Best whitetail state and why!

[Hill Hunter]

my picks would be

Illinois
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Wisconsin
Missouri
Michigan
North Dakota
West Virginia

all would have many more and bigger deer than Ohio, very overrated state, why else would license be so cheap??  

[Jack Whitmire Jr]

Ohio , I can hunt there cheaper than I can as a resident of my own state if you count all the deer for dollars tags we have to buy here.

[leatherneck]

Let me tell you, Ohios deer numbers are on the drop. Don't get me wrong, we still have alot of good quality bucks. But our numbers are way down. We have a lot more hunters than we used to have.
If I was going on a hunt I would be looking at North Dakota,Nebraska, or Kentucky. I like the under the radar states.

[RM81]

Originally posted by leatherneck:
Let me tell you, Ohios deer numbers are on the drop. Don't get me wrong, we still have alot of good quality bucks. But our numbers are way down...

I've noticed this the last two years.  Still a good place to hunt, but the numbers are going down.  There was an interesting article on ODNR's webiste about how the deer population is declining due to their liberal doe tags (which was there pupose according to ODNR).  Not sure how far they'll let it go before reducing the doe tags back to what they used to be.  I just looked through their past press releases but couldn't find the article.

[bornagainbowhunter]

Ahh, yeah, your right.  Everyone go to Ohio.  Repeat after me, EVERYONE go to Ohio to hunt...

   

God Bless,
Nathan

[Altiman94]

I'm noticing a trend here.

Deer hunting is better in every other state than the one you live in!  It's pretty much a trend nationwide that deer numbers are declining due to more hunting pressure.  But, the states with more public access are easier to hunt by out of staters.

[Bill Carlsen]

The Wensels moved to Iowa for a reason. (Gene told me).

[hvyhitter]

THERE ARE NO DEER IN OHIO!!!!!!!.................. all you guys need to go somewhere else and hunt......

[Bel]

Someone said Arkansas is not the place but come on boys! its a bowhunters dream. next year bow season starts in sept and runs thru the end of february. six months of season? who else has that muchtime? and public land? White river refuge:160,000 acres  Cache river refuge:64,000 acres  Wattensaw:19,000 acres and thats just to name a few of many more which i might add are bowhunting only except a few 3-4 day gun permit hunts. ill b posted up in the delta thank you very much fellers

[**DONOTDELETE**]

TEXAS

Why, because TEXAS was where Deer Management started, Antler restriction, Food plots, Mineral licks, Rattling and if You ask any biologist they will Tell You TEXAS is the book mark on Deer hunting.

[Bill Carlsen]

The only trouble with Texas is finding a place to hunt for less than $1,000.

[KentuckyTJ]

Here are my thoughts on this. I think folks think the grass is always greener. If your state doesn't strictly manage its deer herd it must be done by the land owners to improve it. It takes a lot of time, work and money.  It would be very difficult to just buy a license come here and kill a mature buck. The places I hunt aren't typical for our state. Most are in some way managed and some strictly managed year round for whitetail. If we didn't the deer would leave. If we didn't give them sanctuary during the firearms season the deer would leave and more would not make it to maturity. We own a farm that has no management and is highly rifle hunted all around it each year. If that was the only place I had to hunt my hero pictures would be few and far between. The deer herd there is not good and its 35 miles from other places I have to hunt.

My point is I think lots of us are looking for a "Great" hunting spot with a lot of deer running around without doing any work and that is almost impossible even in the very best places in this country. I truly believe that a big mature buck or large deer herd can be grown in any part of North America given the proper habitat, nutrition and age structure.

[Fritz]

I agree with you TJ, for the most part. I spent about 10 yrs on a 5000 acre lease that we strictly managed here in SW La. We managed this land intensely and were rewarded with our efforts by increased deer numbers and antler quality. I am no longer on that lease, but have a couple hundred acres of private land and a small lease that I now hunt locally. I have pumped money and time into these two properties over the last 5 yrs with no results to show for it. We have really low deer numbers, a long gun season, and every license holder can kill 6 deer a yr. I have come to the conclusion that "Bubba" really does rule here. I have talked to several of the lead state biologists and all have stated the changes that need to be made to increase quality and quantity will not happen anytime soon because the majority of the hunters "just want to kill deer". Small parcel management does not work here. It will never get any better until the state does something about it.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by Bill Carlsen:
The only trouble with Texas is finding a place to hunt for less than $1,000.

I agree Bill, 100%.. But TEXAS was the birth place of Deer Management, Yes other states and Canada Does Have some Great big Body size deer to go with their racks.

[jhg]

Maine. Specifically Maine North of Augusta.

Maine is not the place to go for big racks, though you can often find mature bucks with lots of antler mass- just shorter tines in general and rarely more than eight.

But the real allure for me was plentiful land to hunt, VERY big body deer- my heaviest dressed out totally empy at 260lbs.
There are lots of water ways to paddle hunt if you choose and also lots of large tracts of thick seldom visited timber.

If you like to hunt fewer deer, but deer in a more deep forest setting, with the chance of actually taking a very large body monster buck it may be the place for you.

There is also plenty of ag/semi ag land to hunt if you do a little legwork and find some owners who would be sympathetic to the trad ethic.

Joshua, born and raised in Maine

BTW, private land is often left open for hunters ie not posted. If you use common sense you will never be troubled and even make a friend or two. some of these areas are actually several tracts against one another and can add up to some very big sections- over 600 acres and often over a thousand.
Some areas ARE heavily posted, so you cannot expect to just drive up to Maine and step out to hunt without doing some scouting.

[Altiman94]

I think that IA is a great place to hunt, but you wouldn't really know it unless you had some private land to hunt.  Reason being is that IA has very little public ground available (like less than 2% of total land) and what we do have is very crowded even during bow seasons sometimes.

Since bow hunting has gained huge popularity the past 10 years, alot more guys are out.  So you have to share the same amount of land with more guys.

But, if you have a line on private ground, especially SE Iowa, you'll do just fine.  So, my recommendation for out of state guys is to either do a TON of legwork and check the public areas, or hook up with a landowner.  otherwise, you'll probably be disappointed in what you see.

[Iowabowhunter]

Whitetail heaven baby, right here in Iowa! We have about 90 acres in central Iowa, and I have access to about 220 acres in southern Iowa. Always looking for a nice landowner to allow me to hunt his place tho!  Buddy up to the farmers at the local gas stations/ mom n pop restaurants, you can find a plethora of hunting spots if they aren't leased out already. Plus there's 2 public spots on the way to my grandpa's farm, not a lot of acres but plenty of deer!  Alamakkee (sp) has some trophy animals up in NE Iowa. I saw a 180+ brute but didn't have a shot, my dad missed a monster this year as well and we were only on a 90 acre piece

[BOHO]

problem is most big buck states like kansas and iowa are 1 buck only. we have 3 bucks and 5 does here but most people kill more. nothing big but lots of animals. if I had to pick a state it would prolly be kansas because the bucks actually run scrape lines and things during daylight.

[Montanawidower]

Its not Montana.  We are blessed with variety... but big whitetails are few and far between.  

I have near exclusive access to 320 prime riverbottom acres with no gun hunting allowed.  We still never see deer over 140.  Every once in a while somebody in the valley kills a 150 class.  But thats very top end.  

I hunted Ill this fall but was reminded that big bucks in those heavily hunted states are very reclusive and nocturnal.  I'll be back though!

[Altiman94]

IA and Kansas have big bucks b/c we allow our deer to grow.  The nice thing about IA is that there's no gun seasons open during the rut (november).  Also, rifles are only used the very end of January and only in part of the state for antlerless only.

So, for a non-land owner you can shoot 2 bucks a year.  One during bow season and then one during gun season.  You can use your bow during late muzzy season that falls right after shotgun and the general bow season opens up then again too.

A landowner can shoot 3 b/c s/he can get an extra anysex tag for their land.  Antlerless tags (for the most part) are plentiful, but all of us Iowa hunters are hoping these are scaled back for next year.

Our herd is on teh decline from extra hunting pressure and it's nearly at the projected target for the DNR.  So, now we want to maintain the resource we have.