I don't public land, never have. I don't know how yall ever do it. It has to be the most challenging bowhunting there is. especially for whitetails and public land close to urban/suburban areas..my hats off to you all, even to killing a doe has to be a colossal feat. let alone a big mature buck. yall have my respect for real.
I actually find it much easier. But dont tell anyone! I got about 30 sits this year and only 1 on private. The private I show up and there is a guy pasted out in is truck. He wakes up and ask to jump his truck. He past out the night before with his radio on. I spent 30 minutes to get it started for him. Then off to the woods. See nothing and find out people have been moving in all over the area because I haven't been around. See no deer. I see way more deer and less people on public and the deer are bigger. There is no such thing as trespassers, baiters, and no claimed spots. So much less drama. I'm absolutely having a blast! The biggest down side is dragging deer out. So far I got 3 does down, missed 1 more doe and lost the mature buck I shot a couple days ago. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I enjoy it a lot, I hunt private in Pa (home) and public in Ohio and have been doing it for 10 years now. The hardest part is the first time in the area once you start to see how the deer move and features they used it’s like putting a puzzle together, way different then hunting farmland in Pa. It’s very hilly where I hunt in Ohio and I agree with Holt the drags are rough, last year I had to 1/4 out my buck. But that’s just part of the fun now. This year I mounted a 12v ATV winch on a piece of strut and ratchet strap it to a tree, hook it up to a 12v lawnmower battery. I have a 100ft or rope with loops in it and can attach the 50ft winch lead to it to pull deer up the mountains I hunt. Haven’t used it yet but did some practice runs and should work great.
I haven’t killed any deer on public but it’s definitely a lot easier to learn about deer when scouting There’s no property lines to hold you back from following a rub line. I’m able to kinda get the “whole picture“
Tennessee has thousands of acres of public land. Look at the link for the WMAs plus other land available for hunting. http://www.eregulations.com/tennessee/hunting/
Personally, I prefer bowhunting for bucks on public land compared to the private land I used to hunt. No club standards, or overly ambitious management plans to live up too. Just me, my bow, and the woods. Outside of the laws regarding antler restrictions, I can shoot what I want when I want and if others don't like it, oh well. Now, if we are talking does, I will whack a doe on public or private at any time of year if there is a tag in my pocket.
