Some official designations and whether they are rights of way for public hunters-
Interstate-no.
US Hwy- no.
County Hwy- yes (even the paved ones)
Roads- yes. Hard to believe but true that any public roads but the Interstate/US ones above are open to hunting. These are the gravel roads and section lines I am referring to. Google maps is really pretty accurate even out in the middle of nowhere and will designate a road which is just a track through a fields but still public right of way. Also state law requires them to have street sign markers which helps a lot.
Driveways- no. Farms sometimes have really long gravel driveways that are hard to tell from a road. Good indications are lack of a stop sign, no green street sign designation or if there is a mailbox which are only at the end of driveways. Power lines with cross-beams are also an indication of public road. If you do end up down a driveway while scouting, just turn around and drive out.
Roads are on a square grid, one every half mile. If you were to turn off a paved hwy, in half a mile would typically be cross road that is a two-rut grass track going into the fields (section line) and then in a mile would be a well defined gravel road with deep ditches and culverts. Repeats in that pattern until you run into a waterway or sometimes large grazing lands that might not have a cross road for 2-5 miles. Birds and beef don't mix well since there are no crops to eat so if you end up in flat, cattle-mowed grass, turn around.
Both the gravel roads and sections lines would be marked with a green street sign like you would find on a city street. Gravel roads are easy to deal with and probably better hunting with gravel picking being an attractant to the birds. The section line roads are maintained by the county at the request of the farmer so they are only built up enough to get tractors in and out. Some of the section lines are marked "minimum maintenance" and that's a sure sign these are too rough to be any fun to drive, likely don't go through on the other end so you are backtracking over already hunted spots and the gravel has long since disappeared so not likely to hold many birds.
Farmers can opt to take out the section line road and reclaim that land for farming but then it is up to them to fence, gate or post it as private. Farmers may ask the county not to maintain the section line all the way through so quite a few peter out into just field grass or you run into a fence line- Google is pretty accurate about mapping that status but it can change year to year. I believe farmers do pay an easement for this county service so they only put in what they need for getting equipment to their fields. The farmer is depending on this to get his harvesting done in a short window while you are there so move out of the way if you see active tractors or semis on the road with you. Do try and find harvesting taking off the last rows of a field as birds coming pouring out in front of them. Just park a ways away to not impede the semis entering/leaving the field to haul away the crop. Walk to the ditch and wave at the combine operator- not hard to tell if they want you there or not. Many are hunters themselves who appreciate what you are doing or like protecting their yields and getting rid of pheasants helps them out.
I always find it amusing to be way out in the middle of nowhere, take off into a field and get half a mile back into a mile square of fields, over rolling hills and unfenced grass and find a street marker just like any corner in town with cross streets like 493rd St and 195th Ave. These can be an adventure and fun diversion in the middle of the afternoon but you will do just a good hunting the well defined gravel roads. Stay off them if it is wet out since low spots will get you stuck and you will tear ruts into it. Getting stuck and having to ask the farmer to pull you out of his section line during harvest time is a really bad situation. We made a mistake and got stuck two years ago on a section line we knew well and we spent 2 hours hand digging in mud up to our knees trying to dig out and pile sticks and brush under the tires. Finally got it out ourselves just so we didn't have to go to the farmer. Like I said, they are an adventure but every once in a while you find a honey hole that makes it worth it.
