Question

[Happy]

It's about as slow around here as my grandad telling a story(he stutters but I love it). So I have a question. Why are a lot of people so reluctant to hunt public land birds? I have my own opinions but they probably aren't right. Here's my thoughts. People walking in on birds I am working is probably my biggest gripe. That can usually be avoided with some extra effort and thought tho. I don't believe the birds are any tougher than a pressured bird on private land. I do see a difference in pressured vs unpressured birds but that's about it. All are killable but some take a bit more effort and thought. Just seems like when I mention public land around here people cringe and want no parts of it. So what do you fellows think?

[guesswho]

Public land can vary a lot from state to state.   I've hunted public land in TN and KY and it was as good or better than most private I get to hunt in Ga and AL.   Hunted public land in Nebraska and it was better than any private I've been on.   Now go to public land in Florida and most people will struggle to kill birds.  There are some really good special op hunts, but that's not your typical WMA.   Then there's some public land you couldn't pay me to hunt, especially in camo.

[Greg Massey]

I don't see that much difference, i feel if a turkey is right and you can get on him without another hunter in between, you can kill him as easily as a bird on private land. On public land you are going to run into other hunters who may know or not know how to really hunt turkeys. Birds that are pressured and heard everything may not respond as well as private birds. So people on public ground don't always play by rules of the game. Ethics plays a big factor in hunting these birds. It's all a matter who gets up earlier and has the best place and parking space. It's like being first in line and having respect.

[KentuckyHeadhunter]

Well here in GA the opinions vary.  I think most people are simply intimidated by the various factors which make it different.  People hear horror stories of getting shot at, a confrontation over parking or where you are hunting, the check in, check out, the extra fees for WMA, etc, etc.  I personally will hunt public land if it's national forest but not wildlife management areas.  Those are a little more crowded.  Turkey Hunting requires more space than deer hunting when it comes to public land.  Depends on who you are. 

[SteelerFan]

I definitely believe it has more to do with hunter encounters as much as anything. And granted, a bird that gets bumped and squawked at on a regular basis may become more difficult to kill. But there are numerous large contiguous tracts of public ground in the western end of Maryland (45,000 - 55,00 acres) that can offer up some quality hunts - especially mid-week, and after the first week or two of the season.   

[2eagles]

I hunt public land in Iowa 99% of the time. We don't have huge hunks of land in my part of the state, so I usually hunt smaller areas and river bottoms. My favorite years I need to wear hip boots to get to where I want to hunt. Other times, I walk in as far as possible. Thanks to Iowas four season structure, hunting pressure isn't too bad. My success is better than average, but being semiretired, I get to hunt more than most guys and gals.

[g8rvet]

Central and South Florida are a lot different than North Florida (where I hunt).  I hunt public all the time.  Had a guy kill a bird that was working him from the other side of the creek this year.  He flew down to his side, not ours.  No biggie, it happens.  Was nice to hear the BOOM so we could look elsewhere. 

I have some quality private spots and only so many days to hunt, so I hunt both.  I kill more on private, but they are smaller pieces and no where near as fun to hunt.  When it is raining, I have a killing field on private and a killing field on public.  I have to race to the public one, so if it will be hard to get up early, I go private.  I killed one on the public field last year.  It is part of a 550,000 acre Nat Forest.  Big lease for $26! 

I have been messed up by other hunters equally on private leases as I have public ground, but I am now in a lease with family and have a place to myself.  I have another place that is private, to myself I did not even check out this year - killed my two birds so quick I never even looked at it.  It will be there next year. 

I get a little more satisfaction calling one in on public, but that is probably just ego and not much based in reality.  I mess up plenty on private land too! 

[JK Spurs]

Good question and I'm guilty! I'm surrounded by public land where I live now and never hunt it. Instead I choose to drive back home where I grew up and have access to thousands of acres, which is an 80 mile drive. I guess my problem is I get too busy at work and constant travel that I just don't take the time to scout out public ground in my back yard. Every year I tell myself I'm going to find a place to hunt close to my house but always end up just going back to the homestead to hunt the hot spots I grew up on.

[Gobspur]

I agree with guess who, kind of depends where your at.  I have hunted public exclusively and killed many birds.  In fact I never saw another hunter last year.  But this is on 50,000+ acres.  From what I've read on here, sounds like the public ground in some of the southern states is crowded.

[Brian Fahs]

I hunt public land in Maryland pennsylvania and ohio every year. The number one biggest challenge is hunting pressure and hordes of novice hunters on the  weekends. I have had near 100% success filling my tags over the past 20 years. Scouting and hunting the first week of each states season are my best odds. We can only hunt till noon at that time but I am out every evening roosting birds and hunt every day no matter what. Persistence patience and nevery quit attitude. Have all three and you will kill birds on public.

[fallhnt]

 All I hunt is public land in 4 states. Early archery only seasons draw me in ,spring and fall. At home ,in IL, I always get guys walking in on me. It's always the I need to kill type of hunter.

[Farmboy27]

It all depends on the state and the area. I'm know there is tons of lightly pressured public land out there. Here in PA, we have one of the highest hunters per capita in the country. Public land can get a bit crowded. So can public access private ground. But I can't afford (nor can I justify) paying for land just to hunt or paying to lease ground. So I join the crowds and hope for the best. I do see a trend of hunting becoming a paying game where success is determined more by the size of your wallet than the amount of skill you have.

[FLGobstopper]

It's been good to me! But, it ain't for everybody. Their loss my is gain if they don't want to hunt public for some reason or another.

I think there are lot's of reasons though. I have a buddy of mine who's family has a few thousand acres that borders right up to a large romp and stomp WMA here in FL. I've killed some nice birds off the WMA and he can't believe it. Him and his family have worked hard on their property and really do a great job. He won't step foot on the WMA though.

It's funny 3 or 4 years ago I shot a really, really nice bird off the WMA 2 or 3 miles from his property and the first words out of his mouth were, "I bet that gobbler came off my property". I got a good chuckle out of that and just thanked him for doing such a good job and told him to keep up the good work so I can keep shooting em on the WMA. He didn't like that response much!

[hotspur]

A turkey hunter needs the woods to himself. If somebody hears a gobble  here they come. Your gonna loose some turkeys because someone else will try to get between you and the gobbler  turkeys can be frustrating, having another hunter mess you  up  is worse. My worst example, was hooting and moving in on a gobbler in a place I've never seen anyone hunt before,turkey was far I had to hoot 4 times to find my way. Just as I was moving in low looking for a good tree another hunter shoots this gobbler out of the tree just  as it was  getting light  in the east . I'll be hunting public land from September to April. Get there first,and get away from other hunters.

[BowBendr]

Here in western NC, I have access to millions of acres of Natl Forest land but I am always looking for private land to hunt.
The pressure and the people do not bother me. We've always been able to get away from people, I've never really had an issue with people coming in on me while I work a bird. Our problem is the lack of quality hunting on public land. For a long time now the feds have largely ignored the vast expanses of NF land, much of it has reverted back to a " big woods" setting like it was 50 or 60 years ago. There's very little cutting, thinning or management as a whole. Fields that were cleared for planting 20 years ago have been allowed to go fallow, maybe they get bush hogged every 5 years and every once in a while they will replant one...maybe.
NC is a very diverse state and most of the public land that gets any attention is in the eastern part of the state. We do have some good draw hunts on public lands in the eastern half, and I do apply for those with success, but those tags are getting harder to draw.
While I do live within spitting distance of millions of acres, the land is poor and we barely found a few turkeys this spring. Ten years ago, I would know the location of 10 gobblers when the season opened, this year I found one, I killed my gobblers this year on private ground....
The deer and turkey are both gone, they've moved on to better ground...and bigger corn piles, but don't get me started on that... 


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