How many of you hunt your own ground?

[BugleM]

I hunt in a local public area and in a private area when I want to drive to southern Ia. I definitely prefer the private but if it I have a choice of only hunting in public around home or not hunting I'm going to choose the public areas anytime.
A few things to keep in mind in the public , it is hard to go into the area mid-season. You really need to watch the area first and make sure you're not screwing others. In the pre-season it is fair game for anybody.
There are big bucks in public but I see fewer and see them less often than when I'm on private.
I don't leave my good stands in public for extended periods because of theft, but I do see people that do.
If you make contact with your local DNR office and request a map of the public hunting areas in the area you want to hunt and then compare it to one of the aerial maps on-line that you can access you might find an area where most people have over looked.

 

[Shooter]

Just curious. I have been hunting for years and have never been on public grounds. I have some troubles even with private grounds, but those of you who hunt public's have to get so frustrated at times. With not knowing who's where and when they,ve been there. I have always wanted to try bigger timbers. But I always fall back on the privite grounds, knowing I won't have to be disturbed, or it won't be as likly. Though I would like to try public grounds near bigger timbers. Just curious on others thoughts.