Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Best Whitetail State?

For this question there is no clear #1 right answer, but I want the opinions/preferences of the members of this board.

List the top 5 places (Canada, USA, and Mexico) that you would want to hunt for white-tailed deer. If you are a trophy hunter, pick a trophy area; if you are a meat hunter, pick somewhere that has high numbers &/or limits......and so on.

I'll give ya my list and why in a bit.

Okay, I'll bite.



Based on experience alone-- no particular order:



1) Ohio -- lots of big ones, but no rifle season

2) Indiana-- lots of big ones, but too many costs and restrictive rules for out of state hunters

3) Kentucky -- a fair herd, with a chance of a big one.

4) Michigan and Wisconsin -- good herds, but it gets cold

5) Texas-- been to the Hill Country, and if you're willing to pay to hunt behind a fence there's plenty of nice racks

6) Pennsylvania-- I wish I had had more time to hunt to hunt there.



Places I've heard first-hand accounts from folks I know:



1) Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina -- LOTS of deer.

2) West Virginia





Honest and truly, you can call me a homebody, but Bracken County, KY has all I've ever dreamed of in the way of whitetail deer. The herd has grown to the point where the state put us in Zone 1 and that means unlimited does. The #5 all-time B&C typical came from about 15 miles from my farm, and there are enough bruisers around to make it interesting. The archery season runs from 1st week in September to Mid January, and the gun season is 3 weeks in November, with a separate ML seasons and two youth seasons. That's more than I need to fill the freezer.



There are a few places I want to hunt again, but they are venues, and not states:



1) A woodlot loaded with acorns in the middle of flat farmland, You can see and hear deer from 200 yards away.

2) A penninsula of trees in the middle of a cornfield, where the deer gravitate at sunset.

3) A clear day in Ohio after one of those freaky October snowstorms. The deer seem to run out and play in the snow like kids.

4) Dense fog.

5) My all-time favorite: a high treestand in a stand of sugar maples in Mid-October-- golden leaves, and blue sky, with a nip in the air.

Saskatchewan, Canada.

PA,WI, & TX

Wisconsin is one of the best meat hunting states, even with CWD scare. lots of public land with loads of deer on it. the deer numbers are down from 3 -4 years ago but some places are still over run with them.

there are trophy deer in wisconsin, but it may not be as good as Iowa, Ill. etc beacuse of the hard winters, but still wisconsin could put out more trophy's or even a new world record if hunter's would let the deer live long enough, very few bucks get to be 3 1/2 years old in the centeral and lower part of the state without getting shot.

Wisconsin
1.4 million deer
Monster bucks dying of old age

Thank God it gets cold!

One thing to consider here is that a lot of places have big bucks-but-can you hunt them effectively each and every year.

My point being that I do not feel that there are many truly big bucks taken in Minnesota and in Wisconson each year by design. Yes they are there-and yes they are shot but I do feel that most of them are shot by people where lady luck had a big time helping in this.

That said while they are in those states neither of those states would be in my top 5 picks of places to shoot a 160 or better whitey.

In no particular order I'd consider something like this (access being the biggest issue as always).

Alberta
Sask
Montana
Iowa
Illinois
Wyo. (yeah I know that is 6-I couldn't help my self)

Just my thoughts-wish'n I was out a working them now

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

I started this, so here is my list. No order b/c I would jump on any of em' in a heart beat!

Nebraska/Kansas - either way I would be stoked.

South Texas/Old Mexico - On a large, low-fenced ranch. Not one of the high fenced jobs w/ pet deer! We may not have the bodies, but we got the racks and numbers. And I know, it costs way too much, but this a question in a perfect world <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Sask, Canada (or Alberta) - I don't know if this Texan could handle the cold, but I would love to find out.

Illinois - Seems like they are all monsters, also seems like I would have better luck hunting with my truck. In addition to the above post, one of the most famous bucks of all time is the Illinois Road Kill (I think?). I also must admit that a lot of the Midwest seems the same to me since I have not been there too much. So I personally would consider Ohio, Iowa, Wis, etc in with this (no offense to you midwesterners).

Panhandle of Texas - Some of the terrain is just really cool to me, and the deer are bigger like the northern deer......almost.

Oh yea, I am bias, but it's my opinion.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Kansas and Nebraska.

I wouldn't bother with South Texas or Old Mexico. I'd take the money that would cost and go elk hunting instead.

Oops I forgot the Toto state-put me another vote for Kansas

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Alberta and saskatchewan provide big bodied deer as well as big antlers.

In Canada I would be thinking Sask. head and shoulders above Manitoba, followed by Alberta.

I don't know Canada that well, only what I read and see in videos, but it seems like a bold statement to say that Sask. is head and shoulders above Alberta.............I am no expert though.........you may be right on.

And I don't blame you for not wanting to pay what it costs to hunt Texas and Old Mexico................I don't pay it and I live here. I wrote them down cause the hunting is incredible, not cause it was attainable <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I love reading these posts......keep em' coming.

dont like snakes with teeth so the south is out for me. to freakin hot too!
the southwest is beautiful but again snakes and heat.
for the big bucks that you want to feel you have earned with sweat and grit my vote goes to northern maine. 10 million acre swamp where most of the deer will never see a human being. no elevation to speak of so getting lost and ending up dead or in canada can be real. bloody cold too. love it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
volume goes to pennsylvania. i have seen so many deer at one time in my life. here in new england a herd is about 6-9 deer. down there they are in the hundreds. i was present at a doe shoot one day. i think there was about 40 dead and 200 just a humpin' across the field. 1000 rounds fired. what a freakin' sight. very cool but kinda' scary.
i can only comment on where i have spent time hunting so it is just my opinion.
good post!!!
woofer

Iowa, but they doubled the out of state price a year or two ago. Lots of deer and some big bucks.

Volume! Numbers you say! Sit on my front steps, next dear season. Bring a big flyswatter. Kill all you need. Northern Jersey is filthy with the damn things. Unlimited permits. The highways are coated with their remains.(no wonder our auto insurence rates are sky high) A coyote can make a good living off a half mile of our interstates.
Now if you want to hunt deer (big ones).
Alberta
Sask. (it was great back when you could shoot two)
Eastern Montana ( ahh to go back to the sixties again)

The bigest rack I`ve ever seen on a whitetail was in Maryland. I thought he was going to walk through the decoys and join us in our pit blind.

Wouldn't have thought that about NJ? Are there any good ones?

And great story about the big buck in the decoys! They can show up anywhere!

We shoot some in the 150`s, but the bagging bucks live in areas that you can`t hunt.
It is great bow hunting.

For pure meat reasons, I have to say pick one of these three (in order): Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan...

Wisconsin has probably the biggest overall herd in the US, and they tend to run large in body size. Yeah, it gets cold... so what? Funny thing is, I've hunted during seasons where the opening weekend has been 70 degrees, and a couple years when the opening weekend was -30.. Talk about a spread.... You have to be a HUNTER to go out in -30 weather looking for deer. Days like that are when you're glad you're shooting something with magnum primers... Heheheeee. Last year there was virtually no snow, so tracking was about out of the question. Ideal here would be 3-4 inches of fresh snow and 25-30 above zero..

If you're looking for trophies, there are other states that will have bigger racks. I'm one of the meat hunters....

Best of luck in the upcoming seasons..

Redneck

North, South, East or West it simply doesn't matter to me. I salute the states that encourage hunting and welcomes its visitors. These days its the "hunt" that I am after.

Best,

J Scott