I am a currently looking for a public land hunt somewhere in the mid-west or a DIY type of hunt. I have been doing a lot of online reading and research but was wondering if anyone else has any inputs or helpful information that may steer me in the right direction. I have read and seen articles on farmers who are looking for hunters to hunt their land to control the deer, was curious if anyone has ever had any luck with that. Thank you in advance and good luck to everyone this year!
What are your goals? Are you really wanting to shoot a big buck (say140”+) or are you just wanting to deer hunt, get some meat and have a good chance at a decent deer (ie 100-130” range)? You could probably accomplish the latter easily enough in KY. Tags are over the counter and there’s a decent bit of public land. Bucks in the 100-130” range are everywhere. Not that we don’t also have a lot of big deer too but like most places it’s not going to be that easy to find ones that are huntable. You can basically forget getting permission to hunt private land (think needle in haystack) but there’s some good public land with a lot more deer per square mile than you’re likely used to in Maine. Good luck with your quest if you decide to go for it.
I like Kentucky or Maryland and their tags are reasonable, 260 in KY and around 180 in MD. Good public hunting land if you do your homework. Good Luck!
An over the counter South Dakota hunt is a great one. A tag is good for mule deer or WT. Plenty of both, land access is everywhere and it is beautiful country. River bottoms can provide amazing stand hunting for whitetails and sagey hills are full of mule deer for stalking.
