If you could which one would you choose

[slabchaser]

which one would you pick. a huge public area with a decent amount of pressure and a decent amount of deer. or a much smaller private area with little to no pressure but much less deer.

I would take the private area myself because I would rather sit all day without worrying about others in the hopes of seeing a decent deer.

[Jameson]

Give me more deer, and more land.

I have had to make just that choice that last few years, and I have chosen the small parcel (35 acres) without many deer (lottery area, farm country). I am tired of seeing 8 does and maybe a spike buck on opening weekend, especially without a doe tag. Then to have to deal with neighbors that do drives on the their properties and have their wounded deer run onto my property. This year I will be heading North to join some friends on a huge mess of county, state, and federal lands. Also it should be nice to be able to move to the deer, instead of being stuck on a small parcel hoping the deer come to me.

I guess I am bow-hunting the heck out of the small parcel right now, and if I actually see a decent buck I may stay behind on opener, but I fully expect to be heading North this gun opener.

[SORNO]

much smaller private area with little to no pressure but much less deer.

[picksbigwagon]

Smaller for sure....I hunt in SE MN and am not too particular in what I take, as long as it is mature. I just secured another 40 acres that is never hunted, with an outside chance of hunting the neighboring 40, that is never hunted either. All creek bottom and bluffs. with small plots of CRP, my fall is looking better

[tracker x-2]

I would Have to choose the private land with no pressure. If you sit all day,and the rut is on your odds of a buck coming through would be pretty goood. I just like to be out where I know someone else has not been stomping around.

[96trigger]

Bigger for me, that is what I hunt to a T. I hunt a large area of public land, there are lots of deer and big bucks. My problem is that my season is short. When the guns fire, I'm done there, and then I move to my 40 acre private lot down in Wabasha. Lots of deer there too, just not all the big bucks. So actually, I guess it depends on what and when I am hunting.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Depends on Archery or Gun.. if archery, give me more land, if gun, give me the private, I dont trust people...

[TrophyEyes]

I would have said more land, but after the last 3 years I have decided to move to smaller private property. I had someone actually shoot my decoy on state land during archery season 3 years ago and 2 years ago I had a group of 2 guys get out of their truck and shot bird shot into the woods to drive the deer down the bluff to their buddies at the bottom. I got hit with all the bird shot as it rained down on me. I also had a group of 5 start a drive 100 yards away from me, pushing all the deer down the hill. I traded big buck country for 340 acres of private CRP. The CRP is broken into 40-100 acre plots up to 3 miles appart. It give me options, but like you said, you cannot control your neighbors either. The good thing is that we have had game cameras out for the last month and a half and have over 500 pictures of deer, up to 6 deer in one picture. The deer seem to be in the area, I just have no idea what the hunting pressure is going to be. I have two decent 8pts and one really tall 10pt. I don't think they are over 2 1/2 years old though.

[Bear55]

More land for me, I can usually find a spot further back than most are willing to go.

[hhguide]

Private!

[mrklean]

Small private for me, you can do a lot more with it, food plots, better chance of stuff not getting stolen, public land its like the lottery you never know whats gonna happen.

[buck 037]

No question for me been deer hunting for 36 years, way to many so called hunters out there I dont care to be near safety first.

[harvey lee]

Private.

[slabchaser]

im glad their were a lot of different views. my private land is in southern mn. shotgun zone which isnt all to appealing but its what I grew up hunting. but its along the little crow river bottom so there are some swamp bucks roaming. which brings me to my next question. my dad recently sold our 110 acre family century farm in NW iowa for about 3000 an acre. we are looking for some hunting land in mn. my dad wants some around mankato but I would rather go north. anyone have any suggestions for websites or other areas to find some land?

[bassman2012]

defiantly private.

[Bear55]

I guess it depends on how much land you are talking about. 5000 acres public vs 40 or 80 private I would take the public every time. But if you up that private land to 200+ acres then I would go private every time.

As far as where to find land to buy I have no clue, but do your homework and look at a lot of land. I'm sure you will find something you will fall in love with.

[ozzie]

I have hunted up north on big parcels of public land and am not going north this year instead I am hunting privalt land in the metro area so we will see what I like better........big land means alot of areas for the deer to roam........

[BigGrassBass]

I like the public land thing. I've been hunting public land in the metro for 10 years and have got deer 8 of those 10. Granted, only one of those deer was a decent buck but there are deer and I save a ton on gas money. It's more fun to study the movements of the other hunters and use that to your advantage!

[Eskimoman]

I would definatly go for the bigger area. It is not hard to get back in the brush and away from the people. You also get many different food sources and terrain features you dont with smaller pieces. This way you can change your tactics throught the year. If you arent seeing the quality/quantity of deer you would like you can move.