I have been hunting for 45 years at least. Mostly on public land. I have two leases, but still most of my hunting and most game taken is from public land. I enjoy it for the same reasons ducknbass does, but I have had very few of the problems ducknbass experiences. For the most part I saw the same hunting pressure before the internet as I do now. With exceptions most public hunters are weekend warriors with limited time and limited funds. Most of those hunters hunt within a couple hours of their home just as most hunt within a short easy walk from the road. Even before the internet, these types of hunters knew of and about the public land areas near them. And now like it or not because of the internet everyone knows about all of them everywhere via google. If your serious about hunting public land or water the number one thing you have to consider when scouting, planning, or actual hunting is hunting pressure. Just like planning for wind direction, water level, etc. it is just another aspect you can't change. When I do a road trip bird hunt, I draw a big circle around every city and town, major roads, etc. on the map and usually pass up the public land within those circles. It will have been hunted hard already by the locals. You can count on that.

Deer hunting public as an example. If you pattern deer from bedding area to scrape lines or feeding areas on public land, expect that to get messed up opening morning by other hunters if not from scouters during the week. This no matter if someone mentioned the hunting area on social media or not. I prefer to look for where most hunters will approach from. Where the escape routes are. And pinch points that funnel retreating deer. Have a plan A and a plan B.

Now Duck hunting. Say you scout and find a cove visible from the road full of mallards, don't expect to not have company the next day. Take Ray Roberts where one has to enter at hunter access points. I draw a big circle around those access points on the map and avoid them. If one pulls a boat up near one of those access points to hunt, they will have company. The best looking areas on a waterbody are the best looking areas to every other hunter on the lake. I avoid those areas. If someone does not know of a lake within two hours of home, they probably don't hunt or fish anyway.

If your constantly getting hunts ruined by other hunters or experiencing a lake of success because of hunting pressure, don't assume it was because someone must have mentioned it on the net. It is because your doing it all wrong. You can't change what other public hunters are doing just like you can't change the wind, but you can adapt to hunt a public hunting area in a way to use it to your advantage.