public land hunters
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: Juancho
25-Dec-24
How many of you hunt ONLY public land. I have no access to any private land, so all of my hunting is on public land
From: Coondog
25-Dec-24
Me
From: Corax_latrans
25-Dec-24
CO has always been 100% DIY OTC Public. Minnesota was the same. Out East, I have yet to fill a tag on Public.
From: Michael
25-Dec-24
I hunt a mix of public and private. In NE I hunt only private for the most part. In the Dakotas it’s all public and in MN it’s 50/50 private and public.
All my coyote hunting now days is on public in the Dakotas.
From: TEmbry
25-Dec-24
Certain species/states it would honestly be more impressive to claim a private land kill given how so little of it is private in the first place ??. Most hunts are public due to necessity but I’m in no way against hunting private land whenever the opportunity presents itself.
From: Jaquomo
25-Dec-24
Public for elk. Private for plains deer because virtually everything out there is private. Trade out cowboying for hunting access, and we've become friends.
From: Dale06
25-Dec-24
For deer and antelope 100% private. For elk, 90% private, 10% public.
From: Phil Magistro
25-Dec-24
For the last ten years or so I have only hunted public land here in PA.
From: Z Barebow
25-Dec-24
Only public nowadays. That is ok with me. When I do score, I treasure them more so.
From: wyobullshooter
25-Dec-24
All my elk have been public, my moose was private, deer mostly public with a couple private, antelope public. All have been DIY.
From: IdyllwildArcher
26-Dec-24
I get more of a rise out of public land hunting success, but I'm certainly not opposed to hunting private land. That said, I've hunted private land less than 10 days ever.
From: Bowboy
26-Dec-24
Almost all my animals were taken on public. I do hunt private for whitetail.
From: LAWDOG
26-Dec-24
Public only now.
From: RonP
26-Dec-24
decades ago i did a javelina hunt on a ranch in texas and an antelope hunt on a ranch in wyoming. about five years ago i did a deer hunt on a ranch in montana. these were diy hunts.
otherwise, all my hunting has been on public land or private land open to the public. it's been a while, and it may not still be this way but there is a lot of private timber land in western oregon that was open to the public for hunting, fishing, and hiking. most of it was walk-in only. no overnight camping was allowed. i had some damn good elk hunting close to home.
From: Blood
26-Dec-24
I check that box.
From: Buckeye
26-Dec-24
Both
From: sawtooth
26-Dec-24
Both
From: DanaC
26-Dec-24
Both. MassWildlife has started to do some serious land management on their larger properties around here and I expect it to pay off well in a few years. Meanwhile there is plenty of private-but-unposted land available. Plenty of under-hunted public land too - them Boston guys are all staying in the 'burbs ;-)
From: Live2Hunt
26-Dec-24
100% public for me in WI. Used to be I could always find a few deer. Now, not so much.
From: TonyBear
26-Dec-24
Vast majority of animals have been taken on public. Some private with family members and a few friends.
It's always about access and getting away from the crowds (waders, canoe, kayak, pedal bike, hike, hike, hike) which is getting harder and harder to do every year as I age.
From: pav
26-Dec-24
My first P&Y whitetail was taken on public land here in Indiana, but the majority of resident whitetail hunting has been on private land. The vast majority of non-resident hunts have been on public land...not because I prefer public land over private, but because public land has typically been my only non-resident option for DIY hunts.
From: Charlie Rehor
26-Dec-24
Public in Massachusetts is a bit different than public in Colorado.
I’ve never had an issue gaining access to private. Where there’s a will, theres a way”.
From: Juancho
26-Dec-24
Here in central Ontario is hard to get permission and what's available public land is very small patches of county forest, mostly overrun by dirt bikes, quads, mountain bikes and hunter hater hikers. I've been harassed many times and yelled at: "don't shoot me!" . Chased with dogs on purpose and had dirt bikes open full throttle just to scare/disrupt the hunt. When I do get my deer is, to me, a P&Y every time, even if it is a fawn. Is a good hunting day is you see a deer in the distance, as most time all you see is people.
From: midwest
26-Dec-24
I hunt a mixture of both here at home. The private pieces I currently hunt are pretty small, the largest being 40 acres.
From: elkmtngear
26-Dec-24
I've never taken an elk on private land.
Only time I hunt private land, is when I visit my hunting partner (KHNC) in South Carolina during whitetail rut.
From: Mint
26-Dec-24
Only hunted public on Long Island but hunting turkey a few times on private land in the Catskills but mostly hunt public there also.
From: 12yards
26-Dec-24
I hunt probably 70% public land in MN. 100% public in IA when I get drawn, and I hunt private land in SD.
From: Will
26-Dec-24
Sorta. I hunt 99% public. Two caveats: 1.) if it's not legally posted here, you can hunt/fish on it - so quite a bit of private is functionally public for hunting/fishing purposes and 2.) I do have one bit of private posted land I occasionally hunt. That said I literally havent set foot on it in a couple years due to life. Probably back there during turkey season.
So, everything I've hunted for a few years, everyone else in my state with a hunting license could hunt. And MOST of what I have hunted for years prior is in the same boat.
From: orionsbrother
26-Dec-24
Both. Probably almost even split.
From: orionsbrother
26-Dec-24
Both. Probably almost even split.
From: Trad PA
26-Dec-24
Public only in PA and NJ
From: TGbow
26-Dec-24
Public land for me
From: Shaft2Long
26-Dec-24
Public only and even that isn’t happening since I have to draw everything.
From: Oleduckhunter
27-Dec-24
Only private land for me in WI.
From: tobywon
27-Dec-24
Public here.
From: Rimrocks
27-Dec-24
About 80%public. Hunt a little private by the house.
From: hunt'n addict
27-Dec-24
Only private land for me in MI. It sucks bad in some places.
From: tradi-doerr
27-Dec-24
In Colorado all public land last 46yrs. Private & public in SD, NE. All private in TX.
From: Ahawkeye
28-Dec-24
100% public here, sometimes it’s great sometimes it’s not.
From: elkster
29-Dec-24
Only public these days for deer. Always has been public for western species.
From: grossklw
29-Dec-24
Elk- 100% public
Whitetail- 95% private
Pheasants- 95% public
Turkeys- 60/40 private/public
From: Cheesehead Mike
31-Dec-24
All my out of state hunts are on public land.
I own and live on 60 acres in Wisconsin and about 90% of my whitetail hunting in Wisconsin is on my land. The other 10% is on public land.
From: StickFlicker
31-Dec-24
100% public. I don't think I've ever hunted private (that wasn't available to anyone) in the U.S.
From: Bob Rowlands
31-Dec-24
Both.
From: greenmountain
31-Dec-24
Most of my hunting is on Private land . This means not State or federal land . In Vermont, where I live, private is far from exclusive. I am very fortunate to have welcoming landowners and respectful hunters.
From: HunterR
31-Dec-24
From: ahunter76
31-Dec-24
15 states, various biggame & all DIY public.
