Public land hunting????

[Jdbllung]

I use public lands here in NWPA for the first few weeks of archery and thats about it.  Rifle season brings way too many hunters and the deer get scared off by the end of the first day.  Add to that the sizes of these areas and it doesen't take long to get frustrated.

[whubbard]

I own a small farm in southern missouri that I hunt a lot, however there are a few small walk in public land areas that I hunt that are close to home.  These areas are bow hunt only which I love.  Keeps some of the yahoos out of there.  Have seen some of the biggest deer i've ever seen on these public lands.  I agree with the post above.  you have to be willing to go to the deepest parts, where other hunters won't go.  That's the fun part of it for me.  Walking in and climbing a tree that other hunters will never ever see.

[MDV WI hunter]

I hunt public land during opening weekend of gun season, unit 55 in WI. (Jackson Co.)  We used to see a lot of people being close to the ATV trails but the numbers have dwindled.  I hate to keep beating the horse, but finding an area that is not populated or hard to get to is the only way to get away from the crowd.  I've watched "hunters" walk 50 feet into the woods with a bucket, from the road or trail, and sit down.  That's just plain lazy.  The flip side is I put up a ladder stand Friday night, sat there all morning on Saturday, got down to take care of some business and found someone in my stand.  He then looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him to get out. (nicely)  "Is this your stand?"  IT'S NOT YOURS>>>> 
 
Versatility and homework will be your keys.  ID plenty of areas to put up a climber or ground blind so if someone spoils your hunt, you have options.

[wack]

I used to go up north opening weekend of gun season around Mountain WI. until a few years ago when all we saw were wolves. That same year we booked over to Jackson County in hopes of salvaging our weekend, but found the same thing over there. Been hunting closer to home in Winnebago county, no wolves but not many deer either. This year I saw more hunters get tickets for hunting violations than I saw deer. lol I managed to fill 2 tags, 1 archery 1 gun, but it was pretty tough hunting these past few years.

[DeerCamp]

I have done very well on public land, hunting deer over the years. I usally go with friends for rifle season. We usally get some maps of some land in the UP and talk to the DNR and taxidermist to see where a lot of the deer come from. We'll find an area and try it out for a few years and see how it does. If good we stay if not we move. So far we have been very lucky adn found a secret honey hole. This year we took 10 bucks out of that public land in 9 days of hunting between 15 guys. We also took 2 does. 3 of the bucks were mounter bucks. 8pt, 9pt and another 9pt that I shot. I have been able to shoot over the years a few nice bucks out of there, 9pt,8pt,5pt,5pt,4pt, spike,spike and a doe.  If I were you Id try to do what we do.. Also with new rule changes the buck has to have 3 points on one side. Your camp may want to do the same, thats up to you and how many people hunt it. It'll pay off if you let em go and let em grow.

[Sam Menard]

I hunt on both private and public land in Ontario; mixtures of cut overs and big woods.  Because the forests are continuously changing (fires, trees growing old, logging, changes in ownership, etc.), our group is continuously on the lookout for new areas to hunt.  As such, I've developed a methodical approach to locating good hunting land (private and public), for example:
[ol][*]I use aerial and satellite photography (Google Earth) to locate larger tracts of forest.  I'll identify big blocks that provide good security which also provide enough space to harbour several deer, and potentially a large buck.  Hard to reach areas near cut-overs or beaver meadows are good bets.  It's important to get a least half a mile from the nearest road.
[*]Once I've got a list of candidate parcels, I then compare the aerial photography to topographic maps to get an idea on elevation and soil drainage.  Where I hunt, upland sites would grow species such as poplar, birch, spruce, jackpine, and balsam fir while lowland would grow cedar, black spruce, or larch.
[*]I then check land ownership maps to give me an indication if the parcel in question is public or privately owned.  If private, I'll try to determine who the owner is (we don't have plat maps).
[*]If I find an interesting chunk of public land, I will contact the timber company who holds the cutting rights or the local natural resources department to get a forestry map of the area.  This map will tell me what the tree species, along with the forest characteristics (age, height, stand density, etc), exist there. 
[*]Once I'm serious about about hunting a location, I'll go back to the aerial photographs, topo maps, and forestry maps to locate feeding/bedding areas, funnels, and other ambush sites.
[*]I'll then prioritize the locations in terms of potential.
[*]Because I live a considerable distance from where I hunt, I don't get an opportunity to ground truth the sites or do site tailoring (locate potential treestands and clear shooting lanes): I have to rely on my research to get me through.
[*]It's easy to get coordinates from topo maps or Google Earth which I then enter into my GPS.
[*]Once hunting season rolls around, I finally get a chance to see if my reaserch was all for not.  With my treestand on my back, rifle in one hand and GPS in the other I head off to the promised land.  Most of the time, things have worked out quite well.[/ol]
Sam
 

[Patriot]

My limited public hunting experiences have not been good.  I will avoid it if possible.  So far, so good.
 
I have a buddy that does it, and join him once in awhile.  More for the comraderie versus the hunting aspect.

[Sailfish]

This was my first year hunting public land. Archery only. I wasn't very successful, but will do it next year.
I hunt rifle on private land.

[fasteddie]

When my son steps off the East side of his property in the hills , he is on to about 1800 acres of State Public Hunting Land . I have only hunted it once with no luck but he has shot a couple deer while walking & stalking .

[Demoderby4]

I have hunted public land a lot in the past years, it has its ups and downs. I wont get into my beef with hunting on it, but I have shot 4 deer out of 6 years hunting on the land, 2 does and 2 bucks, so i cant complain too much about not seeing deer. I almost always at least see something when i head up there. All my kills have been within 1/4 mile from roads, so even if you don't have time to scout out real well, set up on some good trails or by some good bedding areas and you should have decent luck with at least seeing something. Might not be the biggest deer in the herd but seeing deer of any size is a thrill for me.

And even if you don't really have a plan, with as packed as some state land can be, its gets pretty crazy at times and deer just want to get to safety so after the morning its going to almost impossible to pattern them. So just being out there is a good start. I enjoy public land for the most part, try to get out there and try to pin point secluded areas that are hard to get to and pretty thick for the big boys.

If you want me specific help, just pm me and i can help ya out as much i can! Hope this helps!