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2019: Public Land Challenge

Everyone thinks they have it worst. If your state has plenty of public land you CAN find good hunting - just takes some effort. the states I have found the most challenging are the states with very little public land - in many places if you don't get on private you are going to have a rough go at it as you cant get away from pressure in a lot of cases.
Exactly what I was thinking. Every state can be just as tough as any other state depending on where you are. So it’s all relative. Genetics are a different story.
 
Some places are tougher than others without a doubt. I’m sure true mature deer are tough to find on public in Michigan just like most states with large populations of hunters. There aren’t many places that are just open to hunting in Georgia that you would have seen more or better deer. Especially seeing deer in the bean fields in daylight. That field would have had a stand every 60 yards and no deer in it during daylight after opening weekend of bow season in Georgia. Not saying Georgia is that tough because there are a lot of deer but I didn’t see anymore pressure than I would expect to see here. Gun season may be totally different so who knows.
 
Did anyone notice when they showed Ted's hunt around the 27:30-28:00 mark, he appears to have his ropeman upside down on the rope? I had to watch it a few times to make sure I wasn't confused. Unless I have been using mine wrong - never seen it used in that configuration (upside down and tail end coming out the top)!
Either way, great videos from all these guys and glad they had some success for the challenge!
 
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It's been good to watch so far.

One thing has really caught my attention is the guys not really hunting the "beasiest" areas. Like those field edges, I mean you have a shot at filling a tag there but a snowballs chance in hades at a giant.

I know a lot of areas are flooded but it seems also a reflection of the time crunch and obviously limited intel/scouting. The risk vs. reward, that game theory. So many of us face it, I know I sure can relate to it.

When choosing to pursue the oldest bucks it really lowers the odds at "decent" bucks. It is a hard choice when faced with limited hunting time to forgo better opportunities. Not trying to be critical, I think its perfectly rational decision playing the higher odds going after a decent buck as opposed to an exceptional one. It really validates that way of thinking for a lot of us that have limited hunting time for whatever reason.

Absolutely. I'll be honest that was my gameplay going into it. I wasn't after a giant and adjusted my tactics because of that. Really tho the deer weren't acting pressured and I wasn't find much sign deep in the swamps, most of the good sign was close to the road. I'm sure as the season goes on and they get pushed deeper and the tactics would change to the typical "beast" approach. I knew I had very limited time to get on a buck so I wasn't looking for big sign. I was keying in on the freshest rubs close to good cover as I could and it paid off. I had a buck about the same size as Joe's in range, just never had a clean shot.
 
Did anyone notice when they showed Ted's hunt around the 27:30-28:00 mark, he appears to have his ropeman upside down on the rope and it is acting as a "stopper" for the carabiner? I had to watch it a few times to make sure I wasn't confused. Unless I have been using mine wrong - never seen it used in that configuration!
Either way, great videos from all these guys and glad they had some success for the challenge!
I just looked back... yes, it appears like if he pulled down on that tag end he would have been in for a bit of a ride.
 
I’m sure true mature deer are tough to find on public in Michigan just like most states with large populations of hunters.


This is only 1/2 of the equation. You must also consider the amount of public land available for deer hunting as well to project out how much pressure may be on public land. MI is hardly hurting for public land, neither are WI and PA. There are other states where there is very limited public land and high pop #s. We have 3 cities alone that are as populated as a lot of states.
 
OK, Nestea plunge to the stopper knot!!! :) Just struck me as odd looking when I watched it over lunch!

:) I haven't even looked - watched the video and missed it completely. We all need to ensure we know our gear.
 
Hey @flinginairos now that this is all over, can you disclose what counties you all were hunting in?

They were a bit north of central Michigan, not too far from Jay’s Sporting goods given the terrain/vegetation in the videos and that Dan and Joe made a quick shopping trip to get rain jackets there. As Eberhardt mentioned in their podcast, a buck is lucky to reach 100” as a 3.5yr old from that area on northward simply because of soil quality, food, and the length of our gun season. The northern two thirds of the state see a lot more gun pressure than archery as most travel “up north” for deer camp in our state, the tradition for many at least. We have a 2 week long rifle season and an additional month of muzzleloader after that, you can hunt with a gun for just as long as a bow in Michigan (6 week season for each). With two thirds of our states population in the southern third of the state and the biggest bucks (resulting from much better soil nutrient content and tons of agriculture) a vast majority of our archery pressure occurs down there. It is where they were originally planning to camp before they had the venue change.

It was fun to watch them deal with the extra challenges northern Michigan provides but it also would have been interesting to have seen them down in a more well known area of the state.

Great job and kudos to those guys for yet another entertaining Public Land Challenge!
 
Did anyone notice when they showed Ted's hunt around the 27:30-28:00 mark, he appears to have his ropeman upside down on the rope? I had to watch it a few times to make sure I wasn't confused. Unless I have been using mine wrong - never seen it used in that configuration (upside down and tail end coming out the top)!
Either way, great videos from all these guys and glad they had some success for the challenge!

So this?

Teds-Rope-Man.jpg



No time for experiments tonight, but yes looks like a good catch.
 
It looks like he has the rope fed through the correct way but has hooked up with the R1 and the caribiners in the top side of his rope. If it was upside down it wouldn't hold at all. I've never seen it hooked that way but it looks like it would work and apparently did.

Edit: I see what some are saying now about pulling on the tag end. It does look like it would release the Ropeman if he pulled on it.
 
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So this?

Teds-Rope-Man.jpg



No time for experiments tonight, but yes looks like a good catch.
I would just think in that configuration, any inadvertent pulling of that tag end could potentially uncam the ropeman... much like pulling slack up, but gravity-assisted the other way to the end (be it stopper knot or earth). Probably overthinking, but I can't help it when watching THP episodes over (and over) again.
 
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