Another thing, how many public acres available for deer hunting in Il, is pub. hunting walk in or special type hunts?[/quote]
Onion, So you took one book buck off public in 10 years. That is about what I figured. BTW I have hunted many of the IN public lands to compare, including Muscatatuk.
I agree it is obvious IN won't match the numbers of P&Y these other states have. I am only referring to book bucks taken/square mile as you mention. You can easily compare numbers of P&Y taken for similar sized counties with similar habitat. It's not close. Pull out a P&Y/B&C county-by-county map and you will see a lighter shaded area where IN & MI are.
You don't need statistics on public vs. private land entries. If you just go out there and hunt there like I do, the difference jumps out and bites you in the a$$.
To answer your question, virtually 100% archery season deer on public land is wide open for both residents and nonresidents. I know of only one that does not allow NR and one that has a draw out of 300. For gun it's different. Most public properties are on quotas and sell out permits. Nonresidents can apply in 2nd lottery but 95% of the permits are gone by then.