Bob L. shot this 16-pointer (164 2/8”) a few years back in Sumner County, Tennessee. The 4½-year-old animal is a great buck anywhere, and a true giant for the area. As such, the tall-racked buck had seen at least 9 times by local hunters that fall. “I knew of at least 12 stands that had been erected prior to the season by people trying to get the big old buck,” Bob said.
Takeaway lesson: You might have heard me say it on TV, or read it here on the blog: Pressure is the #1 factor in hunting big deer. The less of it the better. Anytime you can hunt unpressured land, your odds of shooting a mature buck on natural movement go way up.
But those opportunities are few and far between. Fact is, hunting pressure, either a little or a lot, is present in 95% of the areas that we hunt. Don’t let the fact that other people hunt in and around your woods get you down. Scout well, hang stands/set blinds in strategic spots, hunt hard and keep the faith like Bob did. Sometimes you can create your own luck, and you might be the one who ends up shooting the biggest buck in those woods.
I grew up hunting some highly pressured land my most of my life. The one thing I learned was to get in the woods long before everyone else in the morning so that they push the deer to you when they come in an hour later. Also I learned that I had to hunt farther in on the public land which meant walking miles and miles, it pays off trust me and it’s nice to not see 20 orange vests through the trees. Hunt the thickets and nasty ravines that other hunters avoid on these pressured pieces of land.