Private vs. Public in the East

[NickCNC]

Done some private land hunting in Ohio, all with landowner permission. It's am urban hunting program because the deer population is overwhelming the area. Can't say there's a lot of bruisers but there's a ton of deer. Each time my son and I head that way (we're from CA) we come home with a punched tag each.

 

[elkduds]

This thread illustrates exactly why we fight so hard to keep public lands in public hands, and under public feet. I hope hunters from pay-to-play states get a chance to hunt public lands in the west so they can understand what is @ stake with their heritage.


But not all at once.

 

[3855WIN]

$20/acre to hunt a whitetail? It is extremely depressing to think what hunting was and what it will be in not to distant future.

Non residents pay similar fees for tags to hunt public land out West.
Leased land for whitetail hunting is nice because you can have an organized plan for who is hunting where. It’s also easier to have a permanent or semi-permanent camp set up. Those camps being year round enjoyment to hunters and their families.

 

[Gr8bawana]

This thread illustrates exactly why we fight so hard to keep public lands in public hands, and under public feet. I hope hunters from pay-to-play states get a chance to hunt public lands in the west so they can understand what is @ stake with their heritage.View attachment 263365


But not all at once.

It is quite nice to go out and not see another human in a week of hunting.

 

[Dougfirtree]

It's a valid point that lease rates are high enough in some areas that states would have a hard time competing. Certainly in deer meccas like Kentucky and Indiana, that's not surprising. That said, I don't think it's completely hopeless. Financial competition is stiff in places like Wyoming, as well, but there are still HMA's there, offering good hunting. Some landowners just have a different calculation, for one reason or another.
Also, there are still parts of the east where leasing is much less common. Around here, it's still relatively unusual to hear about leased land, unless you're talking large tracts of timber company land leased to hunt clubs. Last I checked the going rate was about $5.00 per acre.

 

[Michhunter 270]

Well here in Michigan they is more state land then hunters !!!!

 

[grizzly63]

Leasing land and controlling access causes overpopulation which leads to big cats, wolves and or paid sharpshooters that we all pay for. We are a capitalist society, and this is one of the pitfalls. The haves vs the have nots. Our freedoms are great. No one has the right to tell you what to do with your land within reason. Some people lease because they are too busy making money and its easier this way. Some lease or hire guides because they are incompetent. Hunters in general are a small portion of the population and can be out voted very easily-see Colorado. I dont claim to have the answers. We need to be careful of what we do. We need to look past this me first mentality.

 

[3855WIN]

Leasing land and controlling access causes overpopulation which leads to big cats, wolves and or paid sharpshooters that we all pay for. We are a capitalist society, and this is one of the pitfalls. The haves vs the have nots. Our freedoms are great. No one has the right to tell you what to do with your land within reason. Some people lease because they are too busy making money and its easier this way. Some lease or hire guides because they are incompetent. Hunters in general are a small portion of the population and can be out voted very easily-see Colorado. I dont claim to have the answers. We need to be careful of what we do. We need to look past this me first mentality.

Most leases in the Southeast are hunting clubs that have a good number of people. Hunter numbers are free not much different from private land. However , most hunting clubs have an organized way of hunting the property so that hunters aren’t piled on top of each other.

 

[sccritterkiller]

Nothing earth shattering about that report. Here in SC the public land can't compete with private from a habitat perspective for deer. I belong to hunt club in zone 3..Look at the public land in that GZ..swamps and marginal habitat. Then add in hunting pressure on that public. Look at the private ag land in that GZ..thousands of acres of peanuts, cotton, pine trees stands, and soy beans. This article makes no reference to the difference in the quality of habitat between public and private, which is an important factor in those harvest numbers.
More deer killed on private in the south? Of coarse.

 

[huntnfisher]

I hunt on private land only.

 

[JDH]

Non residents pay similar fees for tags to hunt public land out West.
Leased land for whitetail hunting is nice because you can have an organized plan for who is hunting where. It’s also easier to have a permanent or semi-permanent camp set up. Those camps being year round enjoyment to hunters and their families.

I’m in the process of signing a lease right now that’s going to be the roughly the same cost as a WY elk tag. It’s only 125 AC and all mature hardwoods so definitely not top $ but I already know I’m not planning to go out west this year so why not?

 

[grizzly63]

I’m in the process of signing a lease right now that’s going to be the roughly the same cost as a WY elk tag. It’s only 125 AC and all mature hardwoods so definitely not top $ but I already know I’m not planning to go out west this year so why not?

I get where you are coming from but there a lot of stories of people enjoying it until they get priced out. Best of luck.

 

[geetar]

I hunt deer on public here in NC. Haven’t hunted private in 4-5 years. It’s a totally different ball game. Private land you can bait with processed foods, corn, you name it. Public there is no baiting of any sort allowed. I think this is the reason the largest portion of the harvest is on private farmland crop fields and over baits. In the particular areas I do my hunting which is closest to my house the public land is rugged areas that are less useful than the private land for growing crops or producing large bucks. There are big bucks there but the odds that you are gonna shoot a decent buck on private are so much higher that given the opportunity many will not waste time with public here. I grew up hunting on private and when I lost access to all of that through various land sales I decided to hunt public and it was like starting over as a complete rookie. Almost nothing with the exception of the clothing and the gun and maybe occasionally a portable tree stand transferred. I actually had to learn to find deer vs lure them in.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I wish land in Illinois was $20/acre. lol

If you find that, you should hang on with both hands and teef.

I will hopefully show you all a couple Public land GA studs this fall. lol

Until then, this photo of the biggest buck I have ever seen on public land in GA will have to suffice.

 

[JDH]

I get where you are coming from but there a lot of stories of people enjoying it until they get priced out. Best of luck.

Since it's the first year it's ever been leased I'm getting it at a discount so I fully expect to be priced out in a year or two.

 

[mdhunter]

Its largely private in my neck of the woods and often not free unless you are a friend or family. There are large public forests but they are exactly that. Not an easy hunt and certainly not an easy retrieve.

 

[Shangobango]

As an NDA member I would take some of the data with a huge grain of salt.

For instance, in the same report where this statistic was derived, they also say that Louisiana was at the top of the heap as far as harvesting older age class bucks and letting younger bucks walk. The problem is they got their info from private lands enrolled in the DMAP program, at least in Louisiana. Their is no way they could have gotten remotely close to a true picture because all other harvest reporting besides managed hunts on WMA’s that occur on Thanksgiving weekend have no element of age as part of the reporting.


Edited with citations:

So basically, LDWF and NDA used the data from some of the most highly managed 1,465,102 acres of land in the State,or 5% of the total land area of the State, to extrapolate a statewide Percentage of Antlered Buck Harvest by Age Class number. Furthermore, 48% of that 1,465,102 acres was located in the top buck producing habitat in the State, Bottomland Hardwood. Most of our Bottomland Hardwood is also in our most prolific agricultural areas which further skews the data.




From the NDA Report:





From Louisiana's Annual DMAP Report:

 

[CMF]

As an NDA member I would take some of the data with a huge grain of salt.

For instance, in the same report where this statistic was derived, they also say that Louisiana was at the top of the heap as far as harvesting older age class bucks and letting younger bucks walk. The problem is they got their info from private lands enrolled in the DMAP program, at least in Louisiana. Their is no way they could have gotten remotely close to a true picture because all other harvest reporting besides managed hunts on WMA’s that occur on Thanksgiving weekend have no element of age as part of the reporting.


Edited with citations:

So basically, LDWF and NDA used the data from some of the most highly managed 1,465,102 acres of land in the State,or 5% of the total land area of the State, to extrapolate a statewide Percentage of Antlered Buck Harvest by Age Class number. Furthermore, 48% of that 1,465,102 acres was located in the top buck producing habitat in the State, Bottomland Hardwood. Most of our Bottomland Hardwood is also in our most prolific agricultural areas which further skews the data.


From the NDA Report:

View attachment 271448



From Louisiana's Annual DMAP Report:

I'd agree, same for Mississippi. 75% of antlered bucks are 3.5 is total BS! Those are select properties, Darn sure ain't on public land! Given the antler restrictions, any undersized(younger deer) aren't getting reported at the WMA's

 

[CMF]

Non residents pay similar fees for tags to hunt public land out West.
Leased land for whitetail hunting is nice because you can have an organized plan for who is hunting where. It’s also easier to have a permanent or semi-permanent camp set up. Those camps being year round enjoyment to hunters and their families.

I agree with mtnhunter. Having to pay for the land sucks. I don't see a comparison to Western hunting. You're happy to pay NR western hunt prices to hunt whitetail at home? not me. The guys out west pay similar resident license cost, but have millions of acres to hunt for free. I just wish we had more public out east.
I agree with the camp atmosphere, that's why we have a camp next to the NF. I'll take the cluster, that is public land hunting and spend lease money on elk tags.
I'm not against hunting private, I just think the cost is outrageous for most properties and won't change as long as people keep paying it. I looked into one near the NF where I hunt just to have a shoot house to take the kids and it was $1200+. and surrounded by NF. I just invested in ground blinds.
I'll never forget the look on a guy's face, being walked down the border of a lease he's just signed up for that is %95 bedding thicket and here I am up a tree on the national forest side hunting the same deer for free.

 

[std7mag]

Where i hunt, mostly central PA., we have access to hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands.
Elk & Moshannon State Forests, State game lands, State Parks, and the Water Authority lands.
Only the state game lands and Water Authority are patrolledby the Game Commission.
The rest is patrolled by our Forest Service. (Goes by another name, but you get the point)

Untill just a few years ago, PA opening day for rifle was the Monday after Thanksgiving.
All the states around us opened on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
So people would hunt their state opener, then come here for our state opening.
I would see more NY license plates than PA on Moshannon State Forest!!