public land????

[10_point]

how may of you hunt on public land? where i live we owen about 55 acers but there are very little deer on it and we try to. we own a bobcat so we have made sevrel food plots and we have 3 deer feeder and we have nothing on the porperty besides a few does. not one buk on the trail cams. we do have thousands of acers of public land we can hunt but im wondering with the low deer population and hugh hunting presher if it would be worth it? do any of you all have any luck on public land?

[single action]

 If you plant it they will come! how long have you been working on this property? did you leave plenty of cover or did you clear all of it? Is there water on the property?  If you have a few does now, you will most likely have bucks during the rut, and you will have young bucks next year.  Where there are does bucks will soon follow. If you have only been workinng this land for a year or so, the deer may have not found it yet. The reason I asked if you cleared all of it is, it takes year round food, water and cover to hold deer in an  area. I know many people in my area buy "hunting land" and bulldoze all of it and wonder where the deer went! If you can have food water and cover year round, does will eventually find it, and bucks will eventually show up.
 As to hunting public land, I hunt some every year. Results vary.  I think the best advice it to scout early and often and DONT HUNT OPENING WEEKEND !!!!!. Yes I know most bucks are killed opening weekend but the competition  for hunting spots is horrible. This is most likely when you will meet the rude drunken slob hunters. I usually try to schedule days off during the middle of the week and I usually kill one or two deer off public land every year. after the opening day madness, deer have usually started to calm down and get back into some type of normal routine by tues or wed, theres less competition, and(during the rut) new bucks will be cruising the area.Dont belive the old wives tale that if a deer is killed and gutted in a one spot deer wont come around for a while. I have gutted deer and had other deer come up and sniff the still steaming gut pile! One year a buddy and I killed 3 deer off the same stand in 2 days. also shot 2 coyotes off the same stand.
 If for some reason you have to hunt opening weekend, the best thing I can tell you is to get there early  find some escape cover and let the other guys chase the deer to you. you also might try hunting small areas of cover that everybody else passes up, like the 3 or 4 trees in the middle of a field  or the small 5 acre piece of public land surrounded by hundres of acres of farmland. I once shot a little forkhorn  on a small piece of public land ( i think 10 acres or so ) That had a fire tower on it . it was surrounded by private land.
O.K., It wasnt a "trophy" like you see on the hunting videos, but at least It kept me from having to eat store bought beef for awhile!
 I hope some of this helps, good luck and have fun!

[Lives2hunt]

I hunt several WMA's and my success rate is about 10%. So often I never see a single deer but I persist and refuse to quit. Each time I have faith that I'm just that much closer to connecting. I've taken lots of fine animals and my biggest buck is a 15 pointer on the wall. I'll take a doe anytime one is legal but so far this year have seen & could have taken 4 but they weren't legal where I was hunting then.

I just love to hunt and the meat is a BONUS!! But every chance I get I'll be hunting either with cross bow or Muzzle loader or firearm. Oh and on public land.

[tscott]

I hunt public land 1 day a year, because of the staggered seasons in NC, it gives me an opportunity to hunt earlier than in an area where I have permission to hunt private. I only hunt where there are no wheels allowed (I hate inconsiderate 4 wheel go cart operators). I have shot nice bucks 3 of the last 5 years. There is really no secret. The majority of public hunters here stay within 1/4 mile of the road, I go in at least a mile, and filet to backpack. I setup in an area where I have seen reasonable sign, and plan on staying all day. When I shoot something early, I laugh at the guys at the trail head with coffee, cigarettes, beer etc. (Can people get that loaded on just beer)? If I see nothing, I stay put until 1/2hr after sunset, and leave with plenty of flashlight. 3 years ago some idiot told me that he almost shot me as I left at dusk, thinking that I was the big one. "Thank God you had a red hat on"!
When I reported this, the officer told me that they knew of this guy...."he's just crazy"! Bottom line is that I have been very successful on public land, but I am ultra aware, and careful... I would suggest the same for you...

[beemanbeme]

The above post is a good one.  You've got to get in there past the last candy wrapper and beanie wienie can and do it early and let the road hunters push the deer to you.  Find your spot by doing lots of early scouting and know how to get to your stand in the dark with a minimum of fuss and disturbance.  STAY ON YOUR STAND.  Take your lunch with you and take an empty screw top pop bottle to pee in. 
One thing you don't want to do is still hunt on public land.  Too many droolers make what they call "sound shots" where they blaze away blindly and then go see what they've murdered. 

[.54]

We always manage to take deer on public land but opening day of gun season can be a little scary. Like beemanbeme said the 'sound' hunters are what scare me the most. I try to find a place far away from parking areas....the further the better and get there early so somebody doesn't shoot you while walking in the dark before dawn. Also when walking out at nite make sure you carry a lite of some sort. I watched a guy unload his gun at the end of the day by shooting back into the woods from the parking lot. I always use one of those flash lights with a red filter when I'm walking out during gun season.  Also try hunting during the less crowded seasons like bow and muzzleloader seasons.
After gun season try scouting areas that didn't look promising prior to gun season. I've scouted areas before gun season that had no sign of deer. After gun season though I'll scout those same areas again before muzzleloading season and find that the pressure of gun season has caused the deer to move into those areas they weren't in previously.

[GRIMJIM]

Been hunting public land for years. It seems to be getting worse every year. More orange than deer. You sneak into your spot early and quiet, and when the sun comes up there are ten other guys looking at each other. Finally got some private land to hunt on. What a difference. I leave all my stuff at the base of the tree I'm using for the next day because I know noone will be in my spot. I still hunt on the public land but mostly archery as there are less people out there. When shotgun is open I find some out of the way places.