Finding a place to hunt can be really tough these days, especially if you aren't fortunate enough to own or lease some high-quality hunting land. However, public land is another good option that doesn't cost much to hunt on.
While the quantity and quality of public land varies from state to state, the fact remains that there are millions of acres of land all over the United States on which you can hunt. You've just got to find them first. Read on to find out how to find a place to hunt.
1. State wildlife agencies
One of the first places you should look on your quest for finding a good place to hunt is the website of your state wildlife agency. Not only will virtually every state wildlife agency provide a good listing of all state-owned public land parcels, but it will also let you know if any special permits are needed or if there are any special seasons that must be followed when hunting on state land.
Unfortunately, the quality of information on public land varies from state to state, so you may have to look elsewhere to get all of the information that you need.
2. Recreation.gov
After checking out public land administered by your home state, the next place you should look is for land owned by the federal government. Fortunately, the website Recreation.gov allows you to search for a place to hunt all over the country on land administered by the National Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management land, and the Bureau of Land Reclamation (among others).
In addition to finding a good place to hunt, you may also use this website to find places to fish, camp or hike.
3. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
When you're looking for a place to hunt on public land administered by the federal government, don't forget about the national wildlife refuges that are located all over the country. The United States Fish & Wildlife Service administers millions of acres of public land, and there may be one near you that you didn't even know about.
Though some wildlife refuges have specific hunting regulations and may require a special hunting permit to use, fortunately, the Department of Fish & Wildlife also runs an excellent website that is user-friendly and provides all of the necessary information in one place.
4. Powderhook
Powderhook is a new resource dedicated to connecting hunters with good places to hunt. They have a comprehensive directory of public land, as well as private land that may be hunted for a fee, all over the United States.
The idea was to compile all of the available hunting land into one single resource. Though they are still building their list of private land, Powderhook's list of public land is mostly complete. All of their listings (public and private) are compiled on a searchable map.
5. onXmaps
Another method of finding a good place to hunt is to purchase an overlay for your global positioning system that contains property boundaries. onXmaps sells maps for every U.S. state that are easy to use and show every piece of public (as well as private) hunting land located in that state.
These maps may be used on your computer as well as your GPS and are extremely beneficial if you're looking for a place to hunt. In addition to showing the exact boundaries (and ownership) of all tracts of land in the state, they also contain the location of many small parcels of public land that aren't widely known.
