Midwest states

[aham]

I recently joined the military and I am starting to look at bases of preference. I have a few out west states locked for elk like New Mexico and Arizona but as a few back ups I'm trying to narrow down both dakotas, Nebraska, Missouri, kansas, and oklahoma to 3 states. Ive hunted whitetails my entire life so I would like to expand to mule deer and turkeys other than easterns but that isnt a huge priority if some of these states dont offer that very well. Curious what some other opinions are.

 

[kda082]

Live in KS. We have whitetails, mulies, goats, lots of turkeys. Fishing not bad either. Good amounts of public and not too pressured in archery season. Thanks for your service and good luck.

 

[stubbleducker]

Live in KS. We have whitetails, mulies, goats, lots of turkeys. Fishing not bad either. Good amounts of public and not too pressured in archery season. Thanks for your service and good luck.

decent hunting opportunities on base as well.

 

[william schmaltz]

Look into Minot. An hour away from OTC archery mulies with tons of public land. World class walleye fishing on Sak. Waterfowl hunting is as good as it gets in North America. Rifle deer tags are easy to come by. Although not the best odds, opportunity for goat and elk draw tags, but you’re right next to Montana for goat/elk/mulies if ya want to stretch out a bit more.

Plus the real estate market is in a slump right now with oil prices, could probably cash out well in a few years once oil bounces.

 

[jmez]

I believe the only base in SD is Ellsworth. You would be right in the Black Hills. Elk, you'll never get a tag, Both whitetail and mule deer, antelope and mountain lion for big game. Great merriam turkey hunting in the hills.

 

[GunsAreFun]

If you’re looking at outdoor opportunities overall amongst those Midwest states, Missouri is probably the most diverse. It has farm country hunting for big Whitetail in central and northern MO. Southern MO is generally big woods where deer aren’t generally as big but there is still a lot of them and good turkey. You also have excellent and diverse fishing whether you want to fish huge lakes for largemouth bass, catfish, walleye, etc. or small streams for smallmouth and trout and everything in between. Missouri has more public land than those other states except for SD...far more than KS and OK. There’s even a private foundation that owns 150,000 acres that allows the public to hunt and you can get way away from roads and people. For reference, KS only has 420,000 acres of public land in total. In addition to many state owned conservation areas, you have large swaths of Mark Twain National Forrest and Corp of Engineer land around various lakes that gets less pressure than a lot of other public areas.