I think we are quite lucky Az has so much public land

[naturegirl]

As the time gets closer, I'm doing more research for my upcoming hunt. The best research so far was taking a trip back to Illinois for a wedding a couple weeks ago. The picture below is what it looks like from the plane. I've watched plenty of hunting shows from back east, but until I was able to get my own visual I really couldn't grasp it and my 10-year-old brain wasn't interested in hunting the last time I stepped foot in the state.

 

I know Illinois has farms, but there are literally farms EVERYWHERE! I think the farms are absolutely beautiful in their own right, but there are very few areas that allow public hunting and then there can be a waiting list, areas where only so many people are allowed into at a time, etc. Yuck! I knew right away that wasn't for me. Our plan is to hunt down south in Shawnee National Forest. It's some very pretty country and I look forward to being a part of it.

 

This is where I was pretty shocked. I thought Shawnee looked big on a paper map, but here's the details:

 

Shawnee Natl Forest - 280,000 acres

Coconino Natl Forest - 1,856,000 acres

Tonto Natl Forest - 2,873,200 acres

 

Shawnee National Forest is the BIGGEST public land area in the state and it is still intermingled with private land throughout.

 

I for one am happy that Arizona has so much open space for outdoor enthusiasts. I know we all have complaints at times, but if you look at the alternative, we have it pretty darn good here as far as public access to large swaths of land.

 

I've got maps to order ASAP!

[DesertBull]

Grew up there and would move back in a heart beat.

[az_shooter]

Glad to be in AZ!

[Pine Donkey]

I lived in central Illinois for 5 years (did a 5 year sentence there) when I was in elementary school. Glad to be back in Az for the past 35 years.

[BeardownAZ]

Wouldn't live that far East for anything, done it once. Never again. Too many people, not enough public land. Love it out West!

[AZ8]

Arizona born. Arizona bred. When I die, I'll be Arizona dead!

[Mountainman99]

One of the best hunting aspects of AZ!

[naturebob]

Since I been up here in North Dakota it sucks as far as Forrest goes. Only a small chunk in the western part and takes 8-9 years to draw a tag. The rest of the State is private land. And they don't let You hunt it for deer, only Turkey. The residents here have gotten real greedy with their land to oil field workers. I bitched about it on hunt talk as it is a site most Northerners up here are on ,and I got hammered by 10-12 idiots from up here and iLLinos, Indiana and Montana.. Guess they are all use to hunting on Grandpa's land with no competition.. These people up here with private have a whole different way of thinking than We do in AZ. I try to explain You draw a tag and just go. No Bullcrap. Needless to say I quit that site cause to many of em to argue with there, and most never herd of a tri pod either. They hunt way different back east and north than we do and they think -30 degrees is normal...LOL...Give Me AZ any day.............BOB!

[Shawn]

Lived in Indiana for 8 years, hated every day. Will never move from Arizona again!

[AverageJoe]

Lol i got kicked off archerytalk for a while because of a discussion about private land vs public land hunting. Most of the guys on that site are from back east and have a totally different mindset. And by different i mean wrong. Lol

[Shedhunteraz]

Lol i got kicked off archerytalk for a while because of a discussion about private land vs public land hunting. Most of the guys on that site are from back east and have a totally different mindset. And by different i mean wrong. Lol

Its because your a trouble maker jason

[CouesWhitetail]

I totally agree.....I love the public land in Arizona! I lived in Illinois for several years and it was nice, but I much prefer AZ with all it's open public land and dramatic landscapes.

 

If you love public land, please make sure you know how your favored politicians feel about it. I was shocked when I learned Paul Ryan would promote selling off of public lands. You can google it for more info. here is one link: http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/open-country/2012/08/hes-hunter-paul-ryan%E2%80%99s-budget-deserves-scrutiny

 

Let's make sure Teddy Roosevelt's vision of protecting our nation's natural resources continues. As hunters in AZ, we all benefit tremendously from them.

 

"We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune." Theodore Roosevelt

[naturebob]

You don't have to be a troublemaker and they will still argue with You or gang up on Ya. Just a different breed of people. I think they been in the cold to long. Luv our public lands...............BOB!

[Heat]

I agree! We are very fortunate to have all the public land we do throughout the state. Heck even the private land is hardly ever posted, at least around where I live. God Bless America and Arizona! My wife keeps toying with the idea of moving back to Indiana where she grew up. They better start transplanting elk quickstyle or I'm not moving a muscle! In all seriousness I don't see how anyone can stand living east of the Rockies.

[PRDATR]

I was back east in NY all last week (nephews wedding) and flew from here to Baltimore then to Islip. I can totally relate to that view from the plane. Each time I thought to myself where do people hunt with everyone on top of each other? None of it looked huntable with a rifle.

Even though I grew up on Long Island and sorely miss some aspects of it I do not think I could move back there on a permanent basis. It made me claustrophobic just looking down from the plane at it all. I felt a big sigh of relief when the plane came out of the clouds somewhere over New Mexico and all that was below us was miles of barren land.