How to deal with Public Land success

furtaker

Senior Member
I've belonged to two different hunting clubs in my life and have never had a problem with somebody walking up on me while I'm deer hunting, or me walking up on someone else. But they were both run properly with designated hunting areas or a pin in board so everybody knew where everybody else was hunting.

I don't think I'd want to hunt on a smallish piece of public land during rifle season. Being worried about getting shot takes away the fun to me.

But a very large acreage NF or WMA might be different because there's more room for everybody. 100,000 acres of NF land is different than a thousand acre WMA.

As far as a woman telling me how I'm going to spend my time or money, well, that's a topic for another thread. ;)
 

Doug B.

Senior Member
You are right Doug. I didn’t know what NCH public land was like, but I assumed it was similar to the national forest. I could certainly drive up to national forest and hunt, but if that was my sole source then my opportunities to go would be greatly limited. For hunting what public land I have available around me my options are to join the masses in a less than relaxing environment to try to get a buck on a three day hunt. Every time I have been on one of these hunts I’ve been walked in on. And that’s not hunting obvious places either. If I had national forest within a short drive of the house I would most likely never entertain the idea of a club
I definitely understand that! I know guys though that drive three or four hours on a Saturday morning just to hunt a club that they have paid money to hunt on and just hunt that morning. I really can't blame them sometimes. They will probably see more deer there. But I could usually kill my limit here if I chose to. There have been seasons though that I only seen a total of five deer. Two of those were nice bucks that got invited home with me for dinner!

I guess my point was that public land has different meaning depending on which part of the state your in.
 

Doug B.

Senior Member
I've belonged to two different hunting clubs in my life and have never had a problem with somebody walking up on me while I'm deer hunting, or me walking up on someone else. But they were both run properly with designated hunting areas or a pin in board so everybody knew where everybody else was hunting.

I don't think I'd want to hunt on a smallish piece of public land during rifle season. Being worried about getting shot takes away the fun to me.

But a very large acreage NF or WMA might be different because there's more room for everybody. 100,000 acres of NF land is different than a thousand acre WMA.

As far as a woman telling me how I'm going to spend my time or money, well, that's a topic for another thread. ;)
That was a mouthful!!! You are exactly right!!!
 

bullgator

Senior Member
Try the safety angle. In good clubs members are usually aware of where each other are hunting. On public land it can be dicey slipping in and out of a preset stand. Members usually have the ability to communicate in case of an injury, tracking, or other issue. Also, the security of equipment and vehicles is better within a club.
 

transfixer

Senior Member
How do you know that somebody ain't snuck in there hunting that don't belong to the club?

Had that happen a few times when we first started leasing the property, ended up catching them sneaking in and dealt with it, still occasionally would have someone sneak in during the week when no one was there, but after 3 or 4 years we became known in the area, we were always there from Friday afternoon till Sunday afternoon, and during the week thanksgiving and Christmas, and we regularly went down during the off season to check on things and target shoot , another benefit of having your own lease, we set up our own shooting range, at one time we had one all the way to 500yds, last 10yrs or so its only been 200yds, but still better than trying to go to a range.

We also had the boundaries posted very well, actually the most trouble we had with trespassers was during the offseason, from hog-doggers, who evidently think they can go wherever they choose ?
 

transfixer

Senior Member
The problem with this conversation is the terminology. What most people here are calling public land is WMA's of only a few thousand acres.
What NCHillbilly and I consider public is millions of acres. I can hunt all season and never see another hunter. Which is safer? Definitely not a hunting club!!!

I read all these post talking about public land being unsafe and I'm like "what!". Then I realize where the guy is talking about.

The answer is still the same. Don't hunt where the idiots are. It's funny. Here in the mountains when Coleman River and Lake Burton were WMA's people would flock here to hunt them. They still flock here for Warwoman WMA. But when they took Coleman River and Lake Burton out of the WMA people instantly stopped coming to hunt there. IT IS STILL PUBLIC LAND!!!! IT IS STILL NATIONAL FOREST!!!! It is still huntable!

For me, public land is safe. There is NO drama. Ther is no charge. I have been in clubs. They were great! No drama. No jealousy. No problems.......ever! But I wouldn't trade public land for ALL the hunt clubs that there are!!!

and yes, you are correct ! my reference to public land is just about all WMA's,, I may have hunted Chattahoochee national forest once or twice over the years, and yes, mountain land is much more wide open, you don't run into too many people on the mountain lands, middle and south ga is a whole nother story though, and especially the WMA's that are close to metro Atlanta
 

furtaker

Senior Member
While there is some truth in what you say, doing so sacrifices your wants or desires, by giving in to her "selfish" behavior ,,,,,,if you're okay with that ? fine,
Yeah I don't get that one either. Some people act like it's selfish of a man to do the things he enjoys, while it's not selfish of a woman to tell him he can't do it.
 

Hillbilly stalker

Senior Member
Serious question. How can I justify spending money to joining a club next year to my wife. I was very fortunate to harvest a nice buck and a doe this past weekend on a WMA close to our new house. Prior to this past weekend we had been discussing the cost's of joining a lease very close to my house but now she don't want to even talk about it because I was able to catch a couple this past weekend. Tried explaining to her that it's HARD hunting public land but she say's it can't be too hard because I have killed already .... any ideas out there?

Edited to add info - In the last 25 years I have only joined a hunting club one year and that was to hear beagles run deer. I was fortunate to grow up close to an Army base and had access to hunt and fish 255K acres for the last 32 years, I'm 48 now. In my younger years we ran all over that place and have our holes we hit every year for freezer meat. There isn't an issue with me hunting or spending time away chasing the deer. I think it's just she's looking at what it cost up front to hunt public versus what it cost to hunt a club/lease instead of adding gas and time into the mix. Unfortunately I think it's an Apples to Oranges on her part ...
To be serious about it, your not going to run into that caliber of buck you shot over and over again on public land. The deer are in full rut rite now and travel. Not taking anything away from your deer......but it mite be years before you see one like that again on Public, then again mite be tomorrow. :huh: If big horns are what trips your trigger, your best chance is a well managed piece of large private land...yours or a club. It has more restrictions and control on it. If you aint afraid to go in there and hunt like your hungry....Public is great hunting also, you just have to be realistic about it.
 

transfixer

Senior Member
I'm not saying every hunt club is worth being a member in, obviously many are not run correctly, if at all ? but if you ever are in one with a group of like minded people, people you can enjoy sitting around a campfire with, or enjoy helping them drag a deer out of the woods, enjoying breakfast after a morning hunt , etc, you'll understand why some of us have enjoyed being a part of a hunting club ! I learned most everything I know about hunting from listening to guys older than me sitting around a campfire in the evenings, or them showing me things in the woods when I was young. We had a core group of about 6 guys that hunted together for about 30yrs, and I wouldn't trade the memories I had during that time for anything !
 

rugerfan

Senior Member
To be serious about it, your not going to run into that caliber of buck you shot over and over again on public land. The deer are in full rut rite now and travel. Not taking anything away from your deer......but it mite be years before you see one like that again on Public, then again mite be tomorrow. :huh: If big horns are what trips your trigger, your best chance is a well managed piece of large private land...yours or a club. It has more restrictions and control on it. If you aint afraid to go in there and hunt like your hungry....Public is great hunting also, you just have to be realistic about it.
What Hillbilly stalker is saying about the caliber of deer is the truth. I have been hunting public land for the better part of 20 years. I have killed some decent bucks, but those bucks are few and far between in most years. I have killed some dinks as well and am dang proud of those deer as well. I went a number of years without seeing one. There are times when the deer sign is just over the top, and there are times when it is almost nonexistent. You have to put the boots to the ground, and when nothing is moving, it may be time for you to be the one moving around looking for other deer sign.

Large tracks of public can be difficult and frustrating at times. Kill a deer in a certain spot and expect to see deer there year in and year out, is not always the case. There could be a ton of acorns on the ground, heavy cover near by, water near by, and the deer are just not using the area. Then one day you happen onto a spot and there are deer everywhere. Sit all day and see nothing, then right at dark you are surrounded by deer.

Yes, at times safety may be a concern, but I rarely run on to other people, and the ones I have, have been super courteous, and seem to have their wits about them. I will tell you this, most people that I know that have hunted or is currently hunting public land, have been doing it for quite some time. Some of the newies have come in and stuck it out and started to get good at it, some went back to hunting private leases

Then there is the work, there is no 4 wheeler or golf cart to get the deer out, there is dragging, there is skinning and quartering in the field. There is walking a good distance back to the truck to get the deer cart, only to drag the cart back in there, load the deer up and drag the cart and the deer back out.

With all that said, you know what? Public land hunting success if like no other I have ever experienced. When people tell you "there ain't no good deer on public land", and you go in there and get a good buck, there isn't a better feeling in my opinion.

Good luck to you in whatever is decided.
 

Sixes

Senior Member
I don't justify what I spend on hunting and my club membership. I work a job that pays me and part of that money goes to my hunting. I would politely tell my wife not to be concerned about what I spend on hunting.

The club that I've a part of for the last 26 years has ZERO drama and is the best group of members that a person could ask for, we are all friends all year, not just during the fall.

Life is too short to miss out on things you enjoy.

If YOU are happy with public land hunting, then that is your answer.

For ME, I'm happy hunting with my friends, no matter the cost. My dues run about $22 a week if broken down and a few hundred more a year in gas. I don't really count food because it costs me less to eat there than it would if I was at home being miserable.
 

Browning Slayer

Official Voice Of The Dawgs !
I'm gonna give you some very sound advice. Don't do anything that the two of you are not genuinely agreeing on. Some of the advice you are getting here will cause a lot of animosity and resentment in your marriage. I know from experience. I had the same mentality of some others at one time. I am going to do whatni am going to do. Its my time and money and i deserve it. That is not the way a marriage works.I managed not to end up divorced, but it has taken a while to he forgiven of my selfish behavior.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

You want animosity and resentment in a marriage? Tell a man where he can't hunt and where he can. And then see his reaction. If he's a true deer hunter, there is nothing that will put animosity and resentment in his marriage more then not being able to hunt where he would like and only hunt where mommy dearest says too. The 1st thing that pops in my head when I hear the word "fall" is not my wife. It's my camp.

I've been deer hunting since I was old enough to walk. There's not one person on this planet that would even try to get in the way of it. It is who I am. My wife accepted it when we got married. And now I'm raising a boy that loves it as much as I do.
 

transfixer

Senior Member
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

You want animosity and resentment in a marriage? Tell a man where he can't hunt and where he can. And then see his reaction. If he's a true deer hunter, there is nothing that will put animosity and resentment in his marriage more then not being able to hunt where he would like and only hunt where mommy dearest says too. The 1st thing that pops in my head when I hear the word "fall" is not my wife. It's my camp.

I've been deer hunting since I was old enough to walk. There's not one person on this planet that would even try to get in the way of it. It is who I am. My wife accepted it when we got married. And now I'm raising a boy that loves it as much as I do.

Agreed ! my first wife didn't care for me hunting, wasn't raised around it, didn't see the need for it, of course that was only one of our differences that surfaced "after" we got married, I ended that one fairly soon ,

My second wife was raised around it, had two sons that wanted to hunt, she understood the need for men to do "men things" seperate from the females in their lives, just as she and her daughter liked to do "girl things" ,

ultimately we split up , but not because of things like that, and we're still friends to this day and communicate regularly,

If a man chooses to give up something he enjoys because his wife doesn't approve , at some point the resentment will surface, when he stops and thinks about the fact that she doesn't care about what makes him happy , he will understand she doesn't truly care about him.
 

BASS1FUN

Senior Member
Started hunting public land in 1992 and have harvested a deer that had me in the Truck Buck contest and a lot of nice gobblers, my only two deer that I’ve taken this year were off of public land, need I say more, I don’t like that I have to go to two different places to kill a turkey but since I have to I will
 

Professor

Senior Member
I would also ask how much enjoyment you get out of these open rifle hunts? Hearing someone climb less than 100 yards of me that Thursday morning did not give me the peace that I find in the woods normally. The wma hunts are fun and I will continue to go, but I’m still leaning towards a club to “enjoy” the hunt a little more
Man, I’m hunting public land right now and I doubt there is anyone within two miles of me. This is on the Saturday of a holiday weekend and in the rut. You just need to choose the right public land.
 

sportsman94

Senior Member
Man, I’m hunting public land right now and I doubt there is anyone within two miles of me. This is on the Saturday of a holiday weekend and in the rut. You just need to choose the right public land.

I agree with you. But I have more knowledge and can devote more time to what’s local to me. During bow season its slim pickings and I feel like I’m the only one out there. During bonus buck rifle hunts during the rut it’s like a bunch of tourists wandering around. I’ve been walked in on almost every time I’ve been on these hunts no matter what kind of thicket, barrier, or distance I put between me and the closest road. I normally only go to these for one or two sits over the course of the three day hunt. If i drove to the mountains I would have to commit a lot more time than I do with these sits. I’m not hunting these hunts looking for solitude though, I’m hunting these for a chance at an extra buck or two. The OP was weighing cost of getting in a club versus public land. If he’s got to spend $1000+ in gas through the year to scout and hunt a place where he gets the solitude to allow him to feel safe then his money might be better spent in a club close to his house where he can go more often for the same money
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

You want animosity and resentment in a marriage? Tell a man where he can't hunt and where he can. And then see his reaction. If he's a true deer hunter, there is nothing that will put animosity and resentment in his marriage more then not being able to hunt where he would like and only hunt where mommy dearest says too. The 1st thing that pops in my head when I hear the word "fall" is not my wife. It's my camp.

I've been deer hunting since I was old enough to walk. There's not one person on this planet that would even try to get in the way of it. It is who I am. My wife accepted it when we got married. And now I'm raising a boy that loves it as much as I do.
When my wife and I started getting serious dating about 30 years ago, I sat her down and told her:

"I love you. I want to live with you the rest of my life, But we're going to get one thing straight right now before this goes any further. I don't go to church, but I hunt and fish and camp. That's my religion. You will not see me much between October and December. I'll be deer hunting. I will also be out fishing and camping through the summer. You can go with me, you can choose not to, but I will be going. If you can't deal with that, let me know now, because I am dead serious about it. If you can't deal with it, don't get hooked up with me."

30 years later, we're still happy. She has never tried to keep me from hunting and fishing, I have never tried to keep her from doing anything she wants to do, she helps me process, butcher, and package deer and fish, she's spent hundreds of nights in tents with me, and we're still happily married.
 
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