Who Hunts Public Land for Whitetails
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: Stickman
19-Nov-17
Any of you guys exclusively bowhunt public ground for whitetails?
From: Fulldraw1972
19-Nov-17
I don’t hunt public exclusively but I do hunt it a fair amount. All my hunting in SD this year which was about 20 days worth was on public.
From: cnelk
19-Nov-17
I do
From: MichaelArnette
19-Nov-17
I do but would definitely prefer private land! I don't do it exclusively either, you can bet if I have access to private I'll be putting my eggs in that basket
From: yooper89
19-Nov-17
It's all I've got after moving out West.
From: Highllainsdrifter
19-Nov-17
Yep almost exclusively and there are a lot of roads on public lands. I hunt deer,elk,antelope on our public lands
From: elk yinzer
20-Nov-17
I do almost exclusively in PA with occassional trips to WV and OH.
From: Rth1229
20-Nov-17
I’m fixing to here in about 10 minutes
From: Arrowhead
20-Nov-17
I hunt a lot on public and I joined a club lease. I have a couple of friends with private land as well. In my opinion where I hunt on the lease property, the public land is less pressured. If it wasn't for the friends and family aspect of hunting there I would just hunt public. More work to find the good spots but also more rewarding when it comes together.
From: The last savage
20-Nov-17
I do too,,
From: Prime1
20-Nov-17
I do, but not solely, It has less pressure than the 20 acres of land that a joins me. All bow season five different guys with crossbows hunted dang near every night. So far I've found one dead five point in my hay field, and saw two other dinks with bolts sticking out of there hind end.
From: air leak
20-Nov-17
I hunt mostly private land, but will hit state land a couple of times per year, here in CT. Keep in mind, some chunks of state land in the mid west states, are several times larger than the size of CT, as a whole.
Different ballgame.
From: DRR324
20-Nov-17
Yep, public only since moving 2 years ago. Left my 40 acres surrounded by state land to move to Traverse City area. Now have 10 acres with private lake frontage, but my deer hunting is more work now...
From: Rut Nut
20-Nov-17
I have only public land around me, so all my hunting locally is public. However, I do hunt 3 days on private land about 90 min from my house every year for our annual early season doe hunt in suburbia and this year got invited to hunt a private farm about 5 hrs away for a week during the RUT.
From: LesWelch
20-Nov-17
Yep
From: Franzen
20-Nov-17
About half and half.
From: cnelk
20-Nov-17
Panoramic view from my fav public land stand
From: rooster
20-Nov-17
My buddy and I hunt public ground in southern Ohio for a week every year for the last 12 years or so. One of usually kills a deer on that trip. We both have private land closer to home that we hunt the rest of the time.
From: Will
20-Nov-17
In CT, exclusively.
In my home state, we have weird (though most of us here love it) laws where land is legal unless 1.) it's posted or 2.) it's in a town with a local ordinance requiring written permission for hunting. So, while I hunt a lot of public land... I hunt a whole lot of non public but publicly legal land that functions the same as public.
From: 12yards
20-Nov-17
Probably about 75% of my hunting is on public. I have a private 40 that I can hunt.
From: cnelk
20-Nov-17
From: Cheesehead Mike
20-Nov-17
Yes...
From: kluzakd
20-Nov-17
I do. That's all I have access to. Ken
From: Pigsticker
20-Nov-17
100% of the time!
From: Will tell
20-Nov-17
I hunt private land open for anyone to hunt. In Pa. If the land is not posted by the owner it is open to hunting. I still like to get permission off the land owners. This was a odd year and never saw another Hunter during archery season. I also have two places that are private to hunt but there were so many deer on the open property I only got out once on the private property.
From: swampokie
20-Nov-17
About 75% if The time. Yes.
From: Bowriter
20-Nov-17
I did for many years. That was all I hunted. Seldom saw another hunter in the woods. Hunt all private land, now. Haven't hunted public land for probably 10-years. Well, except for turkey, now and then.
From: AhuntCDA, ID
20-Nov-17
In north Idaho it is almost a requirement.
From: oldgoat
20-Nov-17
Yeah, I never know when I can go or for how long and I use up all my vacation time elk hunting so I like public because I can go there anytime.
From: Paul
20-Nov-17
All public bow and the G word
From: IdyllwildArcher
20-Nov-17
Yup
From: Glunt@work
20-Nov-17
About 50/50. We have a small amount if decent private whitetail land in my state compared to how many guys want access. I have a good spot at the moment but we all know how fast that can change. I hunt public in the neighboring state and the odds of a nice buck are lower but it's really enjoyable.
From: ahunter55
20-Nov-17
At home I have 1 private & 1 public. I have seen "more" on public this year. I've bowhunted out of state 15 states over the years & always public. Public has been very good to me & I never worry about it.. I have, at times never seen another hunter in bow season. I don't gun hunt but that is waaayyyy different..
From: Bonafide
21-Nov-17
I do because it boarders my yard, I just walk through my gate and have access to over 7000 acres, there is no public parking areas so not much intrusion going on during archery, have it all to myself. In 5 years I have only saw 1 other hunter during archery here. It gets hammered first day and a half of gun but after that it's all mine again and the deer go back to their routine and patterns shortly after. I have a dynamite private spot to hunt but it's over an hours drive to get to and I like the ease of just going outback my place to hunt.
From: mountainman
22-Nov-17
I do 99% of my deer hunting on public.
From: APauls
22-Nov-17
This year about 80% public.
From: jmiller
22-Nov-17
Half and half for me.
From: JRABQ
22-Nov-17
All public for me.
From: Muskrat
23-Nov-17
I hunted public land exclusively during bow season in Northwest Florida, for the first 4 years I lived here. On my two favorite tracts of land I never saw another bowhunter, and weekends were typically when I hunted. Wasn't over run with deer or with bowhunters.
From: ESP
23-Nov-17
Half the time.
From: bowhunter55
24-Nov-17
100% public land hunting in N.E. Illinois. I've never hunted private land. Even though the pressure is great, there are areas where I hunt that have no stands around, and are just too far from the parking areas for most hunters to walk too. i always take a couple of deer every year. Late season, especially after the 1st gun season, there's only a few die hard hunters that even get out. Late season is my favorite in that I have pretty much the whole area too myself.
From: Ned
24-Nov-17
All public for me here in Northern Ohio, just about every inch of land up here is private land, and good luck getting permission, I got tired of asking for permission and told no, so I'm hunting a fairly small tract of public land. It's made me a much better whitetail hunter, as you can't bait on public here, just private. ( see pic on meatpole of public land buck)
From: Backpack Hunter
25-Nov-17
I haven't hunted private land for a good many years. When I spend the offseason looking for a good spot, and find someone else in it on my day off, or I find trash in the area I really begin to miss private land......oh well such is the life.
From: Highcountrystykbow
29-Nov-17
So kind of funny this thread made me realize this however I haven't touched public in probably five years? I have permission on an unbelievable amount of the best river bottom in Nebraska probably and I'm the only one who steps foot in it..... The kicker is the public land about ten miles away that I use to hunt the last day I ever hunted it I killed my biggest WT to date and have been in private ever since and haven't even seen one close to my public land buck!? Maybe I need to rethink my strategy?! Lol
From: Pigsticker
29-Nov-17
This thread would lead a nimro to think that private is no ether than public land. This is misleading especially East of of the Mississippi. I considered it somewhat pointless but over time thread began to show some trend.
From: BigOzzie
29-Nov-17
I hunt both, with little difference between the two. I have 500 acres of remote land that is 90 % bordered by public land. I just wander back and forth from one to the other. I had stands up on both public and private. We gunned down two mature bucks over thanksgiving break, one on private one on public, they were less than 100 yards apart when all was said and done. I would say the public land is better hunting, but once the rut starts there is little difference.
From: swampokie
30-Nov-17
Not only public but public a majority of the time.
From: Hh76
01-Dec-17
nearly 100% National Forest in northern WI.
Get more than a couple hundred yards from a road and the woods is all yours. I can walk for hours and not be concerned with who's property I might be on.
From: Paul@thefort
01-Dec-17
most often
From: Dirk Diggler
01-Dec-17
I do
From: keith
01-Dec-17
All of it!
From: PoudreCanyon
02-Dec-17
I do. Like the rest of the Greenies, I make the annual pilgrimage to Western Nebraska. It gets increasingly crowded every year, but is a fun meat hunt for does and young bucks.
From: Mint
04-Dec-17
Public land on Long Island and it is crowded. Best time is Thanksgiving week since the majority of them head upstate to gun hunt.
