So everything else being equal. Where would you sit opening day? In this hypothetical situation you are meat hunting first and antler hunting second. You are trying to fill your freezer and if some big rack walks by it is a bonus. 1. Public land that you think is a good place. Plenty of sign on the ground. Topography appears to funnel deer in your area. You have scouted this area and THINK you will see something opening day if you are not disturbed by other hunters. You are taking a chance that some other guy is also planning on posting at this location or will walk right through your area ruining your hunt. 2. Private land of ~60 acres that you are the only one to have access to hunt. You have your stands set. You know where the deer are. You KNOW for a fact you will see deer opening day. You probably will have a shot. You will not see or be disturbed by others. You have no control over pressure on adjacent properties that may change deer behavior if you sit on public so you may lose your almost sure thing. Now the question is.... Do you take your best shot on the public land hoping to harvest a nice deer and then you still have not disturbed your private land that you have all to yourself? Or would you take the almost sure thing that you will have a shot opening day, get a deer in bag, first and then move to public?
I will be on public land opening day. I have about 50 acres behind my house. My choice has nothing to do with not wanting to disturb it, I just do the vast majority of my hunting on the public land. I hunt out back because it is convenient at times. If I see another hunter on the public land places I will/can hunt opening day it would be very rare.
tough decision, I'd give a go at public land first and save the private land for a bit later and the rut approaches... take your public land deer then move over to the private lookin for your trophy... there is likely to be more pressure on the public land so you'll wanna hit that first before the pressuer gets to bad... then move over to the private once the public becomes unproductive... just my .02
I'd be on that private 60. You know you are in control of what pressure is put on it. Just being there does put scent down, but it doesn't mean you ruined it for the season.
Depends how the wind is a blowin.... My land is ANY land that is not posted - NH allows this - Live free or die - 300 ft. from a house - 15 ft. off the road... Most people don't like backyard bucks, but it is very productive if your a ninja styled hunter, I call it creative. I do have a few spots on state / town lands, but majority is private unposted land. Once Oct. hits and bird season starts, I head to the big woods on the weekend to my camp. Again mostly unposted land, along with the 2k acres (happens to be an ex-Governor of NH family owned land) that I have exclusive rights too!!! This lease is prime country... I'll make my mind up the night before and confirm my location opening morning!
I would go wherever I thought I could kill a deer if I were meat hunting. I also do not think killing a doe on opening day would have any effect on killing a buck 4-6 weeks later in your private land spot, unless you trounce through the bucks bedding area trying to blood trail a poorly hit doe. Even that scenario would probably not put you into any jeopardy 30-45 days later in your attempts to arrow a buck.
This is my exact situation each year...we have 65 acres...but always leave that the first weekend as we typically open season with friends at our cabin - which luckily has two different 2000+ acre public sites right down the road. It's actually fun opening season on the public ground, as there are plenty of deer, we can all hunt together as a group, and I get let the private ground sit for a couple weeks unharmed...
If your main objective is to get some meat I would just hunt where you think you have the best chance of killing something.
I will be on the private land for the reasons Ben cited. For me, I usually have a good shot at getting a shot opp on a doe on my private ground, and that's what I'm after especially early on. I suppose it also depends on how long you've been hunting each piece and had the chance to really observe/pattern.
I would hunt where ever the scouting revealed the biggest buck... I have taken more big bucks in the 1st week of season than I have during the rut... There easy to pattern, and if your where other hunters are "ruining your hunt" your not where the mature bucks hang...
