I think it would be great to have public land to hunt on, but here I can control our deer herd within reason, no one can come by and kill anything they want, No one is going to pee on a tree by my stand, we feed protein to better the herd, manage it with help from a TP&W biologist, and I think you get what you pay for. Sure there are B&C bucks on public land in the west and north, but thats from natural diet. Only few parts of Texas have the kind of forage to let a deer get that big naturally. Plus, too many hunters shoot the first thing with horns that walks by. Just my opinion, but I think the freedom we get by virtue of paying the money makes up for the difference in public land and private. PLUS, we dont have to worry about not getting a tag. In most of the western states, if you dont get drawn, your S.O.L. When you think about that, I would rather pay to hunt so I am guranteed some meat on the table.