Best state to kill a BIG whitetail - GO!

[Felix40]

By the numbers Wisconsin would be the top

 

[2five7]

I;ve only hunted for whiteys twice, both times in the same area of Kansas. i was blown away by the quality of Bucks we saw on a daily basis, lots of them on WIHA land. So Kansas gets my vote!

 

[Elkhntr08]

From what I hear Iowa would be a neat place to go. I live in Illinois, and it might not be as good as it use to be but it still ain’t bad. The nice thing about IL is that there’s potential for a true giant anywhere in the state. From the Ohio river to the Wisconsin border, folks kill biggins. It’s not like north vs south Missouri or east vs West Kentucky, where there seems to be a big difference region to region(in my opinion, haven’t hunted whitetail anywhere else just going off what I hear/read). That being said, there’s probably states like Iowa or Kansas that have a lot more big deer.

Really, I just about had everyone convinced not to come to Illinois!

 

[luckydraw2014]

Really, I just about had everyone convinced not to come to Illinois!

Yep IL sucks. Better of in Iowa

 

[RemiR7]

I live in east central Illinois, so don’t need an outfitter. Pike county seems to be on the downhill slide. For big bucks anyway.

@Elkhntr08 where in Illinois are you at? I’m in Jacksonville just east of Springfield.

 

[Elkhntr08]

In Greenup, east of Effingham.

 

[RemiR7]

Not too far away then. I’m always curious what fellow Rokslide members are from Illinois.

 

[Scottyboy]

Define big. Rack? Body weight?...

 

[180splitg3]

Iowa, Iowa, Iowa - I have not hunted Kansas but have heard good things about it. Iowa has a fairly limited draw for non residents and basically no gun hunting until around Dec. 5th. I have hunted the NE corner of Iowa and it was amazing - and from what I've heard that's not even the top region in the state...

 

[Midwestwaterfowl]

Really, I just about had everyone convinced not to come to Illinois!

Sorry bud! I think the cats been out of the bag for 20 years or so. Folks would be better off hunting the other midwestern states. $400 NR archery combo in IL, and what public land we got is chock full of nonresidents , or worse Chicago folk lol

 

[Midwestwaterfowl]

Not too far away then. I’m always curious what fellow Rokslide members are from Illinois.

I’m in the south central part of the state.

 

[RemiR7]

I’m in the south central part of the state.

where are you located at?

 

[mcseal2]

I've shot some great whitetail in KS but where I have been has not been the same since the EHD outbreak in 2012. I'm voting Iowa and Saskatchewan.

 

[TexBiologist]

Public land? Anywhere but Texas. Private land if money isn’t an issue? Texas. The number of ranches growing true, wild, low fence, no added genetics, intensively managed 200” deer would blow people’s minds..

 

[KS_Huntlife]

Define big. Rack? Body weight?...

Mature

 

[KS_Huntlife]

I have hunted almost every state listed in this entire thread minus Kentucky and Ohio and it is really interesting to combine what I know first hand vs. what other people have to say. With that said, most speculations/opinions match what I have seen with my own two eyes!

 

[Mt Al]

Public land? Anywhere but Texas. Private land if money isn’t an issue? Texas. The number of ranches growing true, wild, low fence, no added genetics, intensively managed 200” deer would blow people’s minds..

Hunted a friend's place in South Texas a few years ago. The cull deer that they don't want breeding are huge! We saw a few of the non-cull deer and nearly fainted. This was high fenced, protein feed but still a blast. Then he showed us pictures of what you're talking about...huge, wild deer, low fence, etc.. The price tags to hunt were way out of most people's league, but very cool to see.

 

[Pk_in_Dallas]

Best odds of killing a large buck would be Alberta, Saskatchewan, Texas because you can hunt the entire rut with a rifle. Bow would be any of the midwestern states and Alberta & Saskatchewan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pk_]

Mature

Oh well if that is the only requirement then the world is your oyster... it is not as much about which state as it is which piece of ground...

 

[mmcdonough]

I only have limited exposure in other areas; mostly Idaho and Montana. I'd say Minnesota but big bucks don't often get a chance to grow very big where I am in the state after everyone comes up from the metro to blast anything that moves. There's always the elusive swamp buck way off the beaten path but generally you don't have many chances at anything above 8 points.

One low-key state: my home state of Idaho, specifically the panhandle. I've been blown away by the size of some of the bucks my friends and family out there have taken the last couple of seasons. Puts a lot of what I've seen in MN to shame.