huntnmuleys

i think there are two types of private land, or maybe two thought processes on them.

in the prairie area i hunt, i hunt some public, some private. a lot of it isnt even fenced, so unless your really accurate on the map, ya may not be where ya think ya are. the deer are just as not easy for me to get within bow range of on both the private and public. a lot of the private i hunt is like that, and some is private, but basically unregulated, where the landowner pretty much lets everybody hunt. easy? not a chance. in that prairie area i was talking of, i have not shot a buck onthe private side, all of my kills have been on the public. maybe private is tougher???

then there is the private where the farmer has a huge spread, and allows no hunting, except for his family. of course there are much bigger bucks than on the public, only a handful of deer every year are taken. in those instances, that private land hunt is maybe not easier, but the trophy potential is much better there than where everybody else gets to hunt.

i dont think there should be a different record book for public and private, but i will say this, one local bowhunter (self proclaimed expert) i know has killed 3 or 4 really nice muley bucks, in that 160-170 range. these were all on private land that he married into, and had exclusive rights to. now he hunts where the rest of us do, i guess the family sold the property maybe, not sure. anyway, i dont think he has killed a mature buck since. now in this case obviously the private land helped him a ton. but by the same token, he was the one that made the sneak and the shot. were the deer less spooky? probably. better trophy quailty due to little pressure? probably. would i have shot any of these deer if i had the chance? for sure.

like i said, i think there are 2 ways of looking at this
brad