The Hunting Beast

I voted 50%. That is probably an average over my last 20 years. I used to hunt way more public than private back when I started, that was most of what I hunted.

Talk about low success back in the day. A beginner with no mentor (besides Field & Stream, American Hunter, and Petersen's), hunting public land.

Now I have a few private spots near me, and I may actually hunt on them more than 50% of the time.

I hunted mostly public land in my earlier years of deer hunting. But now I mostly hunt private land. Most of the public land that I hunted was in Price & Sawyer Counties in northern Wisconsin. Not much pressure at the time but it got kind of scary a few times up there by myself...running into other hunters way back in the woods. I had a couple of close, uncomfortable encounters.
So I started looking for private land to hunt. I'll occasionally wander onto public land, but usually for turkeys or small game. And I try not to be by myself.

Sherry,

Based upon your skill with deadly weapons.....I would say you don't have much to worry about in the woods! Man or beast!

PLH

I primarily hunt private family owned land, but really want to do public land hunting. The problem is I don't have any close by. I have to drive a couple hours and is not feasible for me most of the time. I get a little burned out stomping on the same land year after year and want to expand to a large public land for the challenge and opportunities. Maybe my work schedule will eventually look more like a normal job and I can get time to be a Dad a husband and a hardcore out of town hunter. For now I have to search for some more local private land to get away from the same old thing. You know the old saying, "If you do the same thing you always did,you'll get the same thing you always got". I am trying to locate that one place on the farm that no one goes, but being the only hard core hunter in the family is tough. Everyone else sits for a couple hours, walks around kicking everything up and sit for while then go kick some more stuff up...exhausting, but hey it's family whatcha gonna do, you gotta love em'.

It varies from year to year and species to species. All of my elk is public land. This year my whitetails will be about half and half. So, overall, about 75%.

100% public land

If you scout hard enough most public land has at least one shooter buck. I did not realize that until I put up a trail cam in a remote area and was shocked by the number of large(140"+)bucks that I got on camera. It takes a lot of hard work but worth every bit.

I will take that kind of hard work any day.

I feel more at peace in nature than anywhere else.

marty

Dewey wrote:100% public land

If you scout hard enough most public land has at least one shooter buck. I did not realize that until I put up a trail cam in a remote area and was shocked by the number of large(140"+)bucks that I got on camera. It takes a lot of hard work but worth every bit.

I totally agree Dewey!

I clicked 100% because thats what it's been the past 5 or 6 years, but I have hunted private in the past...

I hunt public 100% of the time. I grew up in northern Minnesota where most of the land is public.
I used to think private land would be the answer to perfect hunting situations, but I've come to realize that doesn't always hold true. To be honest, I have never had a problem with another hunter on public land.
I usually hunt in my hip boots so crowds are never a problem.
If I know someone is hunting an area, I give them plenty of space.
With thousands of acres of public land in the great lakes states, being mobile is easy and a fun way to hunt.

I have about a 50/50 split. I have a few private farms, that for bow season I have to myself, but it gets pounded during the gun season. I also have a 160 acre parcel in Pepin County that 3 other guys and I hunt. I like the challenge of the public land, though. Even though I have never killed a public land deer, I get a lot of satisfation out of getting onto them. Hopefully, I will score on a public land "Beast" soon.

I'm in the same boat as PLH, it seems like any private land I gain access too is the same private land that everyone else is hunting, so I have never really hunted whitetails that weren't highly pressured. I think another good point to add is that although there are some great places near cities and subarbs, getting as far in on a piece of public land is much more enjoyable from a nature standpoint. I may pass another hunter, or several, but I can usual get somewhere away from the pack. And that is much better than sitting 75 yards away from a busy road, or having dirtbikers and quads come past repeatedly, or neighbors walking their dogs, or foxhunters on horses with 15 dogs, or the cows getting out and trampling under your stand with an angry farmer not far behind, or... well you get the picture!

You pretty much summed it up PaSwamper Anyone I run into a mile or two back on public land is probably someone I wouldn't mind hunting with anyway I don't see too many though!

I put 75 but until this year it was around 99% I picked up a great farm to hunt, but I fell into the private land trap this past year. I actually seen more deer on my remote public spots. I was also able to put friends on deer in those places too when they came down to hunt. I also have been doing better on the sheds this winter on my public spots.

Gun hunting I would put it at 90% as for bow hunting I voted
25%.

T