I've always hunted private land. But what's public land rules? If I wanna go duck hunting when the season is right. Can I just drive to a public pond and put a boat out and hunt? Or does it have to be on a WMA.

Like if I'm driving and there's a public pond on off the road a good mile or so. Can I simply hunt it?

what state are you in?
as regs will vary, by state, and who controls that land/water,

Arkansas. Noticed alot of folks hunt Kelly lake near me. And that's just on random public land. So

Yeah, I would get the info from Arkansas Dept of Wildlife. There are different rules for different areas in within the state. Some areas will allow you to put in a boat, others wont. Some will not let you run a motor, others will only allow electrics. Also, there is ettiquete amongst hunters in public areas that you might want to know about. These again differ from place to place.

Not that I didn't find good areas to hunt. You have to know you have no control over someone showing up, just when the ducks or geese are flying. It's hard to hide a lake or a small pond.


I had one small "private" spot where a small stream flowed. Deep enough for hip boots, I would wade out to a very small island. Best piece of public land I ever hunted mallards.

With google, and hundreds of miles away, I saw the nearby property was sold, making duck hunting impossible now.

And with google, how does one now hide a "private" spot.

I see. Yes google makes it easy to find secrets now. thanks for all the help

Odds are if its a public waterfowl refuge open to public hunting you can hunt on it but you have to paddle out there. no motorized vehicles. thats how it is in minnesota anyways. Different refuges have different rules though