Am I wrong?
 

Am I wrong for scouting and hunting public land. We have 300+ acre farm and I don't want to touch it. In WI there is sooooo much public that doesn't get touch and seeing multiple bucks in one sitting is normal. Our land is family only and I want to hunt with buddies. I don't think its wrong but something is telling me that it is.

I have that same feeling too. My dad owns 40 acres thats connected with 240 acres that my uncle owns. We can hunt all that and I can also hunt another 40 that a family friend owns. I still hunt on public tho because, like in your situation, I want to hunt with friends. I like to hunt the public so that I don't over hunt my area and why not utilize it? I mean it is public land and we all have the right to hunt it.

I love hunting on our family farm. It is an awesome place to hunt. Usually it's just my son and I. Sometimes my cousin hunts it but that's it.

Really!? Where in WI are you? That's nothing like the situation here (near Green Bay). I hunt some private land, but to keep the pressure off I do hunt public land probably 3/4 of the time...and it's fairly rare to find land around here that isn't pounded pretty hard during the rut (early season it isn't pressured as much).

I don't think what you are doing is wrong...like you said...you want to hunt with buddies. That is completely understandable especially is there is ample public hunting available. Have a good hunt!

I personally don't hunt public land but it is because I don't have too. I invite my friends (3) to come hunt with me as my farm has plenty of game for us and they help me with my QDMA plan by only harvesting what needs to be harvested.

Central WI, if you do your homework and scout in the winter and spring it pays off. Get yourself a hand held GPS, plot book and start walking. A lot of nice bucks were shot this weekend off of public. IMO.....80 percent of public hunters are lazy and want to walk in 100 yards and think its good enough. If your not from the area and only have five days to hunt, two of those days should be scouting and three hunting. I have over 14,000 acres of land yet to scout this winter and spring, and Im going to love every minute. The best thing about public is it gets hunted hard on the weekends and hardly touched on the weekdays. Next to my house there is 1000 acres of beautiful state land and I only see 4-6 vehicles around a 200 acre chunk. Gotta love Gods country!!!

in PA where i hunt public land it is pounded!!!!!!!!!!! a trophy there is a 6 point!!!!!! my dad got a 10 point and all these game biologist came and where doing all these reports on it. lol it had a 17 inch spread

I personally would stay off the family land and begin managing it. A food plot or two. Let the deer figure out these food plots. Start patterning the deer then hunt it hard in two years?

I have been putting small plots like clover and turnups out because we have 67 acres usually in beans or corn. Rifle hunting kinda messes everything up. Its tradition to have my brother in law and his father come down and hunt with my dad and I. I have not taken a rifle buck in three years or shot at one because I know the damage other's are going to do on the land. Its a good time during season but then afterwards its like "Wow I just spent 100's of dollars and countless time in the woods to have 9 days ruin most of it.

I have a huge problem with dog hunters in my area. I myself am a big still hunter (a lot of bow and blackpowder). The dog hunters in my area are always running dogs through our properties and destroying our deer populations. We have been managing three acre to half acre food plots for about 6 years now(chicory and white clover). And it has established a great area for these deer like a safe haven. They don't even seem to leave the property year round, because we are pressuring them very little. My suggestion is just to leave it alone for awhile and have no one to go on to it. Try and talk your family into maybe hunting the public land with you? allow the deer to re-establish themselves and allow them to start feeling more comfortable