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General public land question

Not planing to hunt your public. I'm collecting general data on public land deer hunting in many states.

Across the entire state, would you say public land sightings of mature deer have decreased in the last 10 years?

What factors have helped or harmed public land deer hunting in Illinois?

What would be one thing that would help public land hunting in your state?

Has the overall genetics of your deer gotten better in the last 10 years?

Thanks for any feedback.

It has declined slowly on the public land I hunt, most notably since crossgun inclusion in the archery season 4 years ago. But still better than most states, due to only 3 firearm days in November.

Thanks for the feedback. In my state of South Carolina, our public land hunting has gotten better. I do a lot of reading and really wanted to conduct a study on public land deer hunting. We can read the state reports- but the hunters always know they're deer heard best.

I think there’s a bunch of factors that go into public land hunting. There was a spot about 45 minutes from Chicago that I hunted years ago and I would see a few deer but nothing special. That same property the same guy would shoot a good buck every year. He knew the spots out there. So I would say it’s ok he would say it’s great.

I think you need to put in the work to find a good public spot and you can be successful. Too many people just want to walk 100 yards from their truck and kill a big one. That’s my only complaint about crossbow hunters is they don’t want a challenge so they take the easier approach. To each is their own.

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