5 BEST PUBLIC LAND SPOTS

One of life’s biggest lessons can be easily translated to the tall task of hunting whitetails on public land: It’s all about choices. You can choose to do the same thing you’ve always done — and most likely experience the same result — or you can choose to take the road less traveled.

In both cases, the second option usually offers the best odds for a big payoff.

It is impossible to throw out a “best of” list for public-land locations without first clarifying the specific type of public land I will be referring to. Like private properties, there are many variations and qualities of federal, state, county, city, township and privately owned, yet open to hunting, lands.

Many federal and state lands were set up for specific purposes other than deer hunting, but had to allow deer hunting to keep the local herd population manageable. Good examples would be waterfowl preserves, and parks with lakes and campgrounds that require permits for recreational use. These types of areas often have specific deer hunting parameters and full-time park rangers to enforce them. Some of these lands require special permits either by a pre-season or daily draw, some have antler restrictions, or some have antler restrictions and require