What to do when you lose your land?

I have been hunting on private land in Dodge county for quite some time.  The second day of archery season, I was told that the family would be hunting it from now on and that I was immediately done.  I knew it wasn't going to last forever, but I wish I would have known about it a little earlier.  So, over the course of two weekends, I packed up all my treestands and tripods, and left the property.

I am probably going to take a year off to regroup.  However, I am a little lost as to what to do now.  The property I was on was about 350 acres and I did everything there...archery, gun, turkey, waterfowl, small game, etc.

I started looking into possibly buying property but I don't know if the price of land justifies how little time I will have to spend on it.  

My second thought was leasing so I looked into the site basecamp leasing .com and found out that their top of the line membership was 250 bucks which gets you a 10 day advance notice on leases.  I called one of the reps who was very nice, but explained to me that a large majority of their leasers have this top of the line membership so I would be competing with a large number of hunters also looking for a lease and that the majority of the leases get renewed year after year.  I started looking into how many leases different counties had to offer through this company and the average was about 6 per county.  Some had only 3, some 7, and some counties had zero.  With that few number of total leases available, that doesn't seem like the odds would be in my favor.

My third option would be to hunt public and although I am not against it, I've also never done it before and I have no idea what type of competition I would be up against.  

My final thought is to give up deer hunting altogether, sell all my stands, guns, etc. and get a bird dog and a boat and start upland hunting for pheasants, grouse, and woodcock and fish in the offseason.  I love bird hunting, I love dogs, and I feel like my wife and I could enjoy this together.  She doesn't hunt, but she loves hiking.  

Right now I am living in Janesville, but we are planning on moving north this summer.  I am not sure where yet (fox valley, oshkosh, waupaca area possibly.  We want to get closer to our families and this area would be ideal.

What have some of you guys done when private land was no longer available.  Where did you have the best luck securing leases (craigslist, facebook, hearsay, door to door, private companies)?  Any of you just decide to transition to public land and if so, how did that go?  Anyone here just give up deer hunting altogether?  

This land was my absolute little piece of heaven and I didn't think it would affect me this much but it's all I think about lately, especially as we head into the rut.  Thanks for reading, thanks for any comments, and thanks for any suggestions.

If you really love to hunt keep on going. Hunting public land can be tough but you will learn how to be a better hunter. Most of the public land hunters are lazy and are there just to have fun. I have no issue with that. That is what it is all about. Sure you can always get lucky but you can get nice bucks from public land year after year if you put the time in. Read the lake link thread on public land hunting and you will read techniques on how to be successful. 

I lost access to properties numerous times. You just have to keep going whether its public or private.

I've lost my land so many times it's funny. The first couple times, not funny. Father in law died, grandkids wanna hunt, land sold, I pissed off a guy(shocker), owner died, you name it. Hunting is all about seasons, well your hunting life will go through seasons. If I were you, I would not take this year off. I would get back after it on public. I actually have private to hunt on but if all I had was public, I would still go. Would I buy hunting grounds? Probably not. For the cost of a good lease I can do a 3 state tour hunting birds, waterfowl and deer on public ground. Is success numbers as good on public? No but how much wild game can a guy eat. If I buy 10 big game tags and only kill 2 animals it looks like 20% success but the year in review shows ducks, geese, pheasants, deers and turkeys all killed so it must have been pretty darn good. And this year I have been fishing like a madman but this is the last weekend. I have to go hunting after this. Good luck, have fun. Consider it an opportunity to expand your horizon. 

I've gotten invited to hunt more property by cutting trees up for the owners or helping out however they needed than anybody would by offering to lease. Most people that own land don't need the money as much as they need help working the land. Turns out I'd rather make firewood or pick stones most days than hunt anyway. Good luck. I hope you can find something. 

You definitely get spoiled with private land. Especially if it's a crazy ideal set up (300+ acres?!).  My first season was on private and was really an ideal setting and weather with snow and everything. Hit public land the following year for the T zone hunt in October and I had "discovered" a few spots a week before. Imagine my surprise (and horror) when I arrived opening morning and the parking area was FULL! Had to drive past two more before I found one that wasn't overrun and had to blindly find a place to sit while walking in the dark with a dim flashlight. How I managed my first deer that day is beyond me lol. 

I guess it boils down to exactly what deer hunting is worth to you. There are definitely deer to be had on public land. It's not nearly the same as private for the usual reasons, but it can be good if you're willing to scout and put time in. If you don't mind being among others who can and sometimes do ruin your hunt and having potentially LONG/difficult hikes in/out, not to mention dragging one out, it's a cheap way to test your mettle with some truly significant rewards available. 

Leasing is an option certainly, but it's likely costly and just how good a spot is it in all actuality? Unfortunately, there are not many people who are willing to just allow you to hunt their land these days. But knocking on doors/phone calls/letters may get you somewhere, especially if you're willing to offer farm/field help or trade services. Not sure what you do for a living, but if it's something that could benefit them, be sure to let them know. 

Bird hunting is way more fun than deer hunting...these days especially.  

Also, get yourself a boat.  Enjoy it!

You can thank me later!

That's a tuff one .. I have been through it... My brother and I lost our land because my father put his now Ex wife's name on the deed  it was in trempuleau county on top of it also..We paid 150000 for it and was court order to sell and it did for 190... We got nothing because of a bad decision... So we hunted public land for 3 years and leased land for one... Both sucked no deer rude people and just plan old sucked... I was going to give up hunting but my son's wanted to try one more time.... I was in the market for land but it costly ... 

I was lucky enough that my brother bought a 40 and we have a place to hunt on private land again... I will never hunt public land again... The area you are looking to move to is pretty good but leased land will cost you or to purchase.. only you can answer the question is hunting worth the money time taxes and work... For me yes I will mortgage my house to but Land to hunt on.. Good luck and best wishes..