In today’s world, when you scroll through social media platforms, it’s challenging to find many positives to cling to in our everyday life. I think we can all agree that the year 2020 hasn’t been our nations finest hour, and we can only hope that better days are ahead. On the other hand, if you’re a whitetail hunter, it’s very easy to see that we are currently living in the golden age of whitetail hunting. Every day, there’s men and women posting pictures of monster bucks on trail cameras, grip and grins with mature bucks, and multiple mature bucks in their bachelor groups feeding in a summer bean field.
It really doesn’t matter where you live either, you’re probably only a couple hour drive from places that hold big mature bucks, because this day in age they are everywhere! More people than ever are passing up young bucks on both public and private lands across the country. With so much information at our fingertips on how to kill mature bucks and where to kill mature bucks, a lot more hunters are finding it easier to pass young bucks and trusting the fact that they won’t be killed by their neighbors. When you think about hunting giant whitetail bucks, most hunters attention turns to the Midwest, and rightfully so; states like Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio year in and year out live up to their name as great whitetail states. However, if you don’t live close to the Midwest, there’s no need to panic. Giant bucks, mule deer and whitetails, are getting pulled off private and public lands all over the country. Head west and run into Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. Head east and run into New York, Virginia, and New Jersey. Head South and run into Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Lets break it down by region and see where you should explore during the golden age of deer hunting while tags are still readily available and mature bucks are still running around in high numbers.
MIDWEST
Top States to choose from: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio
Over-the-counter tag states: Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio
Application/Points needed states: Illinois, Kansas, and Iowa
Summary: There are SOO many quality states to choose from and you really can’t go wrong with any of them. If you’re pinching pennies, I would lean toward Indiana or Wisconsin. Both of their tags are under $200 and both states have great opportunities for both public and private land hunting. Missouri and Ohio are both quality whitetail states and the tags are still reasonable, and you can buy tags tomorrow over the counter, so if you’re trying to plan something short term for this year or next year, go explore Missouri or the buckeye state. Even in the Midwest though, there are a couple states that stand head and shoulders above the rest; Iowa and Kansas. Illinois is still a very quality whitetail state, but it lacks the luster it had a decade ago and there really isn’t much public land opportunity, which means you have to have a lot of money or know somebody. Some people would prefer Kansas over Iowa simply because they don’t want to wait to hunt it; there are giant bucks running around everywhere and you have a great chance to draw a tag the first year you apply, while Iowa you have to pay for preference points for 3-4 years before having a good chance of drawing an archery tag. Iowa is Iowa though, giant rolling hills of thick timber, CRP lands, and high-quality feed. It’s deemed “Land of the Giants” for good reason. An Iowa whitetail hunt will be expensive, and you will have to wait for it, but I’d spend the few years of waiting exploring other regions of the country, and spend the pretty penny to hunt a once in a lifetime buck in the best big buck state in the country during the golden age of hunting.
Top State to explore : Iowa
WEST
Top states to choose from: Nebraska, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Idaho
Over-the-counter tag states: Nebraska and Idaho
Application/Points needed states: North and South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming
Summary: I know there are other states out west that have good deer hunting that I didn’t mention above, but I didn’t want the list to get too long. Again if you’re looking for a hunt to plan as soon as possible on a relatively low budget, the over the counter deer licenses aren’t overpriced in Nebraska or Idaho. Nebraska isn’t as mountainous and strenuous as Idaho, and holds a large of amount of mule deer and whitetails. The tag in Nebraska is good for either species as well, which is an awesome added perk. If you want to go after world class mule deer, and can be patient, Colorado offers an unbelievable mule deer hunting experience. Depending on the unit you want to hunt though, you could be waiting anywhere from 2 to 10 years to hunt. Montana is just a general application, and you have a great chance of hunting the first year you apply. It’s hard to beat Montana’s beauty and the vast amount of big game animals you could stumble upon while chasing deer; the one downfall of Montana is that it will cost you over $500 for your license. I’d say if you’re going to spend a lot of money on a tag in Montana, you should probably utilize the money to buy an elk tag. North and South Dakota are both great deer states, and you’ll have a fairly good chance of drawing a tag your first year applying. Neither state is too expensive either. Before picking one of those states though, I would choose if you want to chase mule deer or whitetail. If you’re chasing whitetails, North Dakota is probably the state to choose; South Dakota would be your go-to state if you’re itching to chase a monster Mule deer. Again, there is no wrong answer here, but it’s really tough to beat Nebraska this day in age. The tag is less than $300 over the counter, and if you head west toward the sandhills, you can chase both whitetails and mule deer with the same tag. Nebraska doesn’t hold near the beauty of other states on this list, but if you’re looking to explore wild country where tons of deer roam, the cornhusker state is a must.
Top State to Explore: Nebraska
I was able to harvest this buck in 2019 on opening day of Nebraska’s rifle season. Nebraska is greatly underrated and gives you the chance to harvest a mule deer or a whitetail.
EAST
Top States to choose from: Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
Over the counter tag states: Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
Application/Points Needed: None of states mentioned above
Summary: Notice I didn’t mention any of the states in the far northeast like Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, etc. It’s just a different type of hunting up in the northeast in those vast tracts of timber that have relatively low deer numbers. I’m not saying at all to completely avoid it, because big woods bucks are killed up in that territory every year, but I just think for “exploring” purposes that you would need a lot more time to explore those lands to be successful. Lets focus on a few states that have high deer numbers, and might be a little easier to navigate. The major plus about all of these states I mentioned in the east is that ALL of them offer over the counter tags, and none of them are over $200; a perfect option for someone who wants to explore different whitetail states on a tight budget. Pennsylvania offers good opportunities to hunt public land; the downfall of Pennsylvania in most hunters’ minds is the number of hunters that occupy the state. Yes pressure is high in the Quaker state, but according to QDMA’s latest whitetail report over 147,000 bucks were killed in 2018, and only 36% of those were 1.5 year old bucks; which tells me there’s still thousands of good bucks killed in the state every year. Virginia and New York are on another level when it comes to public land though, as both states have MILLIONS of acres of National Forest, and plenty of good bucks to go around. There might not be as many big bucks running around those states as there are in the Midwest, according to QDMA’s whitetail report though, in New York in 2018 59% of bucks kills were 2.5 years of age or older, and in Virginia that number is 61%. Even in the some the highest pressured states in the country, big bucks are getting killed at a high rate. New Jersey is small and doesn’t have much public hunting land, but suburban deer numbers are higher than ever. Tac on a few extra days of your hunt to go door knocking and you could end up shooting a monster buck in someone’s backyard. In my opinion, New York go-to state in this region. When people think of New York, they think of Manhattan and Times Square, and very rarely do they think about chasing whitetails. The reality is that the majority of the state of New York is whitetail country consisting of rolling hills, thick timber, and good agriculture; the perfect recipe for big bucks to thrive. With the absurd amount of public land New York has to offer, I’m exploring the empire state to try to run into a big northeastern whitetail.
Top State to Explore: New York
SOUTH
Top States to choose from: Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Alabama
Over the counter tag states: All states mentioned above
Application/Points needed: None of the states mentioned above
Summary: Again, another region where all whitetail tags can be purchased over the counter, which is a huge plus if you’re a last minute planner or just don’t want to go through the hoops of purchasing points and patiently waiting multiple years to draw a tag. Some of these states have more public land than others; Texas definitely sticks out as the state that has minimal public land opportunities. Quite obviously though, Texas is one of the best big buck states in the country and has been for a long time. If you get with a rancher or an outfitter, there’s a good chance you could kill a buck of a lifetime. States like Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi all have good public land opportunities, and there’s plenty of good bucks to go around. Tennessee has the most expensive tag out of those states, but speaking from experience the rolling hills of East Tennessee are a beautiful place to explore and you can find quality deer. Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi are very enticing states because in parts of this region the whitetail rut isn’t during the normal late October until Mid-November time frame we are accustomed to in most parts of the country. The rut in parts of the South and Southeast portion of the country actually hits its peak in late January. What that means is if it you want to explore the southern region of the country, you could potentially get two rut hunts in the same year; stay home and hunt the rut in November, then head south when your season is over in January and try to chase down a big whitetail during the rut in the south. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama all have very cost-effective over the counter tags, and in all three of those states over 80% of bucks harvested in 2018 were over 2.5 years old according to QDMAs whitetail report. I like those odds of running into a good buck during the rut. Oklahoma has quietly become one of the best big whitetail states in the country over the past decade; in 2018 over 65% of the bucks killed in the state were over 3.5 years old! For public land guys, there is almost a million acres of public land in Oklahoma. For private land guys, there are plenty of great and affordable outfitters in the state as well. With all of plentiful public lands in Louisiana and Mississippi, the cheap over the counter tags, and the chance to hunt the rut in late January, I'm picking one of those two states to go explore along the Mississippi river and try to chase down a swamp donkey. I love the thought of hunting a “second” rut in late January as it gives you something to look forward to when your season ends at home.
Top State to Explore: Louisiana
A buddy of mine in Alabama killed this buck last fall that was aged at 4.5 years old. The southern region of the country holds a lot of mature deer, and offers large tracks of public land to go chase them.
All of the suggestions I made above or just that, suggestions. This is no doubt this is the golden age of deer hunting, and you really can’t go wrong anywhere in the country. Every region is unique in its own way that will offer you different challenges and different terrain, but the one thing they all have in common is that they all hold big bucks in high numbers. With a lot of states starting to go to a draw system, some of the states that are readily available today may not be as available in a decade and the opportunity to hunt them may not be as easy. Who knows what the deer population will be in a decade either; we cannot fully predict that the deer hunting around the country will be as good as it is today. Take advantage of this time and use the next couple years to explore the different landscapes around the country, and hopefully notch a tag or two along the way. Happy Hunting!