Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Best state or province to shoot a 300 pound whitetail?

It's a dream of mine to someday take a 300 pound buck. I'm thinking Saskatchewan is the place to go with Alberta as a close second. I don't want to hunt somewhere like Maine where you may see a 300+ pounder on occasion but somewhere where you have a reasonable expectation of seeing/taking one?

I would have said Maine! Anyway, I can tell you do not come to NC! Good luck and would love to see some pics.

MM-
I'd say your odds are best with the two provinces you mentioned.
While it could happen year one, I'd plan on making multiple trips.

You can do it in Minnesota, but it'll usually take some work.

I've flirted with it, but have come up short by 20-30 pounds a few times.

A few years ago a guy on a neighboring farm got a 17 pt buck dressed at 329 pounds. It's possible in SE Minnesota.

Based on what I have seen first hand,Manitoba,Sask, and Alberta.

I think these three offer best odds of what I have hunted,the bucks being a bit more naive and somewhat easier to hunt than bucks from,say, Maine or New Brunswick and willing to show themselves more readily.


But no doubt they live other places as well,in Canada from New Brunswick to BC;and stateside from Maine through the northern tier states, the Midwest, and Colorado Eastern plains country(another great place).

I have seen more come from Maine than anywhere; but that's because I live close by.

My largest in the body came from Maine and dressed 235 pounds which would put him not far off 300 pounds on the hoof. A friend killed one similar last November......the biggest I have seen killed was a Manitoba buck;largest on the hoof was in Alberta.Both of these were real hogs.

If you're talking dressed weight, that's a tall order. Live weight, very possible. Northern MN grows some monster bucks body wise. Iowa, farm country WI, and probably eastern MT, as far as the US goes. I've never been to Canada hunting but I think we can all safely say Saskatchawan would be close to the top of the list.

I am talking live weight.

That's what I'm thinking as well. The trouble with Saskatchewan and Alberta is hunts start at $5K and go up from there. I might only be able to afford to do it once. I see New Brunswick is half the price but I'm much more likely to need to go back again to try to accomplish my goal than in Sask. Ah decisions, decisions.

Take that $5K, sell some guns and make a down payment on some rough farm ground on or near both sides the Mississippi River. Reference points would be the HWY 54 river bridge at Savanna, IL, north to the HWY 10 bridge at Prescott, WI.

Talk to SKANE, he may throw in with you. Wait, now that I think about it, I may be interested, also.

If all that ive read is true than I think youre right.

NE MN is a great place to start for a hunt here in the states. I'm sure Maine, NH, VT, are viable as well but the deer population is significantly less than other areas.

As I see it, Canada would be the place if they had mild winters for about 4 consecutive years, but that currently is not the case.

The mature bucks old enough to weigh that much would need to be taken before the rut, because in Canada they run and starve off a lot of weight during the rut. Then they enter winter in really bad shape and die off leaving mostly young bucks and does behind. So, if you only want to go once, try to go the first week of November after a series of mild winters.

I've hunted Alberta several times, but only once in Sask. but I did see a couple of huge does in Sask. bigger than anything I've seen elsewhere, so in my limited experience it seems Saskatchewan would be my personal choice over Alberta on a quest for heavy bodies.

If you don't want to pay that much I agree with others that some heavy deer come from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa etc.

Good luck!

A whitetail that weighs 300# on the hoof will dress about 230-250 pounds and that is a tall order anywhere you hunt them.

I'd go where they live,hunt where it's affordable (so you can go a lot like Skane says), and (most of all)hope to get lucky, which beats the hell out of a lot of planning.

I agree, it could take several trips and Canadian mature older bucks probably have a higher winter die off, because in a weakened condition they are so easy for the wolves.

Alberta

British Columbia Whitetail

I doubt this guy will break 300.And he missed most of his Jenny Craig meetings.300 pounds is a tough order.
Almost calf moose size.And I have never seen any deer regardless of province or state big as a calf moose.

Why the obsession with 300 lbs? Do you win a prize or something? Two, 150 lb deer equal that. Guess it must be an ego thing. Tom

Myself I'm more into the steak than the sizzle.