We hunt public land 99% of the time all the time...I also have a couple of private land spots that are produce some nice bucks. I have been reading articles on suburbs and small tracts of land, so don't forget the little patch of woods behind your house or the little funnel down the road from your house. These spots are always overlooked and from the what I read (and seen) they can hold some great mature bucks!
I know a good bit of the public land that is close to me. There used to be a good program in PA called the farm/coop program or something like that and it would be identified by a map the PGC would make available if you knew where to look for it and there were signs on the property that most guys equated with Posted signs. The only thing you had to do was ask the landowner permission which they were required to give as part of the coop program. Anymore many landowners take the signs down and the map is not up to date, but the program still exists. It's a good way to find public land that doesn't get pounded. I will hunt some of the public land in early season and occasionally during the rut if I've seen a good buck in the area, but once gun season rolls in I try to avoid it.
