RE: Public Land - a curse or a blessing?
You guys have it easier compared to the Southeast. Years ago the timber companies posted all of their land and started leasing out the hunting rights. This is why hunting clubs had to be started. No single person could afford the leases themselves.
Some parts of SC has some great public land, but in most of the state if you don't belong to a hunting club, own land, or pay for a lease yourself, you just don't hunt.
Its a total eyesore to ride down back roads and see a bright yellow posted sign every 15yds. The sad thing is that we are losing more and more of the very little public land that we have. SC is starting to become very popular with out of state hunters for our long season and turkey hunting.
I now live in a county where some land goes for $45/ac to lease. Most of the reason is b/c of out of state hunters that drive the land prices up.
Its gotten so bad that a lot of people see the problem and will not lease their land to out of state hunters and some even go to the extreme of not leasing it to out of county hunters. Even though they lose money.