Public Land Hunters

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
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thwack16
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby thwack16 » Mon Dec 12, 2016 1:27 am

I'm 6 of 7 on seeing deer this year on public. 3 of 7 times I've seen bucks, totaling 7 bucks.

My past numbers have not been that good, but I'd been hunting different areas than the ones this year.

Edit. Make that 7 of 8
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby tbunao » Mon Dec 12, 2016 2:02 am

Strictly public here. Out of 29 sits 11 of them did not produce a deer sighting. The productive sits produced 32 deer, 18 bucks and 14 does. Of the 18 bucks 5 of them were 2.5 year olds. Being on Ny public I'm trying to go for the elusive 3.5 year olds lol.

The amount of bucks seen under 2.5 tells me that I was not in the game and that I should of been pressing back farther and getting away from the young ones. I was blinded by the sight.....

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Octang
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby Octang » Mon Dec 12, 2016 3:54 am

Thanks for all of the responses so far guys.

I just started hunting public land this year, and quite honestly I like it better than the private land I used to hunt but I just wanted to get more realistic expectations of what to expect.

A few years back we lost access to the 40 acres of private land we used to hunt when the lady who owned it died. It was pretty high pressure land anyhow not only heavily hunted by us, but also surrounded on all sides by heavily hunted 40 acres parcels as well. You could pretty much see blaze orange from any direction during gun season. Hunting on public land is giving me more room to spread out and get away from the other hunters, which I really like.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect big plots of public land can be better hunting than heavily pressured private land (your thoughts???). People always talk about private land being superior, and in most ways it probably is, but I suspect that is assuming certain conditions are met. I find myself questioning if small tracks of private land are really better if deer are tripping over hunters on all sides of the private land? With 3-6 hunters on each 40 acre lot, that really fills up the woods fast during gun season.

Right now I am hunting a 250 acre piece of public land. The most hunters that's been there at one time so far as been 6. That essentially gives each of us our own 40 acres to hunt when properly spread out (I've yet to see another hunter from my stand on this public land). However most days, since the peak of gun season, I either have the whole woods to myself or share it with one other hunter.

Am I missing something? Does this piece of public land hold more potential than my previous hunted private land? Or am I underestimating the impact of more consistent foot traffic on public land, even with a smaller concentration of hunters?
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby dan » Mon Dec 12, 2016 4:04 am

Hunting public can be better in a lot of spots than private... Sometimes its more work getting to your spots, or getting deer out, but hunting might be a lot better. One spot I hunt is a 400 acre public piece in central Wisconsin. In 15 years I have seen one other hunter there and have had some great encounters and even shot a buck or two... On the back side is another 400 acre pc thats private and is leased by a group of 8 hunters. They pay a huge price and split the cost. There are always hunters there, but almost never on the public, with no road, fence, or creek running the border... I would much rather be on the "free" public side...
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Jonny
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby Jonny » Mon Dec 12, 2016 5:05 am

I hunt public nearly 100% of the time and I love it. This year I tried hunting more spots and it paid off for me. I saw more deer than anybody in my group, had the only shot during bow season (didn't take it) and shot the only deer during gun season. That being said, I saw the fewest deer I have seen in years. Maybe 15-20 deer in total all year. I hunt hardwoods so I usually see more but this was a down year for my area. No acorns and the amount of deer in the woods was down big time. This winter, my goal is to keep pushing to hunt new land and get into better areas with better numbers of deer. And to switch to using my xop hang on and sticks as opposed to a climber. It was rewarding that all the hard work so far paid off for me and is motivation to work even harder. Being stuck hunting with my dad, I don't get to hunt where I want to, but I have made the best of it seeing more deer and having more opportunites for shots than he had this year. Public land really teaches you alot on how to hunt and the only way I would give it up was if I got a prime piece of private to hunt. Even then, I would still hunt a lot of public. Its more fun in my opinion
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creepingdeth
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby creepingdeth » Mon Dec 12, 2016 6:16 am

100% public, about 10% sits, 0 bucks.....starting to get it
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby fishlips » Mon Dec 12, 2016 6:48 am

In my area the public has some of the best bedding areas. I think that is the biggest advantage to public land is the sheer volume of beds you can find.

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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby Cap305 » Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:55 am

I hunt large public tracts most of the time in NC. First two years on them the deer sightings were few and far between. This year things clicked (thanks Beast) and have seen deer about half the time out, killed two, and SHOULD have had at least one more if not for mistakes on my part.
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby csoult » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:14 am

Most of my hunting in PA in on public. The last two years I have had two 5 day stretches of not seeing a deer each year. I have to say that when this is happening, I am not just hunting deer, I am hunting mature bucks and more specifically mature buck beds.

I just started hunting beds last year, and this year my mature buck sightings have gone up significantly compared to last year. I'm starting to see things differently now.....

To answer your question, on public I would have to say about 50% of the time I'm seeing deer. 10% of the time I'm seeing mature bucks. I'll take it and try to improve.
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby justin84 » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:40 am

All public for me except for a few days in October. I haven't kept up with a log like I wanted to so I'm going to say 2 of every 3 sits I've seen deer. More bucks than does with the exception of gun season in northern WI. Probably my best season ever from that perspective.
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby whitetailassasin » Tue Dec 13, 2016 4:17 am

I think if I had to guess, I see deer 8/10 or 9/10 times on public. Now a killing opportunity at a buck, prob goes down to 3/10 or 4/10. I hunt bedding so I usually always see deer moving. Saw a lot of 2.5 year olds this year. Passed a lot of bucks, and only saw 6-7 I would have shot. Public land can be amazing if you put forth the effort and deer your willing to kill are there.

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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby JoeFranchise » Tue Dec 13, 2016 10:04 am

I had a good year and saw deer every sit on public. This is certainly not the case every season though; however, as long as I am able to stay confident, remain in the game, and know the buck/s I am after are still using the area (or the resident doe/s are still close if it is during the rut) I don't necessarily consider getting "skunked", on multiple occasions, a failure... I would agree with most in that I will see deer on ~30 percent of my sits on public ground.
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Re: Public Land Hunters

Unread postby keepthefevercalls » Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:29 am

This year I sat 12 times, 9 of which were public. I saw deer 7 of those 9 times. I saw deer from the stand 5 of those 9 times. So that's like 45 percent.

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