That info was spot on. I always tell guys I'd rather have a tiny five acre piece all to myself, than have to share a hundred acre parcel with five guys. It's the people factor that I'm ALWAYS looking for! Big bucks are honestly not that hard to kill! It's trying to work around the people factor that can be incredibly hard and frustrating! You can gain access to a couple hundred acres, but, by the time you figure out where everyone else is hunting, and how they get to and from those spots, and when, you will end up with maybe, 5 acres, maybe 10, if you are real lucky, that are actually huntable, that stand a chance of holding a mature buck. Love this video!!!

I had the remote stranger thing occur this year. I was way back on the property we hunt. I should have been alone. Got in blind at 5 am….way across the valley at 5:38 in came a flashlight down the hill from a neighboring property. Far enough away it was not a huge deal. The big deal was later. They shot at 6:45 am I shot 5 pm. Used my quad to get my deer hauled up the hillside only to turn around and see a flashlight clipping through the woods towards me down in the valley. I wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation in the dark since I knew the property owner so I drove off. Talked to the other property 2 days later they said they knew who it was and would handle it..thanked me for coming to them first. It all works out I guess. But yes I hunt people also and try to use them to my advantage

I started doing that this year.

I hunted a point on a farm that just held deer like mad,,it stuck out about 200 yards and was a 100 yards or so wide surrounded by 12 ft deep ditches and the south side was public land,,I constantly had to boot people out of there and they always had excuses like it wasn't posted and thought were still in the public because I guess the barbed wire fence and 12 ft ditches and the fact it stuck out into 900 acres of corn wasn't sign enough...some people just suck...

Totally! 🦌 Today's the last day of the 4 week firearms season here in central Maine hunting on my ten acre off-grid homestead with a 1 Buck limit - Only one close encounter so far with a buck I never saw in the final minutes one evening who walked toward me and stopped at 25 yards and stood there until he winded me - thanks to the sinking thermals and no wind.🌲

that is the same exact way ive learned to be over the years too jeff!! i scout the people and their gear/setups, so i know what areas to avoid. ive always said on public land, you hunt pressure as much as you hunt deer. unfortunately, there is a segment of the population who go the opposite direction with their train of thought and will seriously try and follow you to the deer. i can only imagine how much better the hunting would be for all, if we simply respected each others spaces more. a lot less public land would be burned, i know that!!

During season my cameras are more focused on watching access routes for people than they are for monitoring deer activity and anytime I do run into another hunter I tend to strike up a convo and find out how often they are out when they are most likely out and where about they hunt in relation to my spots what really ticks me off though is when I see people on SGL operating motorized vehicles, damn kids riding quads and dirt bikes have ruined my season before but the people that ride don't care because the penalty is a whopping $100 fine

As a former mil guy, everything you say makes perfect sense.

I hunt public land in CT. Ct is basically a giant dog walking park . Deer adjust to people. One spot thats produced every year for me, from does , spikes even 8pts . Is a 75 yd wide strip of land . A cemetery cuts into state land creating a pinch point next to a swamp , about 150 yds from the road . I feel ridiculous in my stand , cars going by , hikers passing on the edge . One of my best deer , an 8 pt , came out of the swamp 1/2 hour after a funeral service had ended . He steped out , looked around and stated eating acorns 15 yds from me . Last 10 yrs , I've gotten at least 1 for the freezer at the " cemetery spot " .

Thanks Jeff

Great info as always!!

Awesome video Jeff! Understanding people movement definately helps in understanding deer movement. I've had so many hunts ruined by people tresspassing to hunt on my private property. I'm working on it! Ha,ha,ha...I've used that tactic myself of clearing a piece of ground to look like a deer scrape to monitor foot prints!

Thanks Jeff! Good luck brother!

One of best spots to bowhunt takes 40 minutes to hike up a saddle in a steep canyon. I stop to catch my breath several times, and when I get to my stand, I have to change my base layers because of sweat!

My family owns 30 acres, used to be my grandfather's cattle farm and hearing the horror stories of buddies hunting public land and people putting treestands 10 ft away from theirs and so on I wouldn't give up that 30 acres for anything. I even have a buddy who's family owns 200 acres and doesn't post it and there will be 20+ hunters out there some days, half that 200 acres is field so that 100 acres shrinks fast with 20 hunters. Had one guy this year spray paint a tree yellow and set up a rotten old wooden ladder with a sheet of plywood on it. I mean so rotten I wouldn't climb it if you guaranteed me a 170" inch deer. Some people give me crap for posting it but two years in a row I found a doe shot and left, found someone in my stand one day, kicked him out and next weekend my stand was destroyed, and on and on. So I take care of the property, we pay the taxes, we maintain the trails and on and on while the neighboring properties have been clear cut for a few $$. So yah its for my family, for hunting and thats it. Plus alot of hunters around here will shoot a 50lb fawn just to say they got a deer that year and call it a "yearling" nope that's a fawn bud, literally a few months old .

I'm always looking for human and animal tracks on the property I hunt as well. There are only 3 of us allowed on the property, and we're in pretty constant communication. So we know if someone is out there and where. I haven't done a public land hunt in a few years, but I would avoid people and go somewhere else. Not worth the hassle.

Good morning and good luck 👍

i hunt a mix of private posted land surrounded by unposted land. i am always on the look out for people sign, stands, cameras what ever.

There is always the 'lunch drive'. Guys leaving for lunch push deer out, and coming back in at 2:00 pm they drive deer back again.

Heading down to hunt Wayne National Forest here in Ohio after the Buckeyes beat the team up north! :) Thanks for all the great content!

Love your channel. Very informative. Do you have any tips on getting switchgrass growing in an area of stiltgrass infestation?

Good luck Jeff.I think I know where you are.5AM.And there are at least 7 standing in front of my house that I can see with my Vortex 12by 50s

My husband wears size 14 shoe and I wear a size 3,4 kids 😂😂😂 I’m hunting on my own land, never thought of looking for people on my own land

I live just a few miles from the Sleeth Road foodplots on state land in Commerce Twp Michigan. Many people hunt there.

I have been doing it for years

I walked into a honey hole where I’m at on private land. It’s in the mountains right beside national park land and them deer have gotten huge over there. I am hunting about 75 yards above where some have been bedding next to a creek and have already got a pretty decent 8point with a 19 inch spread but have seen way bigger on camera and they act like they have never seen hunters or something. I guess not cause of park land. The first time I hunted this place I got there that morning about hour and a half before daylight and there was a nice 8point just standing there in the bait pile watching as I unloaded my crossbow, cocked it, loaded it, and pointed it right at him lol. I told him if he was still there when it was light enough to aim I was gonna get him lol but he finally,…walked…away. I never know what’s gonna walk out. Oh yeah, this my first year hunting. I feel very blessed to have found this spot. I’m hoping a big ole 12 point might show up.

I've found that public land hunters are getting wiser and walking farther in. That might be because the public land I hunt has pheasant hunters and squirrel hunters which makes it increasingly difficult to find untouched areas. Also I've noticed many bow hunters leaving hang on stands in trees and removing their access up to the hang on so they can return at a later date and more easily hunt without having to mess around with finding a tree, making noise, putting a stand up etc. In Wisconsin it's illegal to leave a stand up in a tree overnight but it seems like many hunters are willing to risk having their stand cut down by DNR for the convenience.

Thanks for all the great advice, Jeff! I've been guilty of "follow the herd" mentality before. Definitely not a good way to get on a mature buck... Sounds like you practiced what you preach on the PA gun opener and it paid dividends!

Do a video after opening weekend of gun deer. Man. My brother and been walking and moving all over the place throughout thick ass cover. No deer at all. What kind of hunt should you be doing after all the pressure of opening morning?

I literally just told my brother this. He just started hunting this season and was asking for tips. We hunt public I told him you gotta hunt deer sign, but you gotta hunt people sign just as much. Cause other people will move deer around more than you think

I've always wondered why people use orange flagging tape on public land. Are they using that to mark their way back to the vehicle?

You heading into the PA deer woods Jeff? Saturday morning im wishing you good luck

I mark every piece of human activity in the public land I hunt and relate it to every piece of deer activity I’m scouting on that site. That’s my number one concern when scouting. Then identify how the deer are traversing around that danger and where they are condensing their movements because of terrain features- creek crossings, woodland funnels between big woods, roads, benches, etc. In essence, how is the human activity manipulating deer movements? And how is it changing from early to pre rut, to rut, to post rut, and then Winter. It eliminates 90%+ of wasted time scouting and hunting. The deer are going to avoid humans, so how are they doing it efficiently every day? They’ll have a systematic approach to staying away from hunters. It’ll be logical and as efficient as they can make it given the terrain.

Can you do a video on post rut weather? Ontario hardwoods can be so hard. Warm year with high winds. Public land with not many bow hunters. Not many are finding deer. All I see is does

Hi Jeff, on public when you reach the perimeter of what you would consider the public pressure/foot traffic, what is the minimum distance you would travel past that pressure. I know the answer is it varies, but do you have a rule of thumb for minimum distance. thanks!

My question is what was the hunter on public land doing with carpet over his head?? You definitely can't see much with your head covered....

I would be interested to know your take on the type of Hunting blinds that people are setting up with solar panels, wood stoves, bunks, outlets, tv's and so many other "luxury" items. I have hunted cold weather and do understand a small heat source can help extend your hunting hours but why all the other stuff?

Neighborhoring farm don't allow hunting. 8 am they'll be out on their tractor. They even had the boy out playing the trumpet once they saw my truck, smh.

I’ve hunted public land in northern and north central MN my whole life. I gave up sitting in stands over 20 yrs ago in favor of walking and still hunting. I typically cover 5 miles a day or a little more. From what I’ve seen, probably 95% of hunters keep their stands less than 300 yds from a trail. And most of those hunters are no more than 200 yds from a path.

When will your 2024 seed be available for seed harvested in 2023? Thanks

I want people to see where I park so they don’t hunt there. I am out every weekend and some during the first couple weeks.