140" public or 160" private

[may21581]

Just doing a little poll on everyone's style. What would you rather shoot? A 140" public land buck or a 160" private land buck? Give a little brief explanation if you would. I'm a 140" buck everyday, it's the challange and competion on heavily pressured lands that drive me.

[stash59]

It would depend on alot of things. A 160" on private may be there because of lack of pressure. That allows him to age. But he still might be a cagey tough buck to hunt! Making it a challenging chess match of a hunt. Thus plenty satisfying.

Now if the private ground is stock piled with numerous 160"+ bucks. And you just wait for any one of them to show. Not as much of a challenge. Higher odds for success. So not as satisfying. But could still be fun!!!

[seazofcheeze]

Can I have both? In all seriousness, I'd be thrilled with either. I think MOST private is still difficult hunting. Theres not too many Drury and Winke farms out there, so a 160 is a 160!

[jmaas07]

I'll take the 160 as long as its regular unmanaged ask for permission type private land

[Racks&Beards]

I would be more ecstatic to take a 160 on my families land in southern MO than a 140 on the west central MO public I primarily hunt.

If I was hunting land owned by the Drury's/Lakosky's, or some just some highly managed ranch though....I'd feel more accomplished with a public 140

[Mopar1169]

I would go with the 160. I have two on the wall that are in the 140's so gotta go with the bigger one. I have probably only seen 6 bucks in my life while hunting that would go in 150 plus category. That is my next goal. Don't really care if it comes from private or public. Some of the public I hunt is less pressured then the Private.

[cspot]

Can I have both? In all seriousness, I'd be thrilled with either. I think MOST private is still difficult hunting. Theres not too many Drury and Winke farms out there, so a 160 is a 160!

I agree. The private I hunt in PA is hunted harder than the public that I hunt in Ohio.

[Lockdown]

140” on public

[Jackson Marsh]

160 all day...that's a rare buck anywhere IMO. Both would make me happy, but I've never killed a 160.

[greenhorndave]

Whichever walks under my stand first.

[PredatorTC]

160 on private. I don't have one of those yet, and already have a few 140 from public.

[headgear]

I'm not picky, either one will do.

[Dewey]

Never hunted on private land and don’t plan to anytime soon so it would have be the 140” public buck. Can’t I have a 160” public buck?

[RiverBottoms]

I would be stoked for either but deep down I would cherish the 140 on public slightly more

[mipubbucks24]

Just depends, I’m not turning a good buck down. I think for me I want to kill on public. I know people who have killed some giants, 160 plus bucks and they could not kill a deer on public if their life depended on it. I talk to them about hunting and it’s like talking to a little kid, about hunting, they know very little about deer behavior. They set up a stand and sat it a few times and a big one showed up and they shot. Now don’t get me wrong I have nothing against these people and I am happy for them. I just know if they hunted pressured public they would not be able to kill anything. It’s why so many are drawn to Dan and this site, it’s such a challenge to get the job done on heavy pressure public land.