Many guys talk about how the grass is always greener on the other side or that they definately have it tough in their home grounds... Well after listening to all this banter over the past decade online I figured why not just get my butt out to places like Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Montana, Iowa and compare them to hunting whitetails here in my home state of Idaho. What have I observed and learned from all of my hunts.. 1. Pressure or lack there of makes for the most tolerant deer or least tolerant or somewhere inbetween. 2. The quality of habitat and feed on the prospective properties I have been fortunate enough to hunt determines movement. 3. U have to hunt where the deer are right now and if you dont have access to where the deer are, well your chit out of luck. 4. The mountains I hunt at home are much more difficult to pattern and hunt deer in than in than the ag grounds and river bottoms I have hunted elsewhere. 5. Outside of the RUT...I cant imagine only having a very small piece of ground to hunt that doesnt include a sanctuary or some type of solid bedding ground. 6. There is DEFINATELY a reason why LEE and TIFFANY do so well, say what you want but my Iowa hunt on only 500 acres proved that to me 10x over.. If I lived and hunted land like my bud owns and manages for quality whitetails.. I would be ashamed of myself if i didnt arrow a stud every year.. Just being real 7. Its amazing how many deer you see when the predation isnt high and the deer are forced into smaller wood lots and river bottoms.. compared to big woods deer that can roam freely for miles. 8. I know why the Wensels packed up and left Western Montana for Eastern Montanas rivers bottoms and then on to Iowa ...now. No brainer. 9. I wonder if I am getting soft since i really enjoyed Iowa so much or is it just because I have busted my ass for so long out here in these mountains.. trying to find and kill individual bucks.. I go to Iowa and see more bucks in a week than I see in 5 seasons here, not to mention 2 over 190. I mean come on, and I can't wait to go back. Hmmmm, but where have I got my most satisifaction..definately in my mountains.. 10. Ryan offers me to come to PA every season..but I chose ND (had to meet the shedmaster, TJF!) and Iowa over that, brutal honesty.. places I figured I would have better odds on bigger deer..shame on me!...I do need to get out with Ryan and see what he has to deal with.. to really compare his woods to all these other places I have been so fortunate to kill or at least hunt whitetails in. Not to mention hes a cool dude and my elk hunt bro! Ok I was bored and am basically just throwing out some random thoughts/observations about my whitetail excursions across NA .. Blast this, chew on this, slam this post all you want.. Just felt like throwing some of this out there tonight..not even quite sure why I posted, promise I am not drinking.. Take care my whitetail brothers.. We only get to walk this earth once.. be careful what you think you are shaped by your thoughts..
Do yourself a favor. Make a swing through SC; NC; TN and FL, sometime. Glad you're getting out. I'm looking forward to seeing how the other half lives.....when I head to IL this fall. Thanks for posting that.
While I agree with everything said here 100%, I would be interested in hunting in some of the big buck states on land that is not intensely managed as well. I wouldn't pay for that opportunity, other than license, travel, and accomodations, but it would be interesting to see what the average Joe in say IL has to deal with. What pressure he has to compete with, the quality of deer he is seeing and chasing and how many big bucks I would see in a weeks time. Of course I'd love to hunt the mangaged lands too, but it would be interesting to see what the difference is from managed to unmanaged/public in the same state. I say this because I know here in PA and very near to where I hunt there are guys that shoot 140's every year and have opportunities for 160's regularly. These places are within miles of where I hunt. If I were to hold out for a 160 I'd never shoot a deer, and my buddy shot his first buck that is nearing the 140 mark last season after 40 years of hunting.
Shed how could anybody slam your post you hit the nail on the head. The first time I hunted in Illinois coming from Michigan I felt like you could do jumping jacks in the tree compared to Michigan deer. Here sometimes if you blink wrong they are gone.. Amazing seeing what is out there isn't it.. Walt
Go for it Shed, In the end you may see the various evolution patterns of deer and yourself. You might even be that much better as a hunter. It certainly cannot hurt. The idea of "one size fits all" pertaining to deer is ludicrous.
I hunt the big woods deer only a hour north of me, farm land deer around here and the river bottom,coully deer a 3 hr drive south. I know how much different the deer are. Ill take the big woods hunt over them all.
Good post, Troy. I've only hunted the rugged Virginia mountains, but your observations describe how/ what I'd feel if I hunted elsewhere.
Good posting Troy. But I'd have to respectfully disagree when you just clump up an entire state together. State to state is not the same as property to property. Your buds in Iowa are in a real great area it seems.. but I know that as you get further away from the rivers... those deer fade REAL fast. A 190 is uncommon evrywhere. Location is only as good as the property you hunt... not the state you hunt in.
Good post Troy, but I agree with Duke. There are good properties within states, not so good properties within states, and bad properties to hunt within states. Pressured bucks in the midwest react differently than non-pressured bucks. Same goes for managed for deer properties vs non-managed properties. Don't know about your Iowa buddie's property but Lee and Tiff's property isn't the typical midwest property. In other words it ain't like the average Joe's hunting property.
I look at this like a good round of golf. It's not the accumulation of your GOOD shots that make the round. It's how few (and how bad) your BAD shots are. What's a "average" deer in the states you've cited? What's an "average" deer, elsewhere? I honestly don't know the answer to that. And, it really doesn't matter. But I "think" I'd take my chances in the states/provinces you've cited (traveled to) over the ones I did.
That I really agree with. Troy touched on that also with his example of the wensals and Montana. He also stated you have to hunt where the deer are. We have a good deer population but there is a reason Troy and I hunted on the boss's neighbor's 3000 acres verses the boss's 5000 acres when he was here. It wasn't just for the standing corn either that year as I hunt it every year especially in late season. It is just better property for hunting deer. The standing corn definitely helped that year though !! I haven't hunted in other states but I have hunted in different areas of ND in the past. If it was just about rack size or easier hunting... my area wouldn't be my first choice. The job, family and lack of time keeps me at home. I really love this area because of the challenge of chasing what this area determines as big boys. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss traveling to other areas of ND that really hold big racked bucks, hunting different terrain and hunting out of trees. Like Will said... to lump it all as the same is ludicrous. Each areas has it challenges and it is just a blast getting to hunt and experience it. It never gets boring no matter how hard or how easy the hunting is since a guy can make it as challenging as he wants with all the different hunting methods of bowhunting... the gear we choose... the areas we choose to hunt and the class of animal we put our sights on. Bottom line... I love this thing we call bowhunting. There is no equal !! Tim
Wow, did you say "only 500 acres" ? I don't even know anyone who hunts anything close to that size. Not private anyway. To me a 160 acre quarter section of hunting ground would be huge. Like many others have stated, I would love the experience of hunting a chunk of ground that size with deer that see low hunting pressure. Around here the fawns look up, and a mature buck is very rare and almost always extremely nocturnal . Good post.
In most stats close to 50% bucks taken are 1.5. Only like 23% of bowhunters take a buck, so if you hunt in the Midwest, SouthEast, North East, North, South or Southwest I give you props
Pfft. Another "location" thread. Harumph. :D LOL! Couldn't resist, buddy... Good stuff; you know I always enjoy reading your posts. Keep the thoughts comin'.
Troy, Not only does location matter but very much location within that location. There are 10 outfitters in my home county now. I am sure someone who comes here and hunts one of these spots has No idea what I deal with, as I have helped some of these guys and see 1st hand the difference. I have 80 acre spot, and a 40 acre spot to hunt. It wasn't always like this. Yeah technically it is private ground, but I share these 2 spots with 6 other Bowhunters. Hardly private in my eyes, and I've learned to use the other hunters movements, etc. to my advantage. So I feel proud that I was able to arrow two P&Y Whitetails this year. One being 140 plus. On the other hand if someone is happy killing big #'s of little deer there are always areas like NC, AL, and several southern states. Dan
