One of my approaches to avoiding contests is operating on the opposite end of the band. During a big contest weekend it can be tough to avoid, when calling CQ, and someone comes back with ID and contest requirement, so the best thing to do is find the extremities of the band. Usually it's the upper end of the band, like for instance on 20 meters, I'll just call CQ in the 14.430 MHz to 14.450 MHz area. It's generally quiet there, and I have found that most call backs are other hams looking to rag chew. Like an earlier answer pointed out, just avoid the traffic by going around it.

One of my approaches to avoiding contests is operating on the opposite end of the band. During a big contest weekend it can be tough to avoid, when calling CQ, and someone comes back with ID and contest requirement, so the best thing to do is find the extremities of the band. Usually it's the upper end of the band, like for instance on 20 meters, I'll just call CQ in the 14.330 MHz to 14.350 MHz area. It's generally quiet there, and I have found that most call backs are other hams looking to rag chew. Like an earlier answer pointed out, just avoid the traffic by going around it.