One of my very best spots is public land. I hunt public quite a bit for several reasons. It's accessible, and in MO, public lands have some INCREDIBLE deer hunting. I have over 12,000 acres w/in 45 minutes of my home, and that's not all 1 tract. Our conservation department "manages" for deer on these lands, and it's paying off. What do I mean by "manage"? Well, they plant food plots and through regulations control what deer come off of that land. And here's something interesting, and why I question our states QDM practices. They want more does killed in the state, BUT......During firearms season, most (but not all) public land is buck ONLY. NO does. And during archery season, we can shoot does but we can NOT use an antlerless only tag. We have to use one of our any sex tags. HUH? Thought we wanted to kill more does????

Yeah, I kind of understand why they don't allow does to be killed during firearms season. In about 1 or 2 seasons, there wouldn't be any deer left. But, there's not a tremendous amount of bow hunting pressure, why can't I use an antlerless only tag??

Sorry, got sidetracked.....The short answer is convenience, and the deer hunting is just really good on public land. Here's another thought I just wanna toss out there.

I propose that public lands (not ALL, obviously) are actually receiving LESS hunting pressure than they were 5 and 10 years ago. Why? you ask....Well, because of the "land lease" trend. SOOOO many people are now leasing land, and hunting with outfitters, that the public land isn't being utilized like it once was. I shot my buck on public land last year, and didn't see another hunter there all season. That place isn't very big, but one place I hunt is 7500 acres, and I only saw 2 other guys there.