I'm curious, for those of you who bowhunt on public/state land, would you say there is more, less, or about the same amount of pressure than there was 5 years ago?
I would say where I hunt there is less. However, there are other variables that I deal with that make the hunting experience feel more pressured.
The public land that I hunt actually has very little pressure. The entire county and surrounding counties are all farm and woods so the main population in this area all hunts private property. However the land that I hunt is part of a start forest preserve so I have run into the idiots that don't know how to read signs so I get the occasional hiker with dogs and kids coming through my area. Love scaring the crap out of them when they realize they are in a dangerous area that they shouldn't be in! Just sucks that they usually ruin my hunt for the rest of the day.
Ferg... I'm curious what signs you're referring to. In my neck of the woods, public land is just that.. public. There's not a restriction as to what you can or cannot do in an area, outside of using a firearm. Hell, a lot of the public land has trails and paths throughout it so people can hike, etc. While it sucks that they happen across your stand, I think they have a right to be there as well. Unless this sign you're speaking of says something like "no hiking, hunting in progress". Not trying to bust your chops, but we gotta share the land with others, or hunters will get an even worse name.
Significantly more. p.s. -Ferg posts his own signs.. They read "NO hikers, or walkers of dogs, or just dogs, or kids, or anyone else!"
The main area of public that I hunt actually has hunter only signs during hte season. Most of the park is still open to hikers but they do close off a good amount of land to hunters only but even with all the signs posted you still get people going through.
They actually close off about 30 of the parking lots and make them pass only for hunters. They have a large hunter signin area with a certain number of parking passes per lot. When you get to the sign in area they have all the maps showing all 30 hunting areas along with all the area still open to the public. They are very clear which area is hunting and which is hiking during the season.
I totally agree with you. I am just referring to this one area and the one that I hunt the most. I have several other areas that I hunt on occasion that I fully expect to see the occasional hiker or horseback rider and fully agree that we have to share the land. This one instance I am talking about though is very clear to the rules.
Ok, I don't think there are areas around me that do that, with the exception of the managed hunt areas. So apparently they do have the signs I referenced, in effect, that say "no hiking, hunters only" lol..
Hunting deer on public land, about the same. Hunting bear In northern Minnesota on public land, Insane pressure. Many more people then 5 years ago.
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign? And the sign said anybody caught trespassin' would be shot on sight So I jumped on the fence and-a yelled at the house, "Hey! What gives you the right?" "To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in" "If God was here he'd tell you to your face, Man, you're some kinda sinner" Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?
Down here in S. IL the public land is very limited; however, a couple of years ago a fellow killed a very large buck out of the Carlyle, IL waterfowl public access while bow hunting and ever since it's been filled with bowhunters. Don't tell people where you kill big bucks.
I have yet to see another hunter on the public land I hunt. I've stumbled across a number of old 2x4 stands decades old. Never seen a hunter. Once during rifle season I had 2 grouse hunters walk by, but I was sitting in one of my dad's stands along a big trail. Of course I'm lucky because the public land I hunt isn't really accessible without a 2+ mile walk. It's like having my own private public land
