The 2016 annual edition of the Official Thread For Public Land Hunting. This is a thread dedicated to those who are hunting public ground full or part time. Anything regarding public land hunting goes in this thread... Scouting, live updates from stand, post hunt recaps, photos and anything relevant all belongs here. Some complain about hunting public land, in this thread we celebrate it Did you have success on public land last fall? Post the photos and story to get this thread started.
I mostly hunt public land. I have a small piece of private that my father-in-law hunts but that's it. Around sw Michigan it's hard work to find spots that's not heavy pressure. I've been learning and working at finding good deer sign. Hopefully the miles will pay off this fall.
I'm going after this guy, Illinois public land buck. I just started a couple of years ago going back to public land that I hunted as a kid in Wisconsin with ok success with the time I spent on it. Now with the Intel on this buck I have to try it in Illinois.
I've applied for some special draw public land here in IL. Won't know for a few weeks yet whether I'll get in. If I do I'll see what I can contribute to this thread, other than cool photos of Rick James on trail camera. We'll be teaming up if we get a spot.
I got off a shot on a thick 4 or 5 year old buck on public land last year. Clean miss under him at a steep 10 yards downhill. I also missed a 2.5 or 3.5 year old on public land last year. Rushed a shot and hit into some twigs. Never had that happen to me twice in one year. Killed two does on the public last year so at least I got some meat for my misery! lol Im looking forward to redemption this year. I put in a ton of scouting this past off season.
Yep - Doing the same w/ JZ this year. It's a lottery based system so not sure if we'll get in or not. If we have a few laughs, and don't have any stands or cameras stolen in the process it'll be worth the time. We'll know in a couple weeks or so if we get in.
Does Private land that is open to the public count? I have about 300 acres closer to my home that is corporately owned but opened to the public where I try to fill my doe tag.
I hunt a couple public spots sometimes when I wana hunt real bad and don't wana go to my private spots and mess them up. I shot a doe and a nice buck last fall from the same tree in 2 sits on public ground here I'm northeast il I'll post the pics in a little bit gotta get them off my my computer. But I've hunted public grounds way before I ever had permission to hunt anywhere. The only crapy thing is anyone can hunt no matter how many hunters there are no lottery or anything you print a parking pass and hunt so you might be in the woods with 30 other dudes on any given day it sucks.
I'll mostly be on public land again this year. I just moved to the Bloomington area so I'll have to scout the areas out. There is 3 places I can go to within a 30-45 minute drive which is nice. Hopefully I can fill a tag or 2 at one of these spots. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hey if your willing to drive 40 min you can come by me ill show you some awesome public spots your 35 min from me I have 5 public spots out here all over 2000 acres but one. Just pm me if you'd like to hunt or scout or just get together and shoot.
There deer in my pic was poached across the street from a public access spot out here by me it was the 36 pointer poached that was all over the news it happened 4 blocks from my house.
Yes there was . It happen down the road from me here in grundy county the mount is here at our dnr station .
I'll most likely be hunting public again this year around eau Claire, wi. Last year I only got 2 days to hunt and took a button buck for my first ever deer with a bow. This year I have a light stand and sticks and have had more time to scout, so I hope I can get on some better deer.
In Pa I hunt pretty much only public land (game lands and state forest). I may be losing my Ohio private land spot as my friend my be moving away and selling it so I might be 100% public land this year.
I'm determined to hunt some public land this year I haven't hunted in years. I planned on hitting it last year but just never got around to it. I've got several trees plugged into the gps where I can pack a climber in depending on wind. Only thing I hate about this place is they open it up to a few hundred gun hunters during the first weekend in November, the best weekend here to be on stand with a bow in my opinion. That place is a deer ghost town for a few weeks after that.
Hunting public almost exclusively again this year. Already on 1 good mature buck. Trying to find a couple more. Hoping to make public land pay off early this fall.
I'll be hunting public land in South Dakota again, but instead of a bow, we should draw rifle tags. Find out in 8 days...
