dixidawg
NES Member
New England made the top ( or bottom) 10!
Want to bag a trophy buck? Avoid these U.S. States.
Certain states just don't have the ideal climate and resources.
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You call it shooting, I call it awesome. I don't particularly enjoy spending my entire fall in a stand/blind. I'll take MN deer hunting over New England every day of the week.So probably the "best" states on their list are the ones where you sit in a blind and take your choice of the 10-15 huge bucks that come strolling out into a cornfield.
That's not hunting; it's shooting.
To each their own.You call it shooting, I call it awesome. I don't particularly enjoy spending my entire fall in a stand/blind. I'll take MN deer hunting over New England every day of the week.
Truth. Exact same words have come out of my dad and grandfathers (RIP) mouth. Both avid Maine deer huntersSo probably the "best" states on their list are the ones where you sit in a blind and take your choice of the 10-15 huge bucks that come strolling out into a cornfield.
That's not hunting; it's shooting.
This. I enjoy seeing deer when i'm deer hunting. It doesn't have to be like some fake outdoors channel show done in a fenced area.You call it shooting, I call it awesome. I don't particularly enjoy spending my entire fall in a stand/blind. I'll take MN deer hunting over New England every day of the week.
And a Kansas out of state deer tag cost how much? Probably 400 bucks?.....so at least they have a good herd to reflect that cost. Sounds like he's on a lease or something or good private land if he's picking out the one to shoot. If its a lease, its big money. If its private land with access, its not that normal, you have to know someone usually.........because everything is leased out there for the most part. Every idiot that dreams of big bucks wants access in Kansas, Iowa and Illinois. Those states and the farmers have made it a business of how much they get for leases and out of state tags.I have a friend who goes out to Kansas every year. He has shot some beautiful deer. Racks you wouldn't believe. But he admits there's no question you're going to shoot one; its basically just picking the one you want hanging on your wall.
He also hunts here in Maine and usually shoots a good deer because he puts in the time. He says he always feels better about the deer he shoots here at home because he knows he's earned it through hard work.
I'd like to shoot a deer in Kansas someday just to experience the deer hunting I always see on the Outdoor Channel.
This. I enjoy seeing deer when i'm deer hunting. It doesn't have to be like some fake outdoors channel show done in a fenced area.
But to see a few a day would be nice....and not just seeing a few tails because I have to bust my ass thru the thickest brush either. Having a deer herd of 30 per square instead of the 5 per square would let you see a few deer a day and every jackoff wouldn't be trying to shoot brown is down because they see enough deer to not want to shoot the first one they see.
But there are states that manage herds WAY better than other states. States that have way more deer than New England are 1 buck only, have antler restrictions, limit doe take better, etc.....
I'm fully convinced the insurance companies manage the MA deer herd to minimize as many collisions as possible.
Northern ME, VT and NH.....well......that's just tough country and weather to expect a high herd count. Poor food, real bad weather, little or no acorn trees, and no big farming is the problem there. The deer you see are big cause they have to be, but spread out across gobs of land at like 1-2 deer per square.
I'm with you. I've found a good spot in Southern nh private land that is posted but have permission on. That property is loaded with deer and we've been successful by just sitting against a tree.....I've had my balls busted about it.....but don't care. Big deer numbers in this area.....no bruiser bucks but we fill the freezer. I'll take it as I don't have a ton of time to scout and only have 3 or 4 days a year to hunt deer. I have this thing called a job....and it takes priority over anything else. Funny how they guys that break my balls are all retired and can hunt 6 or 7 days a week and scout for a month before the season opens.You call it shooting, I call it awesome. I don't particularly enjoy spending my entire fall in a stand/blind. I'll take MN deer hunting over New England every day of the week.
Well said. Its not till you hunt other states and realize, that if your just there to fill the freezer, its nice to be able to do it without busting your ass and wasting all your vacation time to see one deer and kill it.I'm with you. I've found a good spot in Southern nh private land that is posted but have permission on. That property is loaded with deer and we've been successful by just sitting against a tree.....I've had my balls busted about it.....but don't care. Big deer numbers in this area.....no bruiser bucks but we fill the freezer. I'll take it as I don't have a ton of time to scout and only have 3 or 4 days a year to hunt deer. I have this thing called a job....and it takes priority over anything else. Funny how they guys that break my balls are all retired and can hunt 6 or 7 days a week and scout for a month before the season opens.
@tuna - Right. When someone (usually who has never hunted in their life) criticizes hunting, my response is, 'If you think hunting is all about killing a deer, you are sadly mistaken'.One day years ago when I actually cared about deer hunting and put in tons of work scouting and sitting I was walking out of the woods dejected because, again, I didn't see a damn thing. I was talking to God about it and I remember saying "I'd just like to see a deer so I know they exist and this isn't some giant joke". The next day, about 150 yards away a tree fell. No wind, no storm, just decided to fall - and when I looked over at the noise of it crashing through the smaller trees - a deer went bouncing away. Prayer answered.
No time spent outdoors with the Lord or with family (both my son and daughter hunt with me) is wasted, but to me, deer hunting comes the closest. Heck - at this point I use deer hunting to scout for late season small game, LOL.
When I retire I may change my outlook and put time in on bigger bucks. But I will not bust the balls of guys with jobs for taking the first legal deer that comes their way.....for working guys that's the way it is. My issue is with the big buck hunters that point their fingers at the guys that take smaller bucks and say they are somehow unethical for not buying into the whole qdm shit and blame them for "lack of quality deer in the area".....quality is a matter of opinion.....and a 120 pound 4 point sure is quality to me and many......they make for great eating.Well said. Its not till you hunt other states and realize, that if your just there to fill the freezer, its nice to be able to do it without busting your ass and wasting all your vacation time to see one deer and kill it.
There are plenty of states that filling the freezer takes a day or two. When i hunted CT it was like that, private land, fill the freezer Sept 15. Hunt big bucks from there on out, or don't hunt, but at least the tag I paid for filled the freezer and I didn't have to spend a week doing it busting my ass.
Yeah....you can feel better about busting your ass, but I say work smarter not harder if your just getting meat.
Big buck hunting.....totally different story......most of my big bucks never came easy. I scouted and hunted them. Even in CT, they were noctournal. My biggest buck down there it took me 50 hunts and 3 years to kill. He was on the camera every year starting in Sept-Dec......just was night walker until one day I got lucky right before dark and called him in. It was at that point I realized I probably spent about 2-3k trying to kill that deer. Bait, time, gas, wear and tear on truck, etc....and that was just a 140 inch racked buck....not some 160 or 170" Kansas brute.
So you can bust these guys balls for going to Kansas and spending dough for big bucks.......but a lot of times, at least in my world, big bucks have never come easy, or cheap. And they are going to the source and getting it done. A lot of people have more money than time. I'm one of them now as well.
It is always fun. The best deer I've taken part in hunting at this point was my brother's first deer a few weeks ago. A 110 pound spike. He's my twin brother.....never hunted until last season.....he went through some shit woth alcoholism 7 years ago and has been sober and committed to his family since then. Took him 2 years and alot of money in a lawyer to get his ltc in mass to be able to hunt and own guns. I've spent a ton of time with him at the range getting him ready and we've had a blast together and got to re connect after a few years apart due to work and his recovery. Seeing him take his first deer and helping him get out there and take it was a mission accomplished. Never seen someone so happy to harvest a deer. In my opinion that's what it's about now. It's not about shooting as many deer as you can....or the biggest deer you can.....its about family and time together. I still have tags to fill.... because I put in time in nh season to help him get his but I'll say it was a very successful season.To me hunting has always been "fun". I would hunt with my now departed brother on his 120 acres in Maine. No competition and good deer country made it easy to take deer. Then bringing up the three sons into hunting. Then the grandkids. What a thrill when each one took their first deer. The family hunts NH, Maine and Mass each year but the camp in Maine that we built is the go-to place. Still plenty of deer. And cards. And beer. For a long time I held the family record for first deer at age 12. Then came along grandson Little Jack. At 10 yo he drops a deer in NH with his bow. Then another in Maine with shotgun. Then another with rifle in NH. He's a "natural" like his dad. Jack.
IDK man, I am building a "hunting blind" out back for next year so I can spend more time "hunting" in a "blind". It will have a mini wood stove, a reclining chair, a small table to put my whiskey glass on, and a rifle rest built into the window. I am going to start to love hunting.You call it shooting, I call it awesome. I don't particularly enjoy spending my entire fall in a stand/blind. I'll take MN deer hunting over New England every day of the week.
Most of these big buck guys are either snobs that have access/pay for better hunting areas then spout off about crap. They forget that most of them started out shooting spikehorns.When I retire I may change my outlook and put time in on bigger bucks. But I will not bust the balls of guys with jobs for taking the first legal deer that comes their way.....for working guys that's the way it is. My issue is with the big buck hunters that point their fingers at the guys that take smaller bucks and say they are somehow unethical for not buying into the whole qdm shit and blame them for "lack of quality deer in the area".....quality is a matter of opinion.....and a 120 pound 4 point sure is quality to me and many......they make for great eating.
As it should be always about fun....especially with new hunters or kids. I got serious and big buckitis when I got in my mid 20's-Mid 40's....and hunted with my dad or alone.To me hunting has always been "fun". I would hunt with my now departed brother on his 120 acres in Maine. No competition and good deer country made it easy to take deer. Then bringing up the three sons into hunting. Then the grandkids. What a thrill when each one took their first deer. The family hunts NH, Maine and Mass each year but the camp in Maine that we built is the go-to place. Still plenty of deer. And cards. And beer. For a long time I held the family record for first deer at age 12. Then came along grandson Little Jack. At 10 yo he drops a deer in NH with his bow. Then another in Maine with shotgun. Then another with rifle in NH. He's a "natural" like his dad. Jack.
Virginia has a load of cwd problems and cannot kill enough of the animals. I stayed behind the big rigs when I was down that way to not be the one to hit one first.In one of the Southern states, maybe Virginia or Alabama?, there used to be a DAILY limit of 5 deer.
Or something crazy like that.
Alabama is one deer a day. Not sure of the season limit....but its high.....it litterally could be 1 deer a day for the whole season.......like 60 deer or something. I have no idea.In one of the Southern states, maybe Virginia or Alabama?, there used to be a DAILY limit of 5 deer.
Or something crazy like that.