FCL/ managed forest hunts?

I am curious to know if people hunted on the private lands open to the public and how it went. I have hesitated to spend the time on it now, after the experience I had with it 10 yrs ago, when most landowners gave us the run-around and tried to intimidate us into going somewhere else. It was a complete waste of time back then. Is it still mostly just a bunch of good ole boys staking a claim to the land and the landowner claiming a tax break or has the increased visibility of the program opened things up a little?

it was kept quiet for years and then a couple of years ago, someone blew the whistle and it made the news and things got better. I am going to try it next year. they have an agreement and if they break it, they can lose their tax break. with a smartphone for videoing any disturbance, people will leave you alone. I'll have my smart phone and my .40 cal on my hip, so I am not too worried. I don't think I will need either. it has gotten better, I also suggest writing your congressman or senator and keep pressure going to make it so land owners can have open land that is land locked. they should get no tax break if people can't use it. I myself am going to write Scott Walker, the DNR, and Paul Ryan about this issue.

...and that is what they did, over a couple sections of land. Sickening.

I think you can only put 160 acres in the closed program so if they split it up into different LLC's or owners, they can probably get away with putting 160 acres each in.

JC- sounds very similar to what the Coleman Lake Club in Marinette county has done, except they have divided much of their land into parcels owned by different LLC's. Not exactly sure what it accomplishes, but it even made the newspaper at some point because they are really screwing the county out of LOTS of tax revenue. These are mostly rich flatlanders.

I hunt MFL near my house. Most of bow season I'm the only guy there, although a newbie showed up this year. I sort of messed his hunt up as I shot a buck in the morning and waited to get it until later in the afternoon. He was coming in as I was dragging it out. He turned around and left. Come the rut another guy may show up. I don't gun hunt it much but based on the tracks I know it gets driven out multiple times. I did get the run around in the past from some people but now with smart phones I can have the rules any time I need them. If you know you are right, its amazing what happens when you say you will have to talk to the forester to see if they are violating their agreement. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/ForestLandowners/mfl.asp?s1=FTax&s2=OpenLands&s3=access#faqs

There will always be MFL land, but the amount of land enrolled in the "open program" will shrink and shrink unless they keep bumping up the tax amount for closed parcels. The "invention" of the closed system is responsible for making more land inaccessible than any other reason in my hunting areas. There are many old open MFL parcels that are landlocked, which is incredible to me that they are allowed to enroll in the program. Landlocked parcels should automatically be disqualified from getting the low tax rate open MFL provides, since the land is essentially closed. The entire MFL system is a complete joke. Lots of timberland has been bought by wealthy landowners in my area from logging companies which were previously enrolled in the open program, and parceled into every family member they can find to literally enroll square miles into closed lands. These people are millionaires, and have taken advantage (in my opinion) of the system to have the public pay a considerable portion of their property taxes to help fund their deer ranch. Sickening.

Rempump I understand your frustrations. I was trying to point out that there are frustrations on both sides. My friend's land is easily accessible, though you do have to walk through some woods to get to the open woods. In my friend's case, the hunters feel they can just drive or walk through the fields to get to the open land. I will reiterate that he has no problem with the hunters that follow the rules. The problems makers have been from other states, claim to be unable to communicate or have been extremely rude. I would not be surprised if MFL is a thing of the past in the near future, whether it is open or closed.

I found a few spots last year that looked pretty good. I contacted the DNR on how I can access them and they provided maps. The DNR suggested I contact the landowner since i had to cross non open land to get to the open land. Well the landowner never got back to me. Overall the program seems to be a gimmick to let land owners lower their tax bills. The land is normally land locked and hard to get to. Then to have to deal with the harassment and other issues, it is not worth it. I hunt to get away from stress and want to relax while I am in the woods.

I know a landowner who has some of his property in open MFL. He is well aware of the rules of the program and accepts that they are what they are. However he continually has people driving and walking through his fields to get to the open land. The rules state that an access point must be granted, which there is and no one may enter non-MFL land for any reason without his permission. He got to the point that he just calls the Sheriff and has tresspassing tickets issued. There are no excuses or second chances. The biggest culprits claim to have communication issues, which he just calls BS on and has the Sheriff write the tickets.

I hunt them regularly, and usually end up being the only person around. I try to stick to the ones where there is no home on the property. I still get nervous when I'm sitting sometimes, because of a few bad experiences. I have killed most of my deer in recent years on MFL land.

drewster, I pretty much avoid FCL properties for the same reason you mentioned. It seems as though EVERY time I even look at a piece of FCL, I am getting messed with. It's just uncomfortable to even think of going into them around most open pieces in Taylor Co. With that being said, as the other post stated, some of them where the landowners don't live nearby aren't as bad, but the neighbors still do their part in making your visit there an uncomfortable one.

I have hunted a few parcels where the landowner does not live on the land. I have never notified the landowner I would be hunting and I rarely see other people out there.