I see a lot of pics posted here of some great deer. Just curious, are most of the deer off private lands or large public tracs. Which do you think is the better hunter, the guys that have plots & feeders on private land or those that go out & compete w/others on public lands. Just asking.
This is a very easy ? to answer imo. For pure chance/odds to kill a big buck, just watch just about EVERY TV hunting shows and tell me were the big bucks are consistently being taken. They come from highly micromananged private lands, period. There are very few productions out there involving big woods, big public land areas were bowhunters are consistently killing big mature bucks with archery gear. Hands down the odds are elevated when one hunts a micromananged high big buck density private ground with specific destination feeding areas versus a big public land/big woods setting were feed and water are dispersed/scattered everywhere and the variables of predatory pressure and human pressure are going to be higher than on privately managed land. Can big bucks grow old in both, most definately. But the public big woods makes them much more difficult to pattern not to mention vastly less numbers of them per square mile. as far as better hunter goes, I would always give my nod to guy that can consistenly kill big deer anywhere where the ODDS are so stacked in his favor.. I will use LEE and TIFFANY versus a John Eberhart... all great folks very good whitetail hunters.. but I doubt you'd see Lee and Tiffany having the success they do on the lands John consistently gets it done on..if it was easy on public lands, big chuncks, you's see it all the time on TV. I know/correspond with a few guys that do it year in and year out on booners and p/y bucks on big public lands and pressured grounds and they simply amaze me, but I also know the amount of time they spend at it, they share this info with me; the time they spend is pretty much out of the question for most folks. jm2c
I was trying to put in words on how to say it and Troy did a good job. You helped me out buddy I got stuck. T
I know it's easier or should I say the chances of getting a bruiser is higher on private land, but I'm talking about the hunter capabilities. It's easy if a guide puts you in a stand where he/she's been glassing or tracking on camera and deer are coming thru. Are those types of hunters equal to the guys/gals that go out on public land & actually look for the bigger bucks. It's obvious that the pressure is there on private land as there is on public. I hunt both private & public. For public land I have to earn my money & really scout, and look for them. My private parcels I know where they're going to be, coming thru, eating, bedding down. I hunt the kettle morraine woods, which is a very large piece of public land. You better do your homework in the woods or you'll be eating tag soup. Can a private land hunter be as good on public land as those that hunt public all the time?
in da woods, I think you pretty much just answered your question in your assesment above. The public big lands are a creature of a different nature. deer simply don't behave the same when they have vastly different options and your exactly right, a hunter in these big parcels of public have to do their home work or they are pissing into the wind basically.. I've hunted big public lands my whole life and have access to some pretty decent smaller private parcels too. By far my private parcels are MUCH easier to hunt and predict deer movement, because most of my private parcels have s a highly sought out feeding destination even if the feed is in the form of a big clearcut or two... I dont think a private land/farm land hunter can just go jump into the bigwoods and have it all figured out over night.. no way, but I do believe any smart willing hunter could make the transition over time. It just takes time to understand the movements and tendancies of big public land bucks.. imo Anyone could do it..the question really is.. is everyone that tries it willing to put that homework/time in on public.. ?
Is that a real fair question because you could take it a step further and ask is a hunter on over crowded PA land better than a hunter in say IA on large track public land where he may never see another hunter. It's not comparing apples to apples, oranges to oranges. I'd hate to throw the location factor in but..... All public lands are not created equal as well as all private lands are not either. We need to talk about land tract sizes, deer per square miles and hunters per deer numbers. It's all relevant to really express the accomplishment of a hunter, year to year, buck to buck.
Okay taken crowded PA land hunters vs the private guys there. I'm sure there are areas that resemble each other in a given county. Like here in SE WI. The terrain is pretty much the same. Some wooded areas, mixed in agricultural areas, farms w/corn, soybean, alfalfa, hay. There huge tracts of DNR land of various hardwoods & pine, w/private land going here & there in between. The DNR even has private land leased for public access, & have crops planted throughout for the wildlife. Is the guy that use to hunting a private have the same skills as a public land hunter? Is his proweness the same? I have a friend that for yrs was shooting mounters every year on private land. I used to call it the game farm w/the Binford 5000 feeder, and the quarter machines to make em feed. Now he's lost that land & his first couple of yrs he didn't get squat. Is it because the deer don't fall into lap, or is it that he sux in the real woods?
Well I'll certainly give kudos to a public land hunter who is successful every year but to call them better than a private land hunter, No I wouldn't do that. Perhaps the one we're comparing them to is just as good but fortunate to not have to deal with the headaches of public land.
What constitutes a great hunter is without definition. What one man has on his land is different than another. It's like comparing baseball's early years and players to todays modern ball game. An asteric is almost always needed. I hunt both public and private. The public land I hunt is better than the private. Maybe not where you live.. but around home here in northern Illinois it most definately is (where I get to hunt). Unless you get all the goods and pick up a spot surrounded by preserve land. Each has its pros and cons. I hunt mostly private cause I like the peace.. and there is ALOT more of it around home and in my home state where public land is few and far between. Not one piece of ground I've ever hunted had giant food plots and I'm not sure why that assumption was even made since most hunters don't food plot. And I love the Eberharts. I think the world of them.. but he and his brother take big bucks on both public and private. Not just public like many assume. They are.. in my definition.. great hunters who capitalize on right time and right buck regardless of where they hunt. Most hunters seem to look at public land like its some sort of disease. Only hunting it when all other options fail. Thus.. coming into it with little optimism or confidence. This is why they are unsuccessful on these pieces. Not because they are not where big deer live but rather due to the lack of effort they give. I've seen it time and time again.
