hootnscoot

Mr. Longbeard,

Your Public Private opinion drives me nuts each year. Why do you feel so very strong about this? I'm just curious?

I hunt both public and private, and I think that we've covered most of the pros cons of each and I must say I agree with them

The only real thing that I worry about when hunting 'crowded' public conditions is worrying about safety. In fact, if I run into that I just stay out of the woods.....no turkey is worth dying for.

Just two questions here, especially for you know who,

A rancher friend that owns 15,000 acres in Oklahoma invites me to his property to hunt, no guides, or anything he just points me towards the back 40. Its clearly private. Candy from a baby or earned bird?

Here is another,

A hunter lives 10 minutes from a 1500 acre public ground. He walks in the woods often (perhaps every day!), after the first weekend hunters leave, he has the place to himself, and already pretty much knows where every gobbler is located or hanging out because of his daily walks. Candy from a baby or earned bird?

Would love your 'expert' opinion on these two because I'm losing sleep over these two situations trying to figure out what the CORRECT answer is....

Happy Hunting and God Bless,

TEmbry

LOL. AmI the only one who read your post last year stating that you were wrong in your assumptions and apologized openly to the board?

I said it last year and ill say it again now. Most private land (around here) is just as hard or harder than public land here. There is a 60,000 acre WMA about an hour from here. 15 dollar user fee turns away alot of hunters, but not all. I can gaurantee you with some boot leather i could easily find birds less pressured than the ones around the little 100 acre plots i have to hunt. Turkeys on private land here have maybe 5 different sets of hunters after them while the birds on hard to reach areas of 60,000 acres may have not even been called to.

Mr. Longbeard, you up for a challenge? Limit yourself to 50 acres with alot of neighboring hunters, then come back here chirping that your 20,000 acres of "pressured big woods" is sooooo much harder to hunt.

Candy from a baby....please.

Mr. Longbeard

Go back to post 12 and re read FS

hillbilly archer

Around here, there is a permit drawing, 20 permits at a time for public ground. That makes it hard to draw, in fact sometimes you go years between drawing a permit. I know a guy that has put in for a certain tag 7 years now, hasn't got a permit, ever.

BUT, That definately eliminates overcrowding.

So, personally if I don't draw a public land tag, I don't get to hunt but 1 time with my cousin (maybe)

So, I don't get to hunt every year. I have mixed feelings on it all.

fantail

I prefer public land over private. It seems like when I am huntin private land I am either trying to call them across the fence(land I don't have permission to hunt) or have to watch henned up birds and 90% of the birds I have shot at were spot and stalk which I do enjoy but not on public land.

This pretty much describes my public land hunting. I have an extreme abundance of public hunting land around me. One area has 32,000 acres that I can walk to from my house(usually don't walk though) but I do frequently "visit" the area. It only allows hunting 3 days a week usually a fri-sun and since I work every day, I go on the week day before or after work. This is one of my favorite places to hunt.

I guess to sum it up I think private is by far harder to hunt than public.

Mr. Longbeard

superstrutter

Mr. Longbeard, have you ever thought about joining a club? That would give you plenty more hunts. Is there nobody you know whom you could hunt with on private land, or are you just totally against private land hunting.

Mr. Longbeard

Somepeople call me Tred Barta

My wife is a RN nurse and she had a patient that she was taking care of that died... She had told the family that I hunted and Ijust hunted public land and I guess she told them about my nightmares...Well the family members were so grreat full for the good care that my wife was giving there mother. that they gave her there phone number and told her to have me call them and that I could hunt there farm in Pa... As the family walked out the one son told my wife "make sure he calls, he wont be sorry" Well I never called that number... I just didn't feel right calling someone and saying "hi my wife took care of your mother and you guy said I could come out and hunt" I just didn't feel right doing that... That was my one and only chance to hunt prime private property

Arrowmaster

Mr. Longbeard I wouldnt have made the call either.

Beezer

Hunting private land instead of pressured public land is like "taking candy from a baby"? I can't seem to find any accuracy in that statement. On private land, you don't have the intrusions you do on public, so turkey and deer are more in-tune to anything that stands out and is out of the ordinary. Any mistake is magnafied because it's something they aren't used to hearing or seeing. Regardless of pressure, calls still have to be right and sound right. Cover has to be right so you don't stand out. And, you're bird or deer is gone as soon as someone drives by. Plus, you don't have the added "goody" of having someone else push the bird or deer in your direction because of their mistakes. I know guys who go on public land and hunt deer escape routes from other hunters.

I'm not saying one is harder than the other, but I'd definately say that one isn't easier either.