Whitetail Hunting

[doeboy]

Tons of quality deer hunting in New Jersey, looks like you need to find some new spots.

[J-dog]

By far game lands eastern North Carolina! half the places you hunt you would be better served by a bayonet rather than anything with a projectile. Woods be thick - never mind the dogs that run em come gun season turning already nocturnal deer more nocturnal only coming out in the thickest part of the woods at midnight. LOL!! Last year I hunted hard and saw a grand total of 2 bucks, some does - that weren't being pushed by hounds. Already started scouting for next year!!!!!!!! punishment never ends.        

Would love to hunt spot and stalk country, just to see more game.

[kbetts]

Little ole Delaware is no picnic.  Yes, we have "easy" spots like everywhere, but they are reserved to leases and non-hunting areas.  Our terrain goes from flat to flatter and from thick to thicker.  Most of our big woods is gone and small parcels are hard to approach.  Not saying we don't have deer, they are just very hard to get close to.

[NDTerminator]

Of all the places I've hunted, I consider Minnesota to be the worst deer hunting state for a number of reasons, not the least of which is I want to survive hunting seasons...

When I first moved out to ND, I wondered how in the world a guy killed whitetails on the open prairie. How young & ignorant I was....

Getting onto 30 years later, I consider ND to be one of the true great hunting states, not just a great whitetail state.  It's just a matter of learning to hunt the cover & read the structure.

Between my wife & I, it's unusual that at least one doesn't arrow a 125"+ 4 point or better buck.
This year it was my turn, my bow buck was a 4x5 that went 136" & change, my rifle buck was a 4 point that went 128"+.  After I had filled both those tags and was doe hunting, had a 6 point buck I conservatively estimated in the mid 170's chased a doe by me at 30 yards or so, the biggest buck I've seen on the hoof in the last 18 years. No one got him, either...  

[Chris Shelton]

Originally posted by J-dog:
Last year I hunted hard and saw a grand total of 2 bucks, some does - that weren't being pushed by hounds. Already started scouting for next year!!!!!!!! punishment never ends.    

that is the only buck I saw this season!  Most of our seasons(aside from bow) is Buck only, and I wasnt there for either sex untill after December, when we were slammed with a massive cold front that sunday(so conviniently), and the next 4 days of my hunt consited of highs in the teens, and 40 mph winds!  Good times.  

Dad saw that same deer, shot at him, and missed(his gun was off), he learned his lesson, I always said he needs to shoot it now and then!  He saw another buck which was more of a average type deer, and he got that one!  Those were the only two bucks he saw that season!
 
what a trade off huh??  I didnt get a shot on a doe untill rifle season(buck only) which was again convinient.  But we needed meat, dad filled the freezer, so I didnt have anything to worry about, I could focus on tryin to pack the freezer, which is what I perfer.  When you dont need meat, but it wouldnt hurt to have more!

[machomanandysavage]

Michigan - of course! And you Michigan guys know what I'm talking about. The highest deer hunter density in the nation. The good news is that early bow season is not too bad, but once the middle of November hits, look out. Crossbows became legal for general archery season this year, so a whole bunch more people have taken up hunting, couple that with a near 18% unemployment (in my area) and that gives a lot more people more time to be in the woods. I have never seen so many people in the woods than last year. I'm so thankful we have our own land to hunt!

[vtmtnman]

My personal hardest hunting area as far as woods and terrain go would definately be northern Maine.The moose outnumber the deer by probably 10-1,and it gets logged so often it's like walking through the christmas tree storage area at a garden center.Tons of 4-20 ft spruce trees that limit visability to feet in alot of the area.It's tough enough to rifle hunt there.

My toughest as far as pressure goes,that award goes to Ohio public land during shotgun season.  :eek:      I'm amazed anything lives to see next season.  

[sou-pawbowhunter]

I don't have any experience outside of my little part of Penn's Woods, but I would say the western side of The Moshannon State Forest can hold it's own with most places.  I take a lot of pride in the deer I have been able to haul out of there.

[James Wrenn]

I don't know but if it gets any worse than some of the places around here I don't want no part of it.  :D   Our deer have developed shorter legs in the back than the front from looking up so much.  

[jsweka]

State Game Lands 295 in Clinton County, PA near Lamar.  Steep, rocky, lots of laurel thickets.  I've lived here for 7 years now and still can't figure them out.  It's frustrating.  There's deer here because I find good rub lines each year late in the season, but only actually see deer 1 out of every 10 trips.  In bear season a couple years ago, a buddy and I walked the length of that game lands (about 6 miles) and neither of us saw a single deer, but found rubs all over the place.

[buckeye_hunter]

Don't go tellin people Moose!

[LCH]

NC is hard to hunt especially after the rifle season starts. Ohio is the easiest I have hunted. Any state with a long rifle season is going to be harder to hunt with a bow. they kill most of the big ones. The only thing saving the piedmont section of NC is the urban sprawl. This lets the bucks hide from gun hunters.LCH