What kind of hunting do you all do for whitetails? Meanig public or private.. Lease or permission..acreage..county (if you dont mind sharing). Ill start it. I lease(unfortunately) 240acres in parke county which is about 60 40 woods to ag with no food plots allowed.

Family farm in white county 100 acres and 490 acres in Jefferson county under a lease.

A mix of public (Franklin County) and private (Fulton and Franklin Counties) and any draw hunts that I get (which this year I will have Union and Johnson/Bartholomew Counties) to hunt.....

This year I will hunt private ground with no lease (lucky I know) about 160 acres with 100 woods.

I also was drawn to hunt in a deer reduction hunt on some land and will have a 40 acre tract for the entire bow season. Pretty pumped. Does encouraged but we can take a buck as well!

I was working on some ground in Carroll County for a lease but thanks to some big mouth forester telling the little old lady that hunting rights was worth at least $2000, I think that is out the window. It is about 28 acres of woods in two pieces, no creek or water surrounded by field and touches corners with another 40 acres of woods. I am confident I can kill a deer there considering there are trespassers stands all over it (whole other issue) but $2000 come on dude! I bet he wouldn't pay $2000!


Good luck all!

We only hunt private property any more, our land and the neighbors in Shelby county.

Our families 340 acre farm and 520 acre lease with two other guys about as far south as you can go and still be in Indiana.

I hunt a spot in Owen County that is about 90 acres, mostly hay fields with a couple pockets of woods that equal probably ten to twelve acres.

I also hunt at my grandma's in Greene County. It is only three acres, probably half of it woods, but there is an old rail road bed that is a pretty heavy travel corridor.

I have an urban spot near in Hamilton County close to the Boone County line. It is a ten acre property, but only about two or three is wooded. There is a creek that passes through the property that the deer travel. The property owner has llamas, so there is a lot of clover in the open field/grassy parts of the property.

I have a spot 100yrds square. Another 12 acre beauty I killed my first Pope out of (Bucket list). Another 5 acre spot I've got most freezer meat out of plus a few neer popes. But you can only hunt those places when wind is right and not over pressure. Hard to do. Other than that make a 150 mile trip south to miles of public property. Got my first book maker 162 3/8 after hunting him hard for season. Stopping for topo maps. Reading and studying. Lot easier now. With technology. Got 5 mounts from 5 diff counties. Have to keep striving and shoot the does early for wife's freezer meat. If I'm not fishin. Hard to balance weekends but fun. I love the next moment!

i've really been working at adding properties and i am blessed that my family has a good amount of land around where i live! i hunt all private and this is this roughly my lineup....

1. cousins......170 acres
2. cousins......40 acres
3. parents......100 acres
4. neighbors.....110 acres
5. aunt......160 acres
6. customer.....100 acres

I do keep cams at all these properties and am very fortunate to be able to hunt them.

one thing i have been doing lately is starting off turkey/coyote hunting and then ask for permission to deer hunt a couple/few years later.....after building a relationship! i have probably another 400-500 acres i turkey hunt with property owners and have not yet asked to deer hunt!

You would think with all that property you would let your little bro hunt.......I know, I know.....not till you shoot your buck . I still have stands and properties you can't touch either (In-Laws 20 acres). DP & I share. He puts a lot of work into getting these properties & figuring them out. Just hope he shoots his toad Oct. 1 & its not the one I'm drooling over.

I hunt all public. Right now, can't justify leasing. Will only do it as a last resort. It ain't time yet. Hope that time never comes.

Killing deer every year on public land. My hope is everyone on here keeps praising leasing which will run tons of fellow hunters out of the sport because they will be left with public land. Then guys here call everyone on public land "slob hunters". This leads to me having thousands of acres to myself.
I just don't hunt opening day of firearms. The rest of the season: No lease, no hunters, no problems.

Wow I didn't know guys like us were slobs. Interesting I don't like to disrespect anyone's time spent outdoors. However they choose is fine. Personally if I had the money to lease. I would buy half a beef and hog to compliment the venison. Has chapped me in past to lose ground to leasers when you do your best to take care of farmer or owner. But it opened up new doors like I mentioned those small lots can be golden. Just can't over hunt them. I agree I don't hunt opening weekend of gun on public. Maybe that's the slobs dunno. But my family has been filling the freezer for years off public.

I'm another "slob" hunter if that is what you are calling us these days. I hunt public land where else (look at my name)there is quite a lot of public acreage in this county (8467 acres to be exact)& I like sitting in the best spots.
What other slobs can hunt 8467 acres for only the price of a hunting license?

I give props to guys that get it done every year on public land. I've done it and can be frustrating. Killing deer isn't a problem but if you're looking for a trophy it's a real challenge. My biggest on public before I started leasing 7 years ago was a 148in 10pt on 10/28/2013 at splinters ridge. I hate leasing as much as the next guy but I'm gonna do whatever it takes to kill big deer consistently.. Which probably means I'll be leasing outta state in the near future.leasing has been good to me tho.. 3 p&ys and 2 booners in 7 years I'll take anytime considering how my hunting career began. But once again much respect to all you public hunters.. And goodluck here in a few days

10/28/2002**

I do all the above in several different counties and states. No need to fight with other hunters on how they go about their business on my end. Good luck this year.

Currently I mainly hunt the leased properties and put in for draw and reduction hunts. I did lose my lease this past year of a 150 acre property that I was leasing so that knocked me down to an Urban property that I can hunt that is supposed to be private but is over run with tresspassers and split with a couple of other guys but it is around the corner from my house and is still an opportunity to hunt Urban. I think it would be fun to get a group together from the site and lease some property.

I hunt in 5 different counties, a mix of public and private.

I hunt about 15,000 acres of public land. Early November, during the week it is rare to see anyone else deer hunting. I hunt with a summit viper stand which goes in and out with me. I don't mark trails or advertise my spots.

I most often drive a yuppy rig so I look like a nature walker or hiker not a hunter. I also don't have the back window plastered with hunting stickers either. =)

If you are willing to put in the work there are good deer on public ground. My biggest to date came of a hard hunted public spot.

I hunt the state park reductions also, although they have not been great the past few years.

76 chevy, you sound a lot like me. I too hunt with a viper that goes in and out with me everytime. I love picking a tree everytime I reach an area... or even better, is running across some sign that I never saw before and climbing a tree right there.
That's the kind of stuff that "drives" me. I certainly want to kill a big buck, but it doesn't define me.
My favorite stories are the ones where I made a decision on the fly to "try" something different and having it work out.
I think that's why I enjoy hunting public land so much. I can do things like that every day if I want to.
If I lease say, 150 acres with a couple other guys, well then everything gets mapped out in advance, stands hung... it's all so planned and formal. To each his own and I'm not judging anyone else's methods. It just isn't that exciting to me.

good stuff there.

There is something magical about that first sit in a new area. The deer have not had a chance to pattern me like they would if I went to the same ladder stand every weekend. =)

I hunt 2 farms here in Wayne County. I don't know the exact acreage but the woods are 50-60 acres. I share 2 places w/ a friend also in Wayne County and all the tracts are woodlots and a creek bottom.

I lost a really good spot 3-4 years ago due to leasing. A friend and a farmer basically made a business decision and gets money for his woods just sitting there. He leases out 5-6 spots and gets I bet close to 10 grand a year. By the way he is still a friend

I put in for any draw hunt I can get drawn for. Gives me another shot at a other buck if I need it and a different view.

Public hunted years ago and did okay. I am blessed to have the spots I do, so right now there is no need. Never heard mention here that public hunters were called "slobs".

Private in Morgan, Parke, and Washington Counties. All through friends or family.

Public at times for deer camps and group hunts. I love hunting big tracts of public land. Mostly just to roam but mainly because I'm almost sure it will always be there. It's fun to learn it and know I can put that knowledge to use in the future. It's like a puzzle with a new piece being found every time I hunt.

I have always hunted mostly public in HNF and several state properties. Rarely do I have to go without although I did last year after letting a buck walk on some private ground. This year I finally have my own land to hunt for the 1st time. It is only 18 acres, but looks like it is gonna produce some great hunting. So for 2013 I will hunt my land and HNF. Depending on how it goes I may hit a buddies farm a few times to spot and stalk too.