to-hunt-podcast/id852332047?i=1000488663216

But there was also one on the Hunting Beast Podcast but it’s not on there anymore apparently. Might’ve been pulled.