Public Or Private Land ?
 

Which do you like better ?

Public hunting land ?

Or Private hunting land ?

Or Leased hunting land ?

And why ?

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

Private, its nice being in full control of the property you hunt.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

i like private better but do like hunting public

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I voted private, but hunt lease and public land as well. I gave private the edge, as you can do more, usually, in regards to things such as foot plots and setting up stands and such.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I voted private but have my stand set up on my friends land that has national forrest property about 15 yards to my right. I sit in a corner of his field and shoot the majority of my deer coming off his field to the publicforrest late afternoon.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

even tho i sometimes hunt public land I can't picture somebody preferring it to private or leased






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RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I was the first vote for public land. I think public land is truly fair chase hunting. No restricted access, it's your skills against the next guys.

Of course I'm thinking of public land out west that is still relatively peaceful and if you are out on the weekday you might not even see another hunter all day.In Texas there are only small patches of public hunting land and there is no way I would hunt it without a flack jacket and armor plated helmet.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

The benefits of private are obvious - you control the amount taken, size (if you want), who, times, food plots, crops, etc., etc., etc.

As I have stated earlier last week in another post, although I have my S. IL land to hunt. I fully intend to be on a small piece of DNR property come opening firearm season.
Why? Because there are a bunchof areas in there where thetrees look like a small dozer has been thru.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

My family has over 300 acers to hunt on and only 4-5 hunters! All I have to do is go out my front door and I'm there...

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I voted public land but I also hunt private land. I bow hunt on private land just because it is close to home and I know the farmers. Older gentlemen that wish the deer would stop eating their veg. gardens so we both benefit from the arrangement (it is in a bow only area). I hunt ML and rifle in a fairly secluded area, Not for the faint of heart to get into so there is little hunting pressure. This public area is also a couple of hours from home so it is nice to get out for a few days without driving back and forth. It is also more of the adventure.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

Definately private. You can manage the habitat and structure of the deer herd.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

Private land for sure.
Fortunately (for me) my family owns 1800 acres in NE Missouri. My father and I exclusively hunt a 160 acre plot. I've seen what it's like during rifle season on public land in NE Missouri, not pretty. All I can say is "keepur head down".

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I hunt public land, though not by choice.
It's worked out well for me, however it gets a bit old when you see 8 hunters on opening day all within 100 yards of your spot tromping through loud as hell and no deer! Also, when you hear a slug hit a tree 20 yards from you and there are no deer in sight, it's a bit un-nerving!

That said, both of my public land deer were pushed into my area by pressure from other hunters, so it can be helpful at times to have other hunters unintentionally helping you out!

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I voted public due to the private I hunt has 4 other guys allowed to hunt it and a few tresspassers once in awhile. My otherprivate spots mostly tresspassers.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I vote for PRIVATE and by that I mean private land, not farmer Bobs back 40 where he lets 10 other guys run around all season... that in my opinion might as well be considered public. I hate public land for that exact reason, the over crowding and complete lack of ability to control any aspect of the experience including safety! If I couldn't have the private land that I do then I would prefer to lease property just to limit accessby others.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

While I hunt both private and public land, in many ways I prefer public. I live in a state that is a meat hunter's dream, and our publics are chock full of antlerless that my more antler focused rivals routinely pass up. I usually hunt smaller out of the way tracts that I've located via satellite photos, and more often than not I'm the only one there. This generally gives me anywhere from 200-400 acres all to myself since my rivals tend to either shun publics, or are unaware of their existence in the cases of the smaller tracts. There's also a vast tract of national forest within an hour of my house that's rich in deer and other game, and usually the only tracks I see are those of the game I'm pursuing and my own as I'm leaving. In contrast, nearly every piece of private land to which I've been granted access has been so overhunted that I rarely see anything but squirrels, so if I'm not hunting my own 10 acres of woods I head for a public parcel and enjoy the quiet.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

MY PRIVATE LAND IS MORE LIKE PUBLIC LAND THAN REAL PUBLIC LAND. FARMERS WHO LET YOU HUNT HERE LET EVERYONE HUNT HERE. 10 GUYS ON 10 ACRES. AT LEAST ON PUBLIC THERE MAYBE 10 GUYS ON 1500 ACRES.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

Being that I have 410 acres out my back door, I guess private land gets my vote...

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I have 200 acres of deer rich land, so there is no need for me to hunt public. The only public land hunting I have ever done is for ducks and since 1995 I have been doing that on private land. I did have some really good years duck hunting public land though. That's when we had lots of ducks, but that's another story.There are alot of good WMA's in north La., but there arealso a lot of hunters. I really don't think I would deer hunt on public land if I didn't have my own. I would get in a lease.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I am split on public and private. I love hunting with friends during the Ohio slug and muzzleloader seasons. We push woodlots in the NW part of the state. Most woods are less than 20 acres, and we see so many deer it's crazy. I also love getting back in on the big wilderness public grounds. Toss-up.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

no brainer...private or leased! unfortunately i have to hunt public due to finances.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

Most of my hunting is on public land,I do well on Public Land....
My vote goes for it.....
Mind you, its not "Grand Central Station" where I hunt either.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

Private

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I have never hunted private land, but seems you would have more freedom to do what is needed to get the numbers you want an to manage deer herds the way you want to. I hunt on leased land.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I enjoy hunting the lease we have, that way, the other guys we hunt with, it's easier to plant food plots, hang up treestands, etc. Plus, you get some great hunting buddies that way.

That's why I voted lease.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I only hunt private land the last couple of years. The in-laws 160 acres and their neighbors 200 acres.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

No brainer. private its always nice to have a place where you know your the only 1 thats supposed to be there and you can control who else get to share in your private spots and not walk in to a spot only to find some yahoo there already

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

Heck, round here, some private is just as crawded as public. Its usually a case of either the landowner lets everyone(really crowded) or no one at all. Occasionally you find places where its just a few people.

RE: Public Or Private Land ?
 

I voted private, but, what is the difference between "private" and "leased"? Leased land is simply private land where only those on the lease are allowed to hunt.