Why not East?

[ncstewart]

I went to AZ and took my hunters ed a while back and honestly got the impression several ppl there didn’t like it. One fella informed me he didn’t like non res getting tags when he couldn’t get one in his home state. And hey I get it to a point. But it got me to thinking how many western guys actually take advantage of eastern hunting/fishing?
I honestly hunt the West cause I like adventure and change of pace and cause I freaking love to hunt. I’m not waiting on “trophy tags” but rather just want opportunity to hunt and do it in some different country. For guys looking for adventure and hunting then in some of the western states where tags are limited why not come east? Most southern states are dirt cheap to hunt and we have that fun wet stuff called water so fishing is good!
My home state of Arkansas isn’t probably gonna get you record book deer but we got public land and cheap tags with good numbers. Yes tagsss you can kill 3 deer for $180 for 5 day licenses. Or $350 for the year and that gets ya 6 deer, a bear and 2 turkeys.
Anyway not trying to rant to much but for real some of you guys that maybe feeling sorry for yourself just load up and head east if ya didn’t draw out. If you love hunting and like new country you might be surprised at what you find.



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[camping1601]

I think the #1 reason might be the stereotype that you just drive out to stand and sit over a bait pile or food plot. The NE really has some tough country with lots of public land that's far from easy.
I'd also bet it's like us going west and that fear of the unknown and going in blind.

 

[7mmremmag]

It is definitely underestimated and I think guys will start to pick up on it, especially PA with the antler restrictions and big bucks starting to come out of the state and masses of public land (state game lands and national forest).

The only lottery in PA is Elk (doe licenses have allocated numbers and must be put in early but some WMU's have OTC availability yearly). A nonres can hunt deer, bear, and spring turkey annually in PA for under $200.

 

[jhm2023]

Upsate New York is another good one. Tons of public land especially in the Adirondacks. You can do a true backcountry hunt in some areas and it isn't easy. Have seen some pretty big deer taken when I lived there and I was able to take 2 bears one of which dry scored at 19 12/16 and was 21 years old.

 

[Brendan]

I think it comes down to the fact that there's plenty of OTC opportunity out west without driving east and without needing to draw anything. Let's be honest, you can hunt OTC deer, bear, elk throughout the west with fewer people on much larger tracts of land... And probably at higher success rates too. I saw more whitetail in one sit in Montana last year than I do in some seasons out east. For those of us living out here - it's a different story. Make the most of what you have....

Unless of course you want a real trophy black bear. From what I've seen they do get much bigger in areas of the east. I think the record is 900+ pounds from New Brunswick, and most of the biggest bears in the record books coming from PA.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Shhhhhh. There is no hunting east of the Rockies that is worth considering in anyway. The only thing we have here are skinny little white tails with no horns and bad attitudes. Nothing to see here. Move along folks. Park is closed. The moose outside should have told you.

 

[itsTyrtruion]

i think theres a lot of information (mostly a mix of inaccurate and not) that says the east is all private. I mean... overall I think its a different style of hunting too and that can be intimidating to some. as for the tags to non-res stuff... California (known for excellent wildlife management ) has exactly 1 tag for elk and 1 tag for pronghorn to non-res. they are just actually putting that fact in print now too... but even as a californias resident, you have a better chance at drawing a Wyoming non-res grizzly tag than getting either of those...

but im game for coming out east and smackin some venison. just PM me some general info... not looking for your honey hole... just want a respectable 200" .... oh no... hes one of them!!!

 

[blackdawg]

They do come back east to hunt,, I have multiple buddies who have traveled to hunt with me in Tennessee, or Iowa and Illinois for whitetail and they try for a Kentucky Elk tag every year. It really comes down to having something perceived as quality,public land to access or private grounds secured. Public lands east of Kansas City are for the most part overcrowded from a western hunters perspective. I wouldn’t worry about a naysayer, do you know how Arkansas guys moan and groan about Tennessee hunters leasing up all the farms and crowding the public lands in pursuit of King Mallard duck? They got us out-of-staters as y’all call us restricted to short periods on the Bayou Meto just last year.


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[WJS23]

It’s a lot harder for someone out west to give up there time to come to New England and hunt deer or bear then it is for us to go out there and hunt elk and mule deer. I just know that I wouldn’t give up chasing elk and mule deer to come and hunt New England. Here in New Hampshire the rifle season for deer has a lower success than Colorado’s archery elk OTC season

 

[Brendan]

Might as well talk a little smack while we're at it.

Since when are places like Arkansas or Wisconsin "East". It'd take me 20 hours driving west just to get there

 

[Titan_Bow]

I moved to Colorado 12 years ago from South Carolina. I've been back a few times and hunted deer with family, but hunting a small Southeastern woodlot is just not the same as trekking into the Rocky Mountains chasing elk! I would like to line up a multi-day backpack hunt in the Cohutta sometime, but I always seem to have a hunt out here lined up that takes precedent.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

I do feel bad for the guys that live out there and have to deal with outsiders coming in and hunting, especially ones that have no idea what they’re doing. It may increase the pressure and make some areas crowded, but it really shouldn’t affect their chances of drawing a tag. Most states have allotments for res and non-res, so whether 1 or 10,000 apply it shouldn’t affect them.

The one thing I don’t see them talking about is the $. I’m paying $499 for my elk tag. That’s what 5 years of deer/turkey/migratory bird/waterfowl, fresh and salt water fishing costs here.

I wonder how many of them would be ok with stopping sales to non-residents if it meant their tag fees would triple in price to make up the difference.

 

[ncstewart]

Might as well talk a little smack while we're at it.

Since when are places like Arkansas or Wisconsin "East". It'd take me 20 hours driving west just to get there

Lol well I guess there is plenty east for me also! I do hunt states east of me but really never went northeast yet. One day I’ll make tho. One nice thing about where I live is within 14 hours I can be elk hunting or boundary water fishing or fishing inshore on the gulf.




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[Fitzwho]

For an AZ resident to be upset about tag allocation is a bit ludicrous. Guessing he hasn’t looked at the odds. I’m still trying to figure out when I can make it over to AZ to do a field day myself.

I spend a couple weekends a year visiting in-laws in Poyen, Arkansas every year, so I have started looking into hunting deer and bear there as well. I heard somebody talking about there being some public land (Forest or WMA’s) in Alabama, Tennessee, etc worth chasing deer on. I haven’t delved too deep into the east as of yet, but I’m working that way. If I had deep enough pockets I could just hunt a different animal every weekend in Texas, but alas, that is not the case, and I don’t find myself drawn to the high fence scene.

 

[wgrkman]

I have a camp in PA and there are areas that are 40-50 square miles without roads/trails nearby. The deer numbers are pretty low and you really have to work for them but there is plenty of room to do an adventure, backpack style hunt. The mountains are about as steep and rugged as most places in the west too.

 

[Fatcamp]

Anything east of Wyoming is a waste of time.

 

[ncstewart]

They do come back east to hunt,, I have multiple buddies who have traveled to hunt with me in Tennessee, or Iowa and Illinois for whitetail and they try for a Kentucky Elk tag every year. It really comes down to having something perceived as quality,public land to access or private grounds secured. Public lands east of Kansas City are for the most part overcrowded from a western hunters perspective. I wouldn’t worry about a naysayer, do you know how Arkansas guys moan and groan about Tennessee hunters leasing up all the farms and crowding the public lands in pursuit of King Mallard duck? They got us out-of-staters as y’all call us restricted to short periods on the Bayou Meto just last year.


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Tennessee has hunters? I thought y’all just played music and smoked corncob pipes over there! Haha for real tho i understand people frustration. And every state deals with out of staters different.
I guess my real point was just that there are tons of opportunity to hunt if you enjoy hunting. If you just interested in shooting 200in deer and 380 bulls then you missing some great times.


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[ncstewart]

For an AZ resident to be upset about tag allocation is a bit ludicrous. Guessing he hasn’t looked at the odds. I’m still trying to figure out when I can make it over to AZ to do a field day myself.

I spend a couple weekends a year visiting in-laws in Poyen, Arkansas every year, so I have started looking into hunting deer and bear there as well. I heard somebody talking about there being some public land (Forest or WMA’s) in Alabama, Tennessee, etc worth chasing deer on. I haven’t delved too deep into the east as of yet, but I’m working that way. If I had deep enough pockets I could just hunt a different animal every weekend in Texas, but alas, that is not the case, and I don’t find myself drawn to the high fence scene.

I’m couple hours north west of that but there is a lot of great hunting in the quachitas. And I hear ya on the deep pockets man. I wish I could afford to hunt more states than I do. If ya ever really get serious about AR hunting pm me.


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[Btaylor]

Ok that is about enough discussion of this rat whole state that nobody should ever want to come too. Unless someone knows some good elk spots and wants to do a hunt swap. In that case, holla.

 

[robby denning]

Good thread. I noticed Aron Snyder’s added southeastern whitetails to his hunts. With seasons running into early winter, can hunt when hardly anything is open out here.


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