Success Rate on public land?

[DanielB89]

To anyone who hunts public land, how often would you say you are successful?  By successful, I do mean have the opportunity to shoot.  Not that you brought home an animal?  


What are your keys to success?  

do you see any correlation between successful trips?  

what about with the unsuccessful trips?

why do you think you are unsuccessful?


Just trying to learn from more successful hunters than I.  I will add in a little read I have read recently that was very enlightening to me.  Not that I have never heard or thought of it before, but it was nice having it all written out.

[ChiefStingingArrow]

I hunt on public Land that is very difficult to access..You have to walk a quarter of a mile to get to the woods. So, that is a big advantage for me where I hunt. in archery season I am about the only one up there....I set up on funnels food plots and have seen a lot of deer....I have yet to bring one home...I have missed  a LOT (I am new to archery) I have wounded one...and In gun season have taken a deer on that public land every year except for one...Lot of it depends on the size of the heard, How hard it is hunted, and know where the deer are going to be when there is no pressure and when there is....when the deer are pressured it is a whole new ball game....

[Brianlocal3]

Honestly I think it all depends brother. I have buddies who live in SO IL and their backdoor is Shawnee so they kill out frequently, it's basically private land at that point.

We have a place we use to go to in the Shawnee and camp out for a week or two and would never see another soul, again very high success rate.

Now for my weekend morning or evening hunt that I get maybe every other week my success is not that great. There are ALOT of guys on relatively small tracts and our time is cut way short. Still doable but everyone is walking all over each other

[Petrichor]

Hopefully I will let you know soon!

[longbowman]

I hunt all public land being one who believes that land leasing will eventually end up having the USA be in the same boat as the Europeans where only the wealthy can afford to hunt.  That being said, I have discovered that most people who hunt with a bow are not necessarily bowhunters and so I seldom see them where the deer are.  I don't have a problem seeing or killing deer, it just means I have to hunt hard.

[bear bowman]

What I've found regarding public land is the need to scout during the season. What was great last year could be terrible the next. Hunting pressure, food sources are always changing and you have to adapt.

[Blackhawk]

Deer learn quickly to move off the regular path and into remote territory to bed and feed when pressured.  

Get at least 1/4 mile away from roads and trails.

[purple heat]

I hunt a lot of public ground in Arkansas, areas that are very heavily hunted.  Funnels are key.  Some of my best hunts are early in the morning when other hunters are tromping through the woods at daylight ( because most are scared of the dark) to get to their stands .  I walk 1.9 miles to my favorite area well before daylight to get set up . I actually use all the hunting pressure to my advantage . Know the lay of the land and focus on funnels .

[Mint]

On Long Island you will often hunt spots that are pretty small or spots that don't have a lot of sign. My best spot is an area where there isn't many rubs or scrapes but it is where deer pass through going to bed and or feed. They only way I found out how good it was is by hunting it and observing the deer and some game cameras I put out. I believe that is the key to my area, don't assume a spot isn't any good because of lack of sign. My other area that was loaded with rubs and scrapes was only visited at night by deer since a lot of people hunted that ground because of the sign there.

[Longtoke]

I work for the Division of Parks and Wildlife in Colorado and spent the better part of the year doing maintenance and planting food plots for the deer and turkey so I always try to hunt that land if I can since I put so much work into it and I know it well. That being said it all depends on how many people are also trying to hunt there. Some years hardly anyone shows up, some years every tom, dick, and harry from here to florida comes and tries to set up their tree stand during the middle of active shooting hours. This year it was pretty nice for about a week then the muzzle loaders showed up and seem to have pushed a lot of the deer out.


just depends......

[Longtoke]

Like someone else mentioned, my tip for success would be to stay away from the roads/paths to avoid someone bumbling by at a key moment. try to find someplace secluded.

[Cwilder]

The key to public land is
Learn where other people hunt and use them to your advantage
I tend to do well every season hunting public land

[Cavscout9753]

I hunt on Ft Benning (got a deal on some private land I'm checking out today that's closer to home) and I've had tons of "success". There's a lot that goes in to this answer though. Having good game numbers is important. Sometimes public land is soooo public that everything just runs to the private land to stay. But if game is plentiful, all you have to do to find it is put in the hours. This does a couple things. 1) if people constantly see you parked in the same area, some of them may just consider that area "yours" if all other things are equal and go claim a different spot. 2) you get to really know the spot. I do morning sits, afternoon sits, evening sits, and roam. Combined, all the information gives a pretty good idea not only about the animals in the area, but also people - hunters or otherwise. One spot I hunt is right off behind an inert landfill where they're constantly digging with heavy equipment. Once they leave the woods come alive since many animals use the debris fence as a path because its faster walking and on level ground. 3) Sometimes you find easy ways to get to great spots that seem like they're just not that convienent to hunt (anyone who likes to get off work and get in the woods ASAP knows that a short trip helps to make more hunting). From a road an area may seem to dense, too hilly, or too whatever, but going down a different parcel and cutting over lands you in a honey hole. I find these areas while roaming often, sort of like backdoors. All in all, public land is as good as some private land if you work it. It takes some hours in the woods, some good maps, and staying power. But a hunter with a brain on public land is a lot like an animal - everythings just trying to avoid the other hunters. If you figure out how to do it, you'll often find that that's how they figured out how to do it as well.

[LB_hntr]

Public land has the best hunting available imo. You will learn more about hunting in one season on public that you would in 5 seasons on one farm.
I hunt public land in every state I hunt including Michigan witch has some of the highest pressure around.
I choose to hunt public over private. I have family that has 1300 acres of prime farm land within an hour of me. Id rather hunt public and have not been on any of those farms in over 15 years.
Public land is by far the best teacher and the education is worth more than antler size imo.
Some public you want to go deep, some you want to be 20 yards from a road, some you want to cross water, others you want to be in the only oak in the middle of a open area, some you want to hit the swamp edges others you want work the benches. It's never the same and you are always learning. Nothing will make you a better hunter than public land hunting imo. Success is harder at first but then it gets easier and when you have the skills to make public easy, private is even easier meaning you can hunt anywhere anytime and have great success because of the skills.
Don't fear public embrace it and the knowledge it can give you.

[monterey]

I hunt public land pretty much exclusively.  One reason is that there is a whole lot of it in Colorado.

Many factors affect my hunts, such as weather, crowding, location, but the single thing that is the most determinant of success for me is time!  The more time I have to hunt, the better are the odds.

[Cory Mattson]

we hunt public land - we use water entry - we never see other hunters during bow season - we usually get into bow range of game (25 yards or less) - we usually take game. I think public land is underutilized during bow season.
Cory<><
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[Skipmaster1]

I'm in a bow only area and most public spots are small and crowded. There are semi public lands, in which you need to join the deer Mansgement program to hunt. I average about 40% shot opportunity on any deer. I really just concentrate on areas that other hunters overlook or don't want to work at getting to.

[sweeney3]

I hunt a lot of public land and do pretty well.  I have no qualms about getting quite a ways, several major terrain features, away from the easy access.  This can be done by hiking or by boat in some cases.  Regardless, most of my public land hunts are quite a lot more peaceful and secluded than my private land hunts as most of our privately held properties around here are postage stamp lots.  

It goes without saying that a substantial hike or row in trip is best reserved for a full day at least, preferably a weekend or more.  It just isn't feasible after work.  Most days, I'll hunt my place or one of a couple other private parcels, but I do get out to the big open several times per season and have to come to actually prefer it.  I wouldn't want it to be my only hunting, but I like it a lot.  It's like a special meal: I love a high end feast, but I basically subsist on burgers and burritos.

[bucknut]

I feel the same as LB hntr. I cut my teeth on public ground and wouldn't want it any other way. I can go anywhere in the world and make a pretty good go of it, where as the spoiled guys that hunt on leases eat tag soup and whine about not seeing anything. Not bragging in any way, just stating what I've seen over the years.  P.S. go to the cover if you wanna find em'.

[bucknut]

Basically you get out of it what you put in to it.  If you go into it half heartedly you will only get half hearted results. (Post season scouting in the snow, mineral sites, shed hunting, site clearing, in season scouting to locate sign and mast production)These are just a few examples of what it takes to be head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. It really is sweet when you put it all together and score.I have been blessed to live in the woods my whole life and (Lived the life) so to speak.