A little word of encouragement for the public land hunters: My land combined with a couple of bordering neighbors gives me a total of 80 acres of private land to hunt. I have 5 stands up this year and my family and friends havebeenout there with(& without)memore this season than any other. Needless to say, I think my stands need some down time so I opted to hunt thestate land last weekend. I decide to go to a favorite turkey spot that has alwaysshown very promising buck sign everyspring. To make a long story short, I caught a glimpse of an absolute MONSTER. . .he was at least 100 yards away, too far to count points, but I'm going to guestimate he scoresAT LEAST 180, with at least 12 points! BUT,it's about a mile & a halfhike up hill to get anywhere near him (no motor vehicles allowed). . . .but then again, I figure that's how he got so big. . .and I'm sure his genetics have been spread all over that area. Bottom line. . .puplic landcan have the hog's we all dream about, but you must be willing to go whereno one else will!

I am with you there, I have always been against leasing, but I have gone from having several really nice areas to hunt, down to 1 property. I will be pounding the pavement looking for new areas, but for the first time in my life I would consider buying my own property or leasing. As the other poster put it, it's not going to get any cheaper, and I'm not getting any younger! Also I would really like to not have to worry about somebody being in my hunting area when I want to hunt, or especially when I have a relative in town who would like to hunt.