Public vs Private

[jeepguy]

well  u brought up a point there . i am more talking about the ranches and such not tree farms and timberland well i guess there needs tobe more research on this .the differnt  private land catagories varie.ur right on that thank u for pointing that out i agree with u.but to some point private animals have a unfair advantage in certain situations

[norsepeak]

okay, so what if the biggest deer in the land walks over the property line onto the private ground from the public ground and gets killed, does that mean he is any less of a buck?  Just because you are hunting on private ground does NOT mean that you are neccassarily hunting any different animals than on the public land.  Animals do move around occassionaly....

[Wea300mag]

Great discussion.

  In general, private land hunting is more productive than public land.

[jeepguy]

i guess once again ,say the buck lived on private wandererd onto public, i guess its more ranches,, i dunno i give up let me research ,u research if u wish  then  maybe this will  have  a better understanding with everyone. my issue is more the unfair advantage to harvesting a protected or reserved animal to a public land with tons more of pressure anyway

[huntnphool]

Great discussion.

  In general, private land hunting is more productive than public land.

Not true either, what do you think the percentage is this year of Washington hunters that tagged animals on private vs public land? Public land is way more "productive".

[Caseyd]

So what if its private ground open to the public   

[huntnphool]

Great discussion.

  In general, private land hunting is more productive than public land.

And if you are talking about trophy caliber then try telling these people that private land is more productive and gives a unfair advantage. I'd like to see you post a couple private land bucks from this year that top these two.

[Wea300mag]

I think you should be working on Political Ads with that kind of "spin"

Those are special cases, private lands produce more consistantly, year after year.

Why do you and a group of your friends pay lots of $$ to lease a ranch in Eastern MT if you think public land is better?

[bobcat]

Why do you and a group of your friends pay lots of $$ to lease a ranch in Eastern MT if you think public land is better?

   Good point.

Of course private land is more productive. Less hunters, more game. (if we're talking private land not open to the public)

[mazama]

If you quit chasing them off public land they wouldn't be on private land.

[50CalJim]

It"s pretty much common sense that Private is more productive than Public on a percentage basis.

[PolarBear]

I have zero respect for the guy who shoots a buck or bull under his apple tree, food plot or out behind the barn and then enters it into some record book.  Folks like Lee and Tiffany and most of those Realtree Bozo's who are farming trophy critters are not real hunters.   

[nw_bowhunter]

Private land does have its advanatanges depending on how you hunt it. I would select private grounds over public in the right situaton. Not sure it really makes a big differences in regards to the record books...excluding high fence hunts of course!

huntphool, you post a good exmaple, however I would hope you would agree that those bucks taken on public ground are "not typical" of what general public land hunters shoot in Washington.

[PolarBear]

Beacause the "typical" Washington "hunter" is too lazy to put in the effort that it takes to shook bucks of that quality. We all have the same opportunity to harvest those caliber of public land bucks but it can't be done from the front seat of your mini van.

[huntnphool]

I think you should be working on Political Ads with that kind of "spin"

Those are special cases, private lands produce more consistantly, year after year.

Why do you and a group of your friends pay lots of $$ to lease a ranch in Eastern MT if you think public land is better?

Not a chance, there are way more deer harvested on public land in this state than private, no spinning those numbers.

 9 out of the last 10 years in Montana I have killed my deer on public land, not private. I lease the private land to keep the outfitters from locking us out. There are many benefits but the main one is to limit the number of animals killed in the area and assure us a quality place to hunt.