You know, I started to read AbarOfSoap's thread titled "how is this hunting" and it got me thinking...

If we feel that harvesting high fenced deer is really not hunting, then shouldn't we by similar logic also feel that hunting virgin or low pressure private lands is not as sporty as hunting high pressure public land? I've hunted high to moderate pressure public lands only but the difference between the two are already astronomical. On high pressure public lands (I'm talking near major metropolitan areas) the deer are so elusive and smart that it's hard to even get one to walk by your stand in legal light. And even whenone does, it's hard not to get busted 'cause it's like they come in with their eyes in the trees looking to pick you out. On moderate pressure public land though, they are more laxed and present you with much more opportunity for a harvest.

Just as an example, this is my 2nd year bowhunting and I didn't get my first deer (happened to be a 6ptbuck) until I decided to seriously hunt the lower pressure public lands. Of course as I'm still a noob, it's quite likely that I have a distorted perception of this but I think everyone can agree that less pressure means easier deer. This being the case, in your heart of hearts, would yoube more proud ofa 6pt on high pressure lands or a 10pt on virgin private lands?

I am proud of every deer I harvest with gun or bow.

P.S.- Havent gotten one with my ford yet and hope not.

DANG IT now you got me thinking and I should of waited a bit.
I harvested a huge one this past Nov 3rd and when I showed the boys
who hunt in IL (I Hunt Wi) I said dont have to go down there when you can up here. See they dont allow gun hunting in Lake County, IL. So I was
so proud it came from Wi. So I guess it is harder up here. My brother actually comments IL is like hunting at a zoo if you could.
Man this is hard the more I think about it. Mature bucks are mature
bucks. AWW heck I need to think more lol[:'(]

I only know the land I hunt on. It's all private......and I dount I go to the same woodlot, now, more than once a week. Are my deer pressured? Nope. Are they easy to kill? I'll say this......if I wanted to have all 6 of my tags filled, right now....I could. I don't need to kill a deer just to say I killed a deer....or had all of my tags filled. I like to hunt. I like to be in the tree. I like watching the 4 sparring matches I saw between the 6 immature bucks, Saturday. I like having a 5 pointer come in and bed down @ 14 yds for 1:40. I like seeing the turkeys.

Yeah.....honestly......I guess simply killing deer would be "fairly" easy, around here. I had a 6 pointer @ 14 yds, broadside, for quite a while, yesterday. He looked thin and also looked like he'd be something, next year. I let him walk. I also saw 7-8 more that I didn't want to shoot at.

I've never hunted public land. I RARELY ever hunt where someone else has permission to hunt, either (I have sole access to most of my hunting land). BUT....I wouldn't dare judge what someone else does in a free-chase scenario, either (Or in a non-fair-chase scenario if it were legal).

Jeff

There is two sides to this coin and i cannot speak on the behalf of Private land hunters. I have pretty much hunted Public land in IL all of my life too. I would love to hunt private land and do all the things I am supposed to do ... scout year round, pattern the same deer, ect. but i cant ...I only get a few weeks vacation, so when i drive 3 hours and get to my area, i have to speed scout, use my knowledge and hopefully get a little lucky, i cant use a scout camera ... it would take more pictures of people than deer, and/or get stolen. When i see a giant deer pic or mount it makes me want to hunt private land, but I know if i never do hunt it, my 4 y/o heavy 8 pointer on Public land is something to be very proud of.

I'd say the wilder deer of the big woods are harder to kill, one on one, than suburban deer. I base this on the fact that mountain deer will not tolerate ANY human scent where a suburban deer is accustomed to some human scent in the background. Wilderness deer are more apt to pick out movement also and if you get in a tree, you had better be 20 feet or more. Just my observations.
I had a forkhornbed down last Saturday,DOWNWIND of me. I could see that he was catching my scent, but only watched with concern in my direction. Had that been a wilderness deer, he would have been long gone.

I hunt mostly private land with probably a good 1500-2000 acres, as well asa public hunting area not many people know about or care to drive that far too. I do think there is a difference between high pressure areas and as you call them "virgin" ones, and that I think would be obvious. I don't hunt for any deer I see, yes I could have shot atleast a4x4 every time I've been out this year, but it doesn't mean that deer on private land are stupid. I think that high pressure area hunters just need to really find a strategy of hunting that is completly different than other hunters in that area.

I would say private land is harder than public land. On private land deer arent accustomed to intereaction with people as much as public land. If A private ground deer smells human odor they know something is up and should not be there. On public ground the deer see people more often and get used to human interaction to a certain level. I am by no means saying public ground deer are dumb because of this. Trust me I hunt public ground only with my bow, but private with my rifle. I usually only hunt one or two weekends on private ground per year and it seems like ive gotten busted more on private ground. Just my opinion though.

I understand your points and they are indeed valid to a degree. I guess my only thing is that I think deer in lower pressure areas are more likely to be active more of the day. Whereas on high pressure land, they only seem to move right at dusk or dawn presenting you with much less opportunity.

And on the deal with deer becoming accoustomed to human scent making them more tolerable to it, I think it doesn't matter in a hunting situationbecause even though they are used to humans, they still wont come within the 30 yard range we need to harvest them in. I can see that if there was no hunting allowed such as in a county park, the deer will discount us as any kind of threat.However if there is hunting allowed, they will associate us with danger and keep away regardless of how much human activity there is in the woods.

Keep in mind this is the feel I get from hunting high -vs- moderate pressure lands. I hunted my first 2 years on high pressure and couldn'tarrow anything 'cause the deer are always on high alert coupled of course with my inexperience. Like I said, they come in with their eyes in the trees and nose all over the place. With this recent and firstdeer that I got on moderate pressure land, I drew back on him, he looked dead at me in the tree for 5 full seconds then turned broadside, walked a few steps then stopped again to look at me. That's when I hit the release. Nowin all my experiences with high pressure land deer, as soon as they even see you in the tree, it's over.This doesn't mean that it's absolutely right but by the example I gave,it to me says thatless pressure means easier kill?