DEER HUNTING PRIVATE OR PUBLIC LAND

The deer hunting seasons are fast approaching. One of the biggest issues for hunters today is finding properties to hunt. Some are fortunate enough to have their own acreage to hunt or to have access to certain private acres. Others have a mixture of private lands and public lands to hunt and still others may only have public lands to hunt.
I fall in that second category. I hunt both private lands and public lands. I also hunt in at least two different states each year. I find that my success doesn’t really depend a lot on whether it is public or private land I am on at the time of the hunt. You still have to scout the area and have a strategy ready to hunt any particular property.

(This buck was taken on public hunting land)

No matter if you hunt public or private land, you will often find yourself hunting the hunters. By that, you will set up and hunt an area according to the hunting pressure around you. Often on public lands, there is heavy traffic and hunting pressure and your best opportunity is to hunt a funnel area and sit tight most of the day. Allow the deer to be pushed toward your stand. If you move around very much you stand a good chance of driving deer to other hunters.
On private land it is much the same, with a slight twist. You often know the other hunters around you and you often know their individual hunting patterns. You know how long this one or that one can stay on stand and when they head out for lunch. You again can set up a stand in a funnel area or a travel area, watching for the deer bumped by other hunters.

(This buck was taken just a few miles away on private land)

The one thing to remember is that no matter what, unless you own the land yourself, you are a guest on that property and should at all times be courteous and thoughtful of others around you. Once land owners find that you are an ethical and careful hunter, you are often given other opportunities. This can be quite valuable in finding areas to hunt. I often hunt private lands that are not open to other hunters because of previous bad experiences for the land owner with slob hunters of the past. Many times, with courteous respect toward the landowner, I have seen those properties opened up to me for hunting purposes.
Never forget that our hunting is a privilege, not necessarily a right. We need to earn that privilege over and over again. That goes for use of public lands as well. More and more of these acres could be made into wildlife preserves if we, as hunters, abuse our privileges while hunting.