Best whitetail state and why!

[LongStick64]

Absolutely not NY, more regs, less management, increase loss of habitat.

[wtpops]

My state has got to be the worst whitetail state in the US  

I saw a monster, possibly a 200, and I hope all of the other hunters in my area are too busy watching sports to go hunting this fall. Actually, our numbers are down and the chances that the big boy is going to settle down where I can get at him are slim.  The big buck last year was run off by "hunters" that were riding around instead of hunting. That is the problem around many areas that have lots of roads and field drives, it must be tempting to just go four wheeling than to get out and hunt.  A lot of hunters do not like walk very far around here, I miss the big woods where all one has to do is walk past the wall of ladder stands a hundred or less yards from the roads, and then to have large chunks of land all to myself and the few hardy souls that are not afraid to be out of sight of their vehicles. Wisconsin has that in abundance.

[Hard Times]

DaleinOhio,

Same hear, hardly ever see one, better go somewhere else.  :rolleyes:

[MikeW]

I was working in IL. about 4-5 years ago and I've never seen so many fat a** deer in my life, private property seemed pretty easy to get with some leg work, the local who I met and took me hunting had 8 heads in his living room and everyone score 197 or better if you are into that. I just couldn't afford the $500 out of state buck tag at the time but does were $5 and as many as you wanted.  Tons of Turkeys and Coyotes too.

[Indiana-jim]

My pick is the GREAT HOOSIER state

[CAT22]

OK, some good picks out there! It's a fun read. Any of you guys want to give Ohio a try? The Ohio Trad deer hunt is going on at Ohio Power starting Oct 19th. I'm gonna try and make it, U should too! Only 60,000 acres (I blve)of public ground highly under-utilized to spread out on. Check out the thread.

[Landshark160]

Dang sure ain't southeast Georgia!  Low deer numbers and small bucks.

[jonsimoneau]

Good whitetail states will continue to fluctuate due to a number of reason, with mismangement being the biggest one.  
     I have said for years, and I standby it that if Indiana would stop with the excessive gun hunting during November, it would probably quickly become the best big buck destination.  Excellent soils, mild winters etc.  The habitat is nearly identical to some of the better stuff found in Illinois, yet the hunting is not as good due to too much gun hunting in November.  
   However, I have heard that things have slightly improved since they went to a 1 buck limit.
    Illinois will continue to spit out big bucks, but unless something changes with the management...or maybe I should say mismanagement, I think we already saw our hey day.  Iowa is the place to be at the moment, but I hear things are declining there as well.  
   Iowa is currently going through what Illinois went through years ago.  
    The best thing that could happen though...is if more states would adopt the management practices of the better midwestern states.  This would produce older class bucks in many other states.  This in turn, would also take some of the limelight off of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, etc.  
   I have to believe in my heart that management in many areas will continue to improve, but unfortunately, it will continue to get worse in some areas.  The key is to try to be flexible, and know what size buck is realistic in your area. It's supposed to be fun.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

I agree with Jon's statements above, the irony is, though, that the only improvement in whitetail management in the majority of the Midwest is coming from private landowners...This then just increases the difference in the quality of hunting between the "public" and "private" lands.  That causes more strife and leads to more dissatisfaction with the state game departments who then try to create more "opportunity" - read kill more and more - in an attempt to appease the masses or the insurance companies, take your pick.  Vicious circle.

To answer the question, though, as I see it the best state to whitetail hunt is the one you have enough access to to do the groundwork necessary to become a successful (whatever that means to YOU) hunter - unless you live close to the state line or have lots of vacation this will probably be your home state by default, since it is where you spend the time.  The guys from Vermont that said at least they learn how to hunt there are right on - you might think that hunting in the zoo's you see on TV would be a dream, but you only learn how to kill deer there, not hunt them.  I have pretty good hunting around here - really good relationship with my landowners and I keep it that way - but it ain't no zoo.  I really prefer it that way.

Heck, hunting on Dad's place in Iowa is great when I draw a tag there - but it does me more good as a deer hunter that I only get a tag for there every 3-4 years.  I may not end up with as many big deer on the wall, but I'm learning lots more about becoming a good whitetail hunter.

Just my 2 cents (or less, adjust for inflation)    

Ryan

[katie]

I will say Iowa because it is home.  I hunt a beautiful timber out my backdoor. Plus, my hubby is not keen on me spending $$$ to hunt anywhere else.  No real need to for whitetails.  We do not have trouble getting meat.  And if you are a landowner, the tags are cheap.  Maybe not 4500 tags, but my little family can't eat that much anyways:)

[cahaba]

I got invited to Ohio to hunt a couple of years ago. I passed on a nice 8 point. My friend up there has some bruisers mounted. We went by a farmers house and he took us down in the basement. He had a stack of sheds in one corner as big as a mid sized car with monster antlers. We were in the suburbs of Cincinnati

[Copper1]

I am not going to say Indiana is the best state for Hunting Whitetail but it pretty good and getting better.

If you want to kill a bunch of deer on the cheap, you can do it in Indiana. I don't know the exact number you can take state wide but it numbers in the hundreds ( antlerless) if you were so inclined to get permission in every county and fill that county's designated number of tags ( $ 15 each Resident)

There are plenty of big bucks, although they are not behind every tree.

The only things that I do not like is the lengthy gun season and the lack of public ground in spots around the state.

I met some guys from Maine a couple years ago who were here hunting on some property of a friend and they told me " Son, we saw more deer today than we did all season in Maine, you guys don't know how good you have it here" .

I think I agree...
Copper1

[Festivus]

It is NOT Texas! Don't believe the hype on TV from Bucks of Tecomate. Worst show on TV.

[Jack Whitmire Jr]

The state you reside in .

Think back to when you started hunting. You did it for the excitement and the camaraderie of your family/friends . Like Jon said above it's supposed to be fun . The more you do it the more fun . I love living on the land that I hunt on .
I live in an area that the gun season wipes out 60% of the antlered deer . So hunting big trophies is almost a  pipe dream. So I have to say the state you live in and can hunt the most !

[John Scifres]

Just as an FYI, IN is actually increasing gun hunting opportunities.  Efforts to move some of the gun season out of the rut were vehemently opposed and summarily withdrawn.  We also just allowed crossbows in archery season.  Next year we will add a special antlerless gun season late in the year.  Gunhunting starts in mid November and goes for about a month if you include muzzleloader.

The one buck rule has helped some I agree.  It's still very fun to hunt in a state with lots of does and an outside chance to kill a big buck, even on public ground.

Non-residents kind of get the shaft if they want to kill a doe since the first antlerless license is $150.

[CAT22]

150$ for a doe is nuts! To the boys from Vermont, I agree you may learn to hunt from limited opportunity, but Mickey Mantle didn't hit one ball every batting practice. Both arguements are valid. Little opportunity, you learn quick. lots of opportunity, more chances to learn. A good hunter is a good hunter no matter where he/she hunts. I treat every chance I get the same way, wether I've seen one deer that week or 30 in a day.

[Blaino]

i am blown away that nobody has said anything about south carolina!    

[Jesse Minish]

In Idaho I can shoot one deer for a $20 tag. If I want to shoot a second deer the tag is only $300...

[MikeW]

Originally posted by Jesse Minish:
In Idaho I can shoot one deer for a $20 tag. If I want to shoot a second deer the tag is only $300...

Just to mess with you in Texas there are counties where you can shoot 2 Bucks and 3 Doe's or 1 buck 2 does ect ect..it's crazy really. I haven't kept up with the current regs but you can shoot a ton deer
for chump change.