In Mississippi, the timber companies started leasing in the mid-70s. 10 years later most all private land was leased. I had a few places I liked to hunt on State public land but mostly I was in a camp.
I bought 110 acres in a swamp around 1999 so my kids and wife could hunt easier. they could a lot of deer, had some awesome memories. But, the neighbors baited deer by the thousands of pounds a week (when it wasn't legal) and eventually we weren't seeing as many deer, and people were trespassing as we lived 70 miles away and the land constantly flooded. One neighbor kept asking to buy my property after my kids were in college and I gave him a ridiculously high price and, unfortunately, lol, he took it,
I hunted publicly land only the next year and killed a nice buck with my bow, got in a camp last year that was too crowded-- more than public land.
This year, my neighbor asked me to step in with him and his dad to lease a smaller piece of land that looks real promising. I will see. I do plan to still hunt some public land too.
