Best state for public land WT hunting?

[cnelk]

If you could hunt ANY state for a week [you choose the season] what state would you hunt to shoot a big buck on public land?

 

[Kevin W]

Iowa, nw iowa specifically. There are atleast 6 different public tracts of land managed by the Iowa dnr along the river from Sioux City down to Omaha. Not to mention the Loess Hills and Preparation Canyon area\'s in the bluffs. 2nd week of November archery, scout the spots in March after the snow has melted (scrapes and trails are very evident trim shooting lanes / gps stand locations), come back in Nov all day sits and 130, 140, 150 inch bucks are very good possibilities with the possibility for an even larger buck as well.

 

[sn.outdoors]

Washington. Tons of public land, huge bucks, OTC tags... The challenge is finding them and then forgetting almost everything you know about killing whitetails in the east.

The season is kind of hard to pick. Late season archery is my favorite, but late season rifle puts you in the woods during the peak of the rut.

 

[iccyman001]

Kansas has some bruisers. So KS would get my vote!
Probably second week in Nov. :mg:

 

[razorback]

Give me Iowa or Kansas. Never hunted either but it seems like most of the pics I\'ve seen of big bucks are always in one of those 2 states. I also think select parts of Kentucky would surprise a lot of folks.

 

[AaronJohnson]

Iowa because the public tracts are phenomenal due to NR tag allocations.

Kansas is a close second because of the walk in hunting program. It offers a tremendous amount of opportunity especially west of I 35.

 

[Don K]

As some of the others have stated Iowa would be my first choice. Having hunted there as a NR a couple times It was a great trip. The NR tag allocations help a bunch (your looking at 3 years) but IMO one of the biggest reasons they have such a great herd is the gun season is after the rut is over and although big bucks are taken during gun, they are not as vulnerable.

Illinois use to be up there but our deer herd isn\'t what it used to be and public land is more crowded than Iowa.

 

[bowhunter]

Iowa IMO one of the biggest reasons they have such a great herd is the gun season is after the rut is over and although big bucks are taken during gun, they are not as vulnerable.

That is one thing I like about Iowa. Our gun season starts the first Saturday in December. The rut has pretty much wound down and the bucks are transitioning more to their hiding holes and come out only to feed at night. I am noticing less activity already. I sat for 3 hours last night in a stand I have seen deer every time I was in it this year. Only a few squirrels come to visit.

 

[KHNC]

Ive never tried hunting WT on public ground. Maybe someday, a guy can dream. :angle: :mrgreen:

 

[cnelk]

I would have thought that Dan say \'Oklahoma....\'

 

[iccyman001]

I would have thought that Dan say \'Oklahoma....\'

Rumor was there used to be deer in Oklahoma, but they all ran away to Iowa.

 

[Old School]

Stay away from Missouri, there\'s nothing to see here... Not in Missouri, all of our deer migrate to Iowa and Kansas during the season

--Mitch

 

[F M]

Stay away from Missouri, there\'s nothing to see here... Not in Missouri, all of our deer migrate to Iowa and Kansas during the season

--Mitch

I have to agree!

 

[razorback]

SHHHH!

 

[benkharr]

I would have thought that Dan say \'Oklahoma....\'

My thought too

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[benkharr]

Still waiting on Dan to come to Indiana to hunt with me [emoji24]

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[Don K]

Seeing some monster whitetails taken this year from all over.