If you could hunt Kansas Iowa or Illinois. Which one and why?

[TonySkyline]

Wi. Has twice the book entries has #2 IL. I could take anyone in the rut and they would kill a book deer in 5 days on my chunk.

I’m you’re Huckleberry….. and Go Pack Go (I hope you’re a Packers fan & god bless Jordan Love, he will need it)


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[wildwilderness]

All of them!

The actual property you hunt matters more than the state

 

[Deleted member 8-15-23]

I’m you’re Huckleberry….. and Go Pack Go (I hope you’re a Packers fan & god bless Jordan Love, he will need it)


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My wife and are shareholders and we hope to go 0-17, draft Caleb for another 15 years of glory.

 

[TonySkyline]

My wife and are shareholders and we hope to go 0-17, draft Caleb for another 15 years of glory.

Hell yeah!!!! Plus the Jets might give us another first to trade up if they don’t have a horrible record. I want Caleb Williams or Quinn Ewers! Caleb is definitely the most talented but is a bit of a drama queen which is fine by me as long as he kicks ass. Ewers has a super high ceiling and played amazing in high school. After those 2 we got that other guy from NC I think? If Love plays for a few years we can always go after Manning also. Imagine getting Caleb and Marvin Harrison Jr in next years draft if we really suck!

 

[timekiller13]

Iowa is on another spectrum compared to most whitetails states.

Hunted there for the first time last season. I ran into a local guy and he asked me “Seen any big ones?” And I said “oh a couple 150-160” bucks.” He kind of looked at me funny and then said “I meant big bucks. That’s just normal size around here.” He then proceeds to show me pictures of the monsters he had killed over the previous several years, all of them much bigger than 160”.

 

[Zim]

Illinois but only because I bought the last LL sold, in 2006, have had the luxury of scouting/hunting tons of the public for decades due to my job traveling the entire state, and get most my travel expenses reimbursed. Otherwise it would be Iowa, due to the conservative management. I wrote off Kansas years ago, after they liberalized NR tags. It’s a much farther drive for me too. I live just over the line in NW Indiana (I’d never waste my time here).

 

[TonySkyline]

Illinois but only because I bought the last LL sold, in 2006, have had the luxury of scouting/hunting tons of the public for decades due to my job traveling the entire state, and get most my travel expenses reimbursed. Otherwise it would be Iowa, due to the conservative management. I wrote off Kansas years ago, after they liberalized NR tags. It’s a much farther drive for me too. I live just over the line in NW Indiana (I’d never waste my time here).

What is wrong with Indiana? I’ve never understood why it isn’t talked about like Ohio, Illinois, etc… geographically it is in a spot where I would think should be good hunting with quality bucks but I’ve only been there once when I was younger and never hunted it.


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[Zim]

What is wrong with Indiana? I’ve never understood why it isn’t talked about like Ohio, Illinois, etc… geographically it is in a spot where I would think should be good hunting with quality bucks but I’ve only been there once when I was younger and never hunted it.


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Very simple. I only hunt public land, and the IN state deer management regulations are not conducive to mature bucks. Plus the number of public properties far less than IL.

32 gun days, 16 in peak rut; 12+ years of xgun inclusion; no bow nor gun hunter quotas, no NR bow nor gun quotas ravage the IN public. It’s not even debatable. In addition, I’ve not found any water blocked access public to use my boat. I had to scout & hunt for decades to locate the premium 1% of IL public with high quality, but at least it exists. As far as IN private land quality goes, I don’t know or care, since I don’t hunt there.

 

[TonySkyline]

Very simple. I only hunt public land, and the IN state deer management regulations are not conducive to mature bucks. Plus the number of public properties far less than IL.

32 gun days, 16 in peak rut; 12+ years of xgun inclusion; no bow nor gun hunter quotas, no NR bow nor gun quotas ravage the IN public. It’s not even debatable. In addition, I’ve not found any water blocked access public to use my boat. I had to scout & hunt for decades to locate the premium 1% of IL public with high quality, but at least it exists. As far as IN private land quality goes, I don’t know or care, since I don’t hunt there.

I believe ya and it sounds like you are doing things right. Unfortunately us serious hunters have an uphill battle when it comes to getting the DNR to change the regs to help the mature buck populations. It’ll only get worse before it gets worse, lol. At least some states are seeing the technology as going to far. NY banned the drones for deer recovery (I don’t even mind that but it should be regulated to only licensed operators to keep hunters from misusing them) and Kansas just banned trail cams on public land. Just seen another state is banning cell cams on public as well.


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[jtivat]

Iowa, Iowa then Iowa in that order!

 

[jeffpg]

I have hunted all 3 states, but mainly Kansas with Iowa second.

It really depends on what my property access situation would be. There are giants and good quality hunting in all 3 states, it just comes down to exactly what you have available to hunt.

Kansas was better 15 years ago.
Iowa is awesome but tags are scarce and expensive.
Illinois might be a tad over commercialized and overrated in my limited experience.

 

[Coveyleader]

Seems like Ohio of late is putting out some slammers.

 

[Zim]

I can draw Iowa if I want but returning to scout first week of March, even though I’ve hunted zone 5 since 1990. Not going to short change myself after the long wait & high price between tags. I can’t believe how many NR’s just show up first time without scouting. But I meet some every hunt there. What a waste of tags.

 

[Reddish]

I’d pick Ohio…crazy deer coming out of that place lately.

 

[Coveyleader]

I can draw Iowa if I want but returning to scout first week of March, even though I’ve hunted zone 5 since 1990. Not going to short change myself after the long wait & high price between tags. I can’t believe how many NR’s just show up first time without scouting. But I meet some every hunt there. What a waste of tags.

If you have some funnels picked out, corners, etc, what's it not the end of the world. You're just waiting on a deer that suits you to come through at some point. Sure, nothing beats on the ground, but if you know what you're looking at on an aerial, have several spots picked, your chances of encountering a buck that suits you is pretty high.

But, I agree, and am heading over to Kansas in a couple weeks to put my feet on the ground in a few new areas as I will put in for KS in 24.

 

[MallardSX2]

Iowa.

They don't allow crossbows.