Hey ,I hunt both private and public land and have done well on both. See the pics of my last buck on the Gut Shot???? Got Him!!! Heres the pics. I shot him on public land about a mile from my home. I think the trick with public land is to find the unpressured places, or if its like northern lower Michigan and there seems to be a hunter under every tree, find the places that no one else will go. Thick nasty with no roads. Most guys dont care to walk miles to there stand or through the thick stuff.