Glad to hear a few guys are doing well on public land. All I hunt is public land. I kill deer every year on public land. I see at least one nice buck every year on public land.
With that said, I've been sitting way too many hours in the stand on public land to see the small numbers I'm seeing in bow season. I walk an amazingly long way off the road... Fact is, I'd challenge anyone to come hunt with me and call me lazy. ANYONE. Last year my son and I went down a draw that was unspeakably steep to hunt because we knew nobody else would. Killed 2 and had a nightmare of a drag(liked to killed my brother). Again, I love to eat them myself. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with shooting some does.

In gun season, I "hunt the hunters"... works every year. Always will. In bow season though, I should see more deer sign than I'm seeing. I've wore out some boots and just finding very little sign this year especially. Been to several different places too. Probably put 600 miles on my truck and none of these places are more than 30 miles from me.

Maybe I'm just in a rut? But even though harvest data is all the state has to go on... I still think it's incredibly inaccurate. I think we hunters can manage much better than the state can. After all, how many people who lease or own land ask the DNR how they should manage it?