[haffieldj]

I was very fortunate to hunt on great land here in Florida when I was younger but never knew how good I had it. There is nothing much around my area but managed public land. So what I am looking for is a group of people or even a farm owner that has an affordable offer to hunt. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[oucorry]

It is getting harder and harder to find land to hunt anymore. It seems like the leases keep getting more and more expensive.

I grew up hunting public land so when I finally did get a chance to hunt private, I felt like I was in heaven.

You just don't have to worry about things like, Is there going to be somebody hunting on my spot or somebody going to walk in on me or anything else. It's just alot less stressful.

Don't get me wrong the public lands are great and I probably wouldn't be hunting now if I didn't get to hunt them growing up. I guess now I'm just more fortunate!!

[birdman]

Haffield,
What type of hunting are you looking at doing? Here in Colorado, we have the same problem on the front range for waterfowl hunting. Everything is tied up in leases. I suggest getting a few of your hunting buddies together and pool resources to obtain a lease of your own. This is a great way to spread costs. You could act as the lease manager and establish the rules you want (ie. work days for habitat, idle hunting days to decrease pressure, etc.). If you don't have enough friends to participate, put out adds to find others. I'm sure many others are in the same boat as you.

[haffieldj]

Birdman,

Thanks for the idea. I work for the local Fire Department and there are a lot of local boys that love to hunt. We have tried the group thing before but at least one or more bail out leaving everyone else with a higher tab. I am thinking of trying out of state somewhere where there are actually "DEER" and not "deer", if you know what I mean.
I have a buddy that was working here on the fire dept. but left to go back to Ohio with family to start a business. He said they own a 1000 acres and I should come hunt next year with him. I don't think I'll pass this up. Than again, that's from Florida to Ohio so I don't know how long that with last. Anyhow, thanks so much for the advice and time.

[oucorry]

That would be hard to pass up. Ohio definetly has DEER!!

[0rion]

What does the public land around you look like? Much of it? I pretty much exclusively hunt public land here in Ohio. I have some farms offered to me if I wanted them but to be honest I don't have any problems where I hunt and I've been hunting the same spots for 20 years so I have them all figured out.

There are a few tips I could give you that'll help you hunt public land. Don't be afraid to walk. My experience has been most people are too lazy to hike very far so I will typically walk a little further than most. Bow hunt. The land I hunt has far less bow hunting pressure than gun pressure so during bow season I have a lot more freedom to move around without running into people. Get in the woods early. If you get in before everyone else then they run into you instead of you running into them. If/when I gun hunt down there I'm probably the first guy to start walking in of a morning. Try to find some spots that aren't easily found on maps. The last 3-4 years the amount of hunters has increased where I hunt and 99% of the people I ask say they found the place on the internet. They find the main road but there's another road about 2 miles off that isn't on the maps. I always have a stand or two up in that area for busy weekends when I know people are going to be hunting such as the rut.
Public land definitely has it's faults but you can successfully hunt it if you spend some time down there. I pattern other hunters just as much as I pattern deer. I typically kill a couple deer a year and I'm fairly picky about what I shoot. I pass on a lot of 6 and 8 pointers waiting on a nice buck. I'll normally try to take a doe early so it's easier to let those smaller bucks go since I have meat in the freezer.

[oucorry]

Here in Oklahoma, a person can usually have his run of the public land during bow and muzzleloader season, but during rifle that is another story. Usually the hunters out number the deer

[TCSportsman]

What part of Florida are you in? I am just north of Palm Beach and have a friend that is looking at a new lease in Ga. He is trying to get members together.

[deerslayer]

I have been a member of a club for two years that have the brown it's down policy along with the policy of putting their deer stand less than 150 yards away and at one point when I was first in the club trying to put a stand at 50 yards away. I joined a club to get away from people hunting right on top of ya. I told the president of the club if this person is still in the club I will be looking elsewhere and I will be taking my other 3 paying members with me. I guess I will probably be loooking for a new lease here in Georgia or going back to public land. I do have some priority points in the bank for the WMA draws and will go to National Forest if need be. Why pay to be in a club when I can pay $25 and hunt on public land. I will have a better chance of not having some so called hunter who claims to be from Ohio hunting on top of me. I would go with trying to get a lease of your own so you can have control over idiots that might be in your club. Where are you going to look for a lease at here in Georgia?