Hunting Washington Forum

Other Hunting => Waterfowl => Topic started by: shorthair-on-point on April 05, 2011, 08:24:49 AM

Title: Private vs Public
Post by: shorthair-on-point on April 05, 2011, 08:24:49 AM
.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: CP on April 05, 2011, 08:32:47 AM
All of my waterfowl hunting is scratched out on public lands or private lands that are open to the public.  I’d love to hunt some private land but I don’t own any and I’m not willing to pay for the privilege so public it is.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: chester on April 05, 2011, 08:34:42 AM
 :yeah:   Its not worth paying for. Knocking on doors works.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: WSU on April 05, 2011, 08:36:13 AM
I have one private spot that I hunt most of the time.  Prior to that it was almost all public.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: vandeman17 on April 05, 2011, 08:37:25 AM
We hunt all public land. While it would be nice to have a private spot, I just don't have the $ right now.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: ORCA_SIX on April 05, 2011, 09:04:29 AM
Public for Duck. Private for Geese.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: GregFowler23 on April 05, 2011, 09:56:23 AM
I hunt at a 50 50 ration when it comes to private and public. In the area i hunt there are some great public spots that produce some great birds. But i do belong to a hunting club which is at a reasonable price for the quality of hunting that we get out of it. And from time to time i do go door to door just asking around because its always nice to hunt new areas.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: pianoman9701 on April 05, 2011, 10:23:59 AM
Public during the regular goose season. Awesome private during the late Master Hunter season in private farmland, Area 2A.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: ducksdogsdownriggers on April 05, 2011, 11:25:04 AM
Duck:  90-10 public.  Enjoy the whole process of scouting, setting dekes, etc. too much to just show up and get a limit.
Goose:  10-90 private.  Geese are too fickle, if you're not in or on the "X", too bad, and even then, they may decide to change "X's" (sounds like my ex-wife, lol).

Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: Dustin07 on April 05, 2011, 11:34:15 AM
I have a great setup on some local private land (mom and dad's) but hunt mostly public.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: sakoshooter on April 05, 2011, 12:00:03 PM
Public
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: carpsniperg2 on April 05, 2011, 02:46:59 PM
I am about 50/50 with both ducks and geese. I do a lot of pond jumping on ponds we own or I have have leased. But we have also spent time hunting them on the Big C. Geese are the same way, most of our field hunting is private ground. But when we hunt the river its public ground.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: Whitenuckles on April 05, 2011, 04:45:41 PM
A little of both!
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: USCGhunter on April 05, 2011, 07:28:51 PM
Last year I hunted all public land in SoCal. next season i want to try to hunt some private land in Washingotn, if that means knocking on doors.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: boots on April 05, 2011, 09:19:09 PM
Good shoots can be had on public or private. Best part about private is the lack of crowding (typically)
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: 270Shooter on April 06, 2011, 07:12:51 AM
95% public
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: h2ofowlr on April 06, 2011, 11:45:16 PM
I do both.  I go to where the birds are.  I scout everyday of the waterfowl season.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: TheSkyBuster on April 07, 2011, 12:35:56 AM

Private Land? 
 That sounds boring, I'm not sure what I would do if I didn't have other Idjits to watch while I was hunting.  Not getting to watch the guys that show up right at daylight, motors through your decoys and sets up 200 feet from you.  No watching other people "spray and pray" at Mallards in the stratosphere?  What about the guy who screams to his dog at the top of his lungs for the entire morning? Or the ones who blow into their calls with all their might weather there are birds in the air or not?  And isn't steel shot raining down on your head part of the nostalgia? I couldn't stand to miss "curse your buddy while trying to launch the boat guy"  of course, I can't foget my pesonal favorite, the guy accross the lake who sees a flock dropping into your decoys and shoots into the air to flair them off in hopes that they might later come into his spread.
No, Private land is not for me I'll keep my free entertainment along with the challenge of the hunt.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: lokidog on April 07, 2011, 09:49:39 AM
So SkyBuster. you have scene me out hunting.  :chuckle:

you forgot about the guy that uses his boat to pick up his downed ducks and makes sure to wake wash your spread every time.

Hey, isn't movement in your decoys a good thing?   :rolleyes:   100% public, but I didn't even go out last season.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: jordano on April 10, 2011, 09:12:58 PM
I hunt pretty much all public land except for a couple places that I have permission to hunt private, that I rarely get a chance to hunt at. I have to rely on scouting and doing my homework!
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: AWS on April 10, 2011, 11:31:43 PM
I hunt public land 99% of the time, I do get an occasional invite to a private club but it isn't any better than the public lands.  I hardly ever see another hunter while hunting and I hunt alot, east and west.  But like the ducks I tend to find places hunters don't go to or too hard to get to.

AWS
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: KwackWacker on April 11, 2011, 05:23:09 PM
I have great shoots on public and private both. I have some prime private areas to hunt but they are small and cant take the pressure, so I end up primarily hunting public...and managing my private lands so I can get a couple great shoots just about every week of the season when the condidtions are right for each private area, instead of hunting them everyday and burning them out. When times get tough we tend to move away from our traditional areas and cover alot of miles hitting up our little honey holes that scouting has provided I and hunting partners with. I probably hunt 80% public
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: wsucowboy on April 11, 2011, 06:19:45 PM
public with a little bit of private. All of the private land I hunt is farm property that I have worked for the owners on growing up as a kid  :twocents:
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: Hot Lunch on April 13, 2011, 08:21:22 PM
The simple answer is they are both good. For ducks I prefer to target birds that are traveling as oppsosed to setting up on a coupe. I have access to several duck ponds, including those in corn and after the first birds are killed its a royal PIA to get the rest of the birds to finish. I can set up with 12-18 decoys and a spinner on some isolated public land that has a "flight" of birds over it and kill my 7 drakes in 45 min almost every day. You gotta play your cards, there is no golden spoon with private land, always have  A,B, and C plans ready to deal with the weather and ever changing bird patterns. The hard freezes have been my biggest enemy, but I have picked up some small spots that never freeze thaey have been just plain insane the past couple of years.

For geese I prefer private ground and setting up on the X. Setting up 200 stuffers with 8 guys is far more work than I like to expend on a hunt, so I usually just shoot a couple kwik duck limits and head for Ihop.
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: Alan K on April 13, 2011, 08:26:12 PM
Open to public land is all I hunt on my own.  That said, I was invited to hunt a club with one of my good friends in high school one time and it was the easiest hunt of my life.  Either way, I always have fun!
Title: Re: Private vs Public
Post by: steelnducks on April 15, 2011, 08:32:16 PM
We have a duck/goose lease mainly for training my dog but i enjoy public land more. Nothing feels better then finding that public honey hole the duck pile into.
SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2025, SimplePortal