Many experienced hunters have found that the public lands available to them in recent years are increasingly crowded. While it's fair to say the more the merrier in most cases, hunting is an event best done with a close group of friends or relatives - not hundreds, or even thousands, of strangers. The safety implications alone are staggering.

As such, more and more hunters are investigating their options. Some are fortunate enough to have land-owning friends or neighbors who permit them to hunt on their properties. Others opt to pay the extra money that going on package hunts requires or stump up the cash to buy a piece of property suitable for their hunting needs. But that isn't for everyone.

For the rest of us, hunt leasing is a viable option. There are a number of online communities geared toward matching property owners interested in offering hunters the opportunity to use their land in the non-crop seasons, with hunters looking for a new patch to call their own. Lease agreements are fairly standard and can run from a few months a year to multi-year arrangements that will benefit future generations of hunters in your family.

When you're hunting, particularly in an area you're not familiar with, it's important to stick to territory you're allowed to hunt on. Everyone has lined up a shot and caught the glint of a thin wire fence through the scope at one point in their hunting life. But the a great catch can turn into a miserable day quite quickly if you misjudge things

Sometimes it's not a big deal, the fence is just a marker for the rancher whose land you're hunting on - other times, it's a property division. The trouble with property dividers is you don't know whose land is on the other side.

Taking game without permission from someone else's land can cause you trouble - but if the other land is across a county or state line you could find yourself in real hot water. Avoiding trouble is a matter of knowing the land you're hunting - scout it in advance and know the boundary. Another top tip for avoiding problems is to remember the number one rule of hunting: never take a shot unless you know what lies beyond it!