Is Public Land Deer Hunting Ruined Forever? Big Buck serial killer Dan Infalt weighs in

In the new media age of hunting, YouTube personalities love it The hunting public is sometimes blamed for a frustrating increase in pressure on public lands. The logic goes like this: These personalities have shared tips and tactics with an ever-growing audience, and now those disciples are more efficient at seeking out public territory and more motivated to do so.

The result is that hunting is deteriorating for the experienced hunters who have been around long before cell cameras and tree saddles became popular. But in a recent video, Dan Infalt talks about The hunting beast shoots some huge holes in this way of thinking. He also shares some incredible knowledge for finding success on public lands.

“Pressure makes hunting easier when you know what you are doing as a big dollar hunter,” Infalt says. “The pressure hurts when they kill everything on the ground, when there’s no big money, well, you’ve got a point there… and cameras can get out of hand. In some places this has already happened and in others they are starting to do so. But right now, the majority of the places I go – seeing cell cameras, seeing tree stands – it helps. It makes me focus on it [the spots] where those people are not.”

Before you scoff at these comments, keep in mind that Infalt is one of the OGs of popularizing tactics for targeting mature bucks on public lands, especially marshes and marshes in Wisconsin. He is also considered one of the true no-bullshit personalities in hunting. He has developed a bit of a cult following for his ability to consistently kill nice bucks in places most hunters overlook. You can read Josh Honeycutt’s full 2022 interview with Infalt here. Infalt’s book, Extreme Whitetail Tactics: The Best Deer Hunting Stories from the Big Buck Serial Killer, is good reading for any deer hunter on public lands.

In his recent video, Infalt responds to anecdotal claims that public lands are overcrowded and that the growth of trail cams and even drones means public deer hunting is doomed. At Outdoor Life we ​​hear a lot of similar comments. And it is true that after the COVID pandemic there was a notable increase in the number of new hunters. But it is also important to note that states like Wisconsin And Michigan are now actually seeing a decline in the number of deer hunters.

But that does not mean that the complaints about overcrowding are not justified. Even if there are fewer hunters on the landscape, it is possible that specific locations will exert more pressure. Especially as people hunt more days per season and are more aggressive in entering the deeper parts of public lands. Personally, as I’ve walked around public lands in recent years, I’ve noticed more tree stands and cameras in places I’d never seen them before. In the video, Infalt says he witnessed the same thing. But his conclusion is not that public deer hunting is dead.

In terms of hunting tactics, Infalt claims that seeing tree stands and trail cams helps you identify where hunters will be, and where mature bucks won’t be. The key in areas under pressure is to limit any ownership to find that special 10 percent of habitat where bucks cannot feel pressured.

“If you’re going to hunt on a level playing field with everyone else, you need to be able to include other hunters in how you set up, not just the land features,” Infalt says. “If you want to drive all the other hunters out of your area, that’s just greed towards you. Figure out how to hunt around them and you’ll still kill giant bucks, if you kill them at all.

I think the most interesting point Infalt makes is that even though advanced tactics for hunting on public lands are now widely publicized and shared, many hunters are unwilling to do what it takes to execute those tactics. Determination, time and skill will always be limiting factors when it comes to the total number of hardcore fighters.

“There are still very few who really have it in them, who have that killing ability in them,” he says. “Most of these guys get a little better money, but they’re still not killing the giants on a regular basis.”

So in many ways, hunting on public lands is exactly what it has always been. You can be successful, but it takes more effort, more skills and more time.