Josh and I are about an hour away from the cities, we moved out here from the St. Cloud area, I have not been hunting but my husband does and he just got me a bow so at some point I'll probably get out. He hunts at a friends farm, and there are about 3 parcels of public land with in 15 minutes of our house. He went and talked to the guy at the baitshop who is into all that stuff and he told him were exactly it was. There are public land signs but they are small and hard to see. He usally opts for the farm though because he can put his trailcam out and it is harder to hunt public land during gun season, so you'll want to accomodate for that. And since you said you are new, and I'm sure this is a no brainer but make sure you scout the land prior to hunting it, find their trails and know where the main food sources are on the land. And if you can put your stand in a crossway of lanes to better your odds all the better. Hope your looking at those sights now you have to start soon if you want to be ready for this season. Make sure you check the regulations for food piles if you are truying to find out what lanes they are using. Hunting over a bait pile is illegal but you can put small piles to track their activity.