There's just a distinct lack of public land in my state, less than 2% of the total state acreage is open to public hunting, and you have to get special permits to hunt on it. With the demand so high vs number of permits available, the odds of drawing one are extremely slim at best on most of the areas.
I guess I'm lucky to live in the part of the state where the majority of public ground is located. I'm 10 min from Sahara Woods which is 4100ac of state ground and 15 min from the Shawnee National Forrest which is 265k acres of Forrest Service. There are certain parcels of state ground that require a special permit or are a limited draw for deer hunting. Almost all of state ground requires a "window card", which is free. I think parts of Pyramid Park require something, Sahara Woods does not, neither does any of the Forest Service (that I know of). Down side is, it can get a bit crazy and crowded on public ground. There are a good number of "city folk" that head down to the sticks to kill a deer. They are why I only bow hunt on public ground and I'll never do opening day of duck season on public ground again.
