Last year I hunted public land and private. I like the public land better because there is more room to move. Off-season scouting is also more fun. The private land where I hunt is on a pipeline right-of-way and there are 2 box stands and a ground blind within 1000 yards of the stand I use. So I actually see fewer hunters on public land. I'll probably have a couple of new places to hunt on private land this year that should be less crowded. Land parcels here are pretty small as a rule, with blocks over 100 acres being rare. The deer get lots of pressure on private land because most of the (rampant) poaching around here is done on private land. They know better than to hunt at night or in July in the national forest where they are sure to be caught. It seems like public land deer have a more leisurely off-season than do the ones on private land. I also have the advantage of having the largest portion of our national forest 2 1/2 hours south of me, so most folks that drive north to hunt stop somwhere in between. Arkansas borders us to the north, and nobody from there comes here to hunt deer.