Don’t get it twisted: The classic big-buck destinations are still great. Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois still produce giants every year. Texas deer hunters still kill more whitetails than anyone else. And ...

Although public land has a bad reputation, many deer hunters enjoy consistent deer hunting success, including bagging mature bucks. We've all heard the detractions against public land deer hunting.

The quintessential private-land deer hunter plants his food plot, hangs his treestand, posts his trail camera, and waits for a daylight pattern on a shooter buck. Meanwhile, the typical public-land ...