Public Land Hunters

[BUCKY]

How do you public land hunters hunt,ground or treestand? For you treestand hunters do you use a climber or hang on?

[Tom0728]

I do both depending on the situation. From the ground I just stand in whatever cover I can find. For a tree stand I use a hang on so I can get in any tree I want. No limitations like a climber. And easier to be quiet in my opinion

[Wudstix]

TX is not much for Public Land hunting.  Any Public that has deer is draw hunting only.  Closest Public to me is 135 miles and archery hog only, unless you submit and get drawn for deer.  Distance makes that a challenge for me.  I usually get two or three trips a year for camping and hunting for pigs.  Anything you leave in the woods is likely not to be there long.
 

[Cory Mattson]

Beast Stand, Hawk sticks - hang n hunt - stand goes in and out with me.

Near large bodies of water I hunt on the ground often. Synthetic Gillie, seat, camo netting.

[doubleo]

Been using a Lone Wolf hang on stand for years. You can't let the stand up over night here in Wisconsin on public land. Up and down after every hunt. Been thinking about using a tree saddle.

[Killdeer]

I shot my very first deer while I was in a tree.
The rest were all taken from the ground. I prefer ground. I won’t fall far, I can see what made that noise over on the other side of the hill, go take a leak. But
I have seen things from a tree that I would not have seen, or seen so much of, from the ground.

I can also suffer the pain of cold (hypothermia is much safer on the ground), of sitting on a 4” board, of not daring to move my littlest part lest the deer see it. If things are too quiet, I can walk away.
I like the ground.

Went to school in NW Jersey. Interesting place.

Killdeer

Afterthought:
I have bought and sold two Loggy Bayou tree stands. I retain a Hang-on Light, but have used it once in twenty years. As a camp stool. 

[BUCKY]

I use a climber. I did the hang on thing for years. To much work as i dont leave it over night.

[J. Holden]

I hunt both pubic and private.  Regardless I bought a saddle a few years ago and use it exclusively.  The public I hunt requires daily removal of your stand.  And one of the two near my house requires you to be 6' off the ground.  So even though I have hunted off the ground in the past I prefer to be up in a tree.  I like the field of view because I gravitate towards some pretty thick areas and it's hard to see em coming.  That being said, I'm usually up 12'-15' only.

-Jeremy

[Badlands]

I'm lucky to live close to more than a half million acres of federal grass lands.  Our bow season is 4 months long and we can put stands up a week or two before season and leave them up until the end of Jan. When I was younger, I did a lot of spot and stalk but I mostly set in stands these days. 

[woodchucker]

I've hunted both public and private land for years. ALWAYS from the ground.

On heavily hunted public land, the most sign of me you will find, is a bare patch of earth at the base of a tree...

[Basinboy]

Hang on 99% of the time. I’ll hunt from the ground if the sign is there but no tree 

[mgf]

I guess it depends on the public land. In the rare case I get to hunt the national forest down state I have at times used a hang on. It's been several years since I've been down there though. I don't think I'm up to packing all that stuff very far anymore. I'm sure NOT going to be taking it in and out with me. I used to do it on state places in northern Illinois. Go into the woods in the dark, get the stand up, hunt and then pack it all out. I don't even want to do that again.

The stand has hurt me because I was never able to scout down there before a hunting trip. Once the stand was up I was real hesitant to move and the first spot just wasn't always the best place to setup.

So I hunted a lot from the ground where I was free to roam. It's a lot more fun than sitting in a tree.

I've never put a stand up on a local state WMA. You just never know where the people are going to be and I'm mostly limited to hunting on the weekend. As I said I'm not putting it up and down on every hunt.

I haven't hunted the local places for several years because of the pressure they get but I'm going to give another shot this year. It's either that or no hunting at all. So to spice up my ground hunting this year I bought a ghillie suit. Just waiting for a cool enough day to try shooting in it. I guess I'll probably have to do some trimming or something.

[Michael Guran]

For me it depends on the type of public land.  I grew up hunting the OH/MI where it was very flat, so I always used a treestand.  Now that I’m in the mountains, I normally hunt from the ground in my Waldrop Pack Seat because I have to walk farther and it’s very steep.  I can usually find a spot with an elevated view so a treestand isn’t as necessary.

[woodchucker]

One thing I have learned about hunting hard-hunted public land....

Hunters pattern other hunters.... Yes, a portable stand can be carried in, and out, with you.
However, you are more visible to other hunters, who are looking for other hunters.
Most stands leave marks on trees, and you disturb the ground/leaf litter setting them up.

Years ago during the gun seasons, I killed a buck every year, for 4 years, on the opening day of gun season.
I sat on a rock ledge, about 10 foot above a saddle between 2 ridges. If anyone was to climb up there and look, all they would find was a 3ft patch of bare ground.

This was on a 909 acre NYS multiple use area, along the Taconic State Parkway,
which is a direct route north out of New York City!!!  The place got HAMMERD opening day!!

[blacktailbob]

At 68 with bad joints (low back and two TKR's) and a seriously bad ankle I'll hunting my pac seat a lot and much closer to the road this year plus I find most people go deep into the woods to set up.
I'm seeing plenty of animals by carefully checking the roads for trails crossing them and setting up close enough so I don't have to walk in too far. Less disturbance in the woods and it seems animals ( deer and hogs ) parallel roads 10-30 yds w/o any distinct trails until they want to cross. Probably why I lose most trails after a little bit following them off a road.
Plus with my pac seat it's so easy to simply get up and reposition if the wind changes direction and I don't worry about scum bag thieves because it goes with me anywhere everywhere.

[Tim Reese]

Where I live I am lucky enough to use LW hand climbers which are the easiest as I carry in and out. Also use a LW hang on and there sticks sometimes on new property incase as they are more versatile for me. Also ground hunt as needed. 90 % of my hunts are public

[StxHunter]

I’ve been hunting Texas public land for the last 5 years. I’ve killed a buck and a doe and also missed a buck and a doe. I use hang on stands. I started with a Lone Wolf Alpha, then went to saddle hunting, then back to a Lone Wolf Assault. I used lone wolf sticks then went to using beast sticks with a removable aider. I carry the stand and sticks on a Kuiu Venture 2300. I usually set up and take down every hunt, but will sometimes leave it over night if I intend on coming back to the spot in the morning. Wudstix does have a point, I have to drive a LONG way to hunt public in Texas. My first deer was killed 278 miles from my home and the second was killed 347 miles from home. I know this seems like a long way for Texas public land hunting, but it is a nice change from the brush country of south Texas so me and a friend try to make at least a few trips a year.

[Captain*Kirk]

Public land. I no longer stand hunt, have resorted to ground blinds and am pretty satisfied with it.

[Tajue17]

ground or very low climber,, I kinda scout from the stand but when I hunt an area that has a alot of people I don't try to figure the deer out I try to figure the people out,,,,  where do they not go and where would the deer run to if spooked by them......... I usually head into the thickest nastiest stuff in the area and I do pretty good,,,, ground or keep the stand low just at the lowest canopy I'm from 8 to 10 at the base of my stand but im into some leaves and branches the deer don't really see me.

[KAZ]

For public I prefer Lone Wolf Hang On or Tree Saddle & Sticks. Will definitely hunt the Ground if the sign and terrain call for it, but success has been higher in the tree…