Who hunts public land

[leadball]

I hunt my own land. But we will be moving back to minnesota on a lake so i will be forced to hunt public land as I wont have any real private land to hunt. How is public land hunting? I dont expect a whole lot of competition during the MN bp season as the reg gun season

 

[Slowpoke]

I sometimes hunt pigs on public land and I honestly don't have any trouble. One thing that you must keep in mind is that the majority of hunters are lazy and won't venture far off a beaten path. Get a good map and find a area that is away from the main interstate and you should be fine.

 

[donk]

About 10 years ago "Field and Stream" Magazine voted our area one of the top 10 deer hunting areas in the country, so now the loacals can't afford to hunt private ground. I hunt a patch of national forest ground that is rough enough we ussually have it to our selves as long as you stay away from the road. Only problem is when you shoot a deer, you usually have to drag it a mile or 2 to get it out. But it is usually down hill.

 

[BrownBear]

Hunt smarter and hunt harder than the slobs, and public land is no problem at all. The harder it is to get to a spot, the less folks you will find there (and usually more game.)

 

[Hoyt]

I agree..Hunt harder and smarter. Open (no-quota's) public land is all I hunt. You either have to go a long, long, ways from the road or hunt spots that are too obvious and therefore overlooked.
This yr. I couldn't physically go the long distance and was amazed at the quality of bucks I found right under everyone's nose.

 

Where I cut firewood is the same place I am going to do my first muzzleloader hunt.Sometimes I cut during archery season and ML season is almost at the end of archery.So whlie I'm road hunting for firewood I see archery and ML hunters road hunting also.I hardly ever see a rig parked along side the road where a guy walked in to hunt.When I elk hunt(centerfire)we leave camp walking at 3am to get to where we want to hunt.You want to see a show get on top a 11,000 foot mountain and watch all the head lights of hunters that got up late.Most years we never see a soul(except last year :cursingLike the other guys said get out in the woods and plan on being alone.Man is becoming a lazy hunter.

 

[spitfire]

Go deep and longtime.Most hunters give up by noon(especially the youngsters).My reply to my spouse when I would go hunting in the afternoon or all day would be"the young guys gotta go home for the video games or ph#$@&*g(feminine entertainment), you know the instant gratification deal. :rotf: I have no problems with National forests or WMA's.I agree with the prior posters advice.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Wear lots of orange, get in early and get back a ways from the entry points. I avoid state lands during the first two weeks of deer season but hunt the specialty deer seasons there and certainly small game.

 

[marwat06]

Hunt Public Lands in Indiana, pretty much the same as everyone else's comments: wear Orange, get away from the easy access points, and scout many different spots. Never know when someone else will beat you to that pretty spot you pick out a couple weeks before hunting season

 

[bigbore442001]

I hunt both private and public land here in New England. There is some private land that has more pressure than some peices of public land. It all depends on where you go.

One thing to look for is out of the way peices of public land. There are peices of land that few people know about but are huntable. Small pockets that have been bought up to preserve open space may still have old posted signs on, but is considered to be public land. You have to do some checking with tax records and such to find such spots.

 

[guncobbler]

This year was a strange one as my little wilderness spot in the GW National Forest has lost a lot of hunters. When I first got there we would see 20 trucks lined up on the road and would kill and see a lot of deer. Would hear 20 to 30 shots a day. Now we are lucky to see 10 trucks and the deer don't get chased up the hills like they used to. Hardly hear the shooting we used too. The one deer I saw surprised me by walking across my path in the open in the low areas. We have to figure out their new traffic patterns now. I suspect that everyone else is hunting the suburban deer but don't know for sure. I hate to hunt near houses. GC

 

I hunt both and have had about equal success. You have more hunters on public land but they move the deer. You have far fewer hunters on private land so you're going to have to hunt much smarter. IE: do your scouting!!!

 

[RobF]

I hunt public land here in North west MN. I cant recall the last time I ran across another hunter during the BP season.
Rob

 

[Dave K]

When I hunt public ground it just seems you need to get away from the road. It appears that many hunters rarely venture much further than 1/2 mile from the road and if you get back in, not only will you probably be alone, but you will see more game.Get in the woods early and allow the road hunters to be your drivers. Soon after sun up, you will be seeing game filtering through the woods from the road direction. The drag can be long though.

 

[CrackStock]

I hunt hogs on public land, but we get into some little known areas with a boat. I also hunt deer on public land at times, but have had trouble with people who think that because they hunted there in the past that they can show up late and remove hunters from that location. I try to stay with private land when I can find some.

CS

 

[buzz bait]

i hunt mostly on state land this past deer season i could count the number of hunters on one hand and have acouple fingers left over . more appt to see a hiker or if there is snow a cross country skier.its nice to see people use the woods other than hunting . :v

 

Two things I've found that make Public hunting a more enjoyable experience..........at boat and a game cart. The boat will get ya WAY off the beaten path and the cart beats the heck out of dragging. Also, if possible, hunt during the week........you may have the whole place to yourself. :thumbsup:

 

[peeweet]

I have hunted public land my whole life and as has been said earlier the farther away from the road you get the better the hunting gets.

 

[CG6018]

I only hunt our early Pa. blackpowder season and our after Christmas flintlock season, and hunt only on Game Lands or State Forest lands. These seasons are not heavily hunted in Pennsylvania and we usually end up with some venison for the winter. I agree with most of the responses above, you need to get back away from the parking areas, and it is a good thing if you have a son or grandson along for dragging purposes. :thumbsup:

 

[PvtC]

Got 3/4 of a mile off the state forest dirt road this year. Was amazed that I only saw 2 orange coats opening day of the PA rifle season and both during the drag out. Killed a deer 15 minutes after I stopped moving. Almost killed myself dragging it out. It took 3 hours. Hamstrings were crampin when I went to bed :shocked2: Gonna redeem the club card points for a game cart this year