I've hunted public and private lands in the past and I'm exclusively on a private hunt club now. I've killed nice bucks on public land, but I've also have had many terrible public hunts because of the number of people there. Public land, at least in GA, just doesn't allow you to do the things that make a quality hunt. For instance, you can forget about patterning bucks because they are under so much pressure when the hunt is on, they're just busy trying to survive a few days. It's the truly lucky hunter that has success on a nice buck on GA public lands today. That's my experience and viewpoint yet I'm sure they are exceptions even in GA.

Public land does serve a purpose in that it allows those who can't afford a private club the opportunity to hunt. I still say when you can afford it, private land is the way to go. Now I'm not talking about pay hunts and high fences. Get your buddies together and lease a tract, put some effort into it and enjoy making it a great place to hunt.