Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Looking for a whitetail state.....

Ok y'all, I'm looking for a 'new' whitetail state..... The goal here is to find a public land access spot that I can make a yearly or every couple of years tradition moving forward. Here's the criteria.

Looking for gun seasons. Slug or rifle is ok either way.

Even muzzleloader would work. Ohio and Pennsylvania are out (they both have late muzzleloader seasons) because I already hunt those regularly.

1) Public Land: I want public land access, the bigger the better. The goal here is to find a spot big enough to hunt year after year and learn it as I go.

2) OTC tags: I would prefer OTC tags, so that I can get the license easily. Buck and doe. Multiple doe tags would be awesome. There may even be some southern States with multiple buck tags. Also, depending on how buying tags works this could be a last minute decision some years depending on how my other seasons go. I.e. if I have freezer room after the seasons I already hunt, I may decide Christmas week to take five days during January and go hunt.

3) Late season dates: late season dates are preferred. After Christmas, or even January dates. I've got allot going on all of November and December most years. But January my schedule suddenly opens up. Season dates between Christmas and New year's would be excellent as I could take the kids along when they're old enough without them missing any school.

4) Deer #s..... Looking for a state or an area with generally high deer numbers. I don't care one bit about bucks or size of bucks. But if I could find a state that meets these requirements that I could regularly bust a doe or two in a week of hunting, I'd be happy.

Essentially the goal here is to find a state with gun seasons open after Christmas, lots of deer, easy to get tags, and lots of public land.

I may be dreaming, but figured it was worth a shot. Any states that could possibly meet those requirements that I could start researching?

-Jake

Following this too.

SC season runs from August-Jan. Bucks can be taken in velvet. Tags are cheap, bag limits liberal, plenty of hogs and coyotes to take.
We like nothing better than Yankees slogging through the woods.
Absolutely love them telling us what we are doing wrong.

I have hunted Kentucky with good success the last several years, deer numbers are good with the potential for taking big bucks. KY license is $260.00 and is available on-line, it allows a hunter to take one buck and one doe. On a typical day it is not unusual to see 10-20 deer, most shooting opportunities will be 100-200 yds.. Best buck I have taken there is a large symetrical 8 pt, this year I harvested a 7 pt. and let several smaller 8 pt. bucks walk.

I'll do my best to avoid talk. Just enjoy the woods, try to fill my tags and head home.

I'll gladly chase deer to anyone though. Just point me in the right direction and pick me up when it's over lol

-Jake

I've done some reading on Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Maryland. All have late season firearms seasons of some type. I'll keep researching and looking for advice.

-Jake

Western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming are loaded with deer and public lands are vast and easily accessed. Try the Black Hills Nat'l Forest near Rapid City.

Sherwood

Id Say South Carolina fits here if you want long gun seasons and quality bucks are of no concern, I got a meat hunter buddy that makes an annual trip down there and he loves it....I would also look at the Bankhead National Forest in Alabama, and area with plenty of space and long gun seasons.........Good luck.....Hb

Nope, Arkansas has no gun seasons of any type after December. Regular gun season is over on first weekend of December. There is one more MZ season of a couple days in December and one more modern gun for two days after Christmas. Oh, wait ... there is one youth only gun hunt for a weekend in January.

Good luck....

Missouri is currently constructing a wall at the Illinois border.....stay east

How do you guys find time to hunt when you're so busy screwing your sheep?

So what's a pair of designer hip waders cost you good ol' boys down there?

Boca, Northern Wisconsin, Michigans UP, and Northern Manysodas fit the template you laid out. All have OTC licenses, Manysodas usually starts rifle hunting the first week of November, The UP starts on the 15th of November and Cheeseville opens on the Saturday before Thanksgiving which can vary by a week as to start date. All have abundant state, county and federal land to hunt and have some big bucks roaming the landscape.

The cons are that,
*Rifle season can be a real cold affair in all three states,
* Wolves have somewhat or completely decimated some areas in all three states.
*Seeing deer is not always a given, even though you picked a good areaas things can change fast
* No January dates unless some antlerless season can become available. (I think the south is where January hunting is available)

I was referring to the few days open after Christmas. I thought it was three days, but it may have been only two.

-Jake

Kentucky or Missouri are two I would suggest. Both are monster buck states.

North Carolina gun season goes Oct to Jan 1st. Plenty of public land and OTC tags. Good bag limits as well.

From my reading so far NC is high on the list. I could leave the day after Christmas and get good hunting time in before heading home for new year's.

Need to look into public land options and regulations now

-Jake

Well it ain't gonna be western NC. I used to live there and we only had a three week Rifle season starting the week of Thanksgiving.

It appears the rest of the state goes until January 1st. You were living in the wrong spot
Should have asked the fire before moving there.

-Jake

Mississippi and Alabama have what you are looking for and lots of it. On public lands down here it is TOUGH hunting. There are lots of deer and liberal seasons, but the woods are thick and sight lines very limited. You have to do your homework.

I used to make an annual trek up to Noxubee NWR for deer hunting. It has great populations and even some nice bucks. Mississippi does not allow non-residents to take does on public land, so that kinda sucks if you are just looking for groceries. It's also prime rut time. It sees a good bit of pressure, but if you are willing to walk a mile or so off the road, you'll have the place to yourself.

https://www.fws.gov/nwrs/threecolumn.aspx?id=2147534479