I have 380 acres that I lease with 3 other guys. Thick, thick, thick palmetto and briars that open up into hardwood bottoms. My in-laws own close to 500 acres of WRP that is surround by soybeans and corn. This will be the fourth year for us to hunt it. Tons of deer but we are slowly growing the bucks.
I recently aquired two new pieces of land in the last 2 months. So now I have 10, 11, 70, 80, and 100 acre pieces of private land I can hunt. The closest one is 25 minutes from my house and the farthest one is 50 minutes away. I also have a 840 acre piece of public land 10 minutes from my house that is bow hunting only. I really enjoy the bow hunting only aspect of it! The land is a mix of hardwoods, crp, crop fields, and urban zone. I am really fortunate for the land I have available to hunt. Through my years of wrestling and getting to know many different people these opportunities have arised. It pays to be nice and helpful because 5 years ago, when I wasn't hunting, I would have never thought it would translate into hunting access at this time. Gaining access could not have been any easier for me. Be respectful, be nice, and be willing to help and good things will come back around for you. That is the best advice I can give if looking for new ground.
I had a private farm I had permission for the last 4 years to hunt, but other plans came up. I'm always working on other properties, can never have too many! I might be doing alitttle more public land hunting this year, but if thats the case I'll be hunting them during the middle of the week, so the deer are settled down better from weekend hunters.
I hunt 675 acres that my grandparents own, about 500 acres that my dad's best friend owns, and we have about a 1000 acre lease. Rarely do I hunt public ground lol
Here in McHenry cnty, IL it is very difficult to get access. I have done the door to door thing with no luck other than a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie from a farmer's wife! Luckily, a friend of mine has a decent 10 acre swampy area in the county. Also, just got access thru a family member on another tract in the county which is 110 acres, but nearly all crops. Good thing is that it borders a very productive conservation district property. Unfortunately, the landowner had a bad experience with some bowhunters a few years back so we are going to gun hunt it this year and continue to work on the landowner for archery. In WI, I have extended family that has 220 and 43 acres. The 220 is nearly all field, but does have around 40 pasture/briar mix. 160"+ bucks are harvested by the neighboring landowners every year during the rifle season. The neighbors also do not like bow hunters again due to some experiences in the past with tresspassing bow hunters (kind of a theme going here). The 43 is half woods/half CRP and is completely surrounded by woods. Majority of the deer I see hunting this property is mid-day which is different that another other location I have hunted. Also, try to do a week-long public land hunt/camping trip yearly. As Michael stated earlier in the post it is often way over-crowded with a high % of hunters that should not be in possession of a bow or crossbow. On the contrary, most of my public land hunting has been in the Nicolet National Forest in WI and have gone days without seeing another person....or deer!!!
Public-ish land. (open to the public by draw, not walk-in) ...that is just over 60 miles away. And I have to put in 40 hours of volunteer time down there. There is a place about ten miles away but in 09-10 it was hunted over 2300 times..... and 23 deer were taken with a bow. So, it's not a particularly wonderful place to hunt. Last year I couldn't justify spending money on a 3 day day outfitted hunt (even tho' it's discounted for women) and just this week I turned down an offer to hunt (on camera) at a lease that's know for several booners, some over 200+". (Tho' I'm contemplating hunting there and then destroying any incriminating footage. :D )
Lucky enough to have 2 100 acres areas of private land to hunt in two different parts of Ohio (Cuyahoga and Gurnesey). Hunt private in West Virginia, public in Kentucky , privite in Indiana.
