How many of you have hunted on public land and had succsess. i did last year but i want to keep having it. what do you do to have succsess on public hunting grownd to get a buck or any deer? last year i shot one out of pure luck. at least thats what i think. So what do you do on public ground to get a good deer?

I hunt public land and have had alot of sucess, Although i use people to my advantage.I get to the woods earlier then they do, and get back in and settled in, I always stay in my stand on weekends, but on week days i hunt till about 12:00. It seem that you always have people on weekends that get up and move around 9 and then most leave around the woods around 11 or 12, give it a little time and the deer will move right to ya. You just have to be willing to stay put. Plus on weekends you always have more people in the woods as well moving, as thus so do the deer. Take your lunch and wait them out......Good Luck

Good stuff! I hunt public alot, and another thing to remember is, deer may not want to cross a dirt road right away in the daytime. Unless pushed hard, they will get close enough to see a road, then run the edge. Get a good look on the ground about 50-70 yds in and you will see the runs.

I hunt public land a lot also. Especially duringbow season there seems to be very little pressure. I've taken some nice deer and seen some nicer ones.

i have taken deer on public . try going in deep where no one else is

Yup that is the key most public land hunters stay near roads or well used paths you just need to be will to go in deeper.

im in situation like that now. i saw a nice buck right on a main firetrail about two days ago. i have only hunted this place once or twice. i want to go tomarrow morning, but i dont know where to sit. its easy to say "sit where u see deer" but like you guys just said, i have always heard of big bucks being killed "way off the beaten path" , but if i saw him heere, i guess it would be smart to hunt it again? right? it did seem like he was working the edge of the main trail, even though he did come directly onto it, maybe he was wandering around back in there. but what you just said now has me thinking, should i try to work my way back in the woods tomarrow or just sit where i was sitting when i saw him.

these are all good tips tho, i would say to get in early and let any wandering hunters ,hikers, etc be used for your benefit

public land is all i've ever had to hunt until next year (got into a lease). imo hunting on public land makes you a better hunter because it's alot harder to be successful than on private land. you just have to do more "homework" than others.

Yea that does make sense to me. I may be forced to start hunting public land. I lost my last place to some crazies....

chris

Public land is all I ever hunt. I get in early and stay late. Last weekend I never saw another hunter.
A friend told me there were eight other trucks parked around mine at 10AM.
When I got out of the woods my truck was the only one.
I thought I had the place to my self. And I do kill deer.