Just curious...In your opinion based on everything you know about the members here, who do you feel has the best whitetail ground to hunt and why?
Good points Jeff, there is a lot of room for interpretation with the word "top" that's forsure. I am interested to see what everyone deems as a premier archery whitetail area/hunting grounds.
This is no easy question. GregH has a great spot according to what I have read and heard. Peakrut has some good ground. Justin, Duke, Dan, and myself are all in the golden triangle this year as well as some PA guys coming out. SHed has some great turf and I can only wonder what is lurking on Joey Rott's area. Todd Graff has some Jo Daviess if I remember correctly as doe Dr. Andy. THen there is the ohio guys, this is a hard one to answer.
I don't know who does....but I know I don't. I am assuming that you are talking about the best "mature male whitetail ground" though right?
Ben, yes generally speaking an area where bucks can and do grow old would be a heavy denominator in what I personally deem as top end areas.. Then again some hunters could care less about age.. I am curious to see what everyones views are on top ground and who (members here).... they think has it..and why
Top ground for me, is a balanced age structure with numbers under what the land's carrying capacity are. I think that some people might view an area with tons and tons of 4 to 5 year old bucks as prime. I think what gets left out on TV alot of times is that there are also 1.5 and 2.5 year olds that the guys are seeing as well.
LOL... I'm sorry; I just couldn't help it this morning. I needed a quick smile after being on the phone trying to work through a bunch of last-minute issues with a manufacturer as I'm about to close a big hospital instrument. This could make bow season pretty comfortable if I could get everything worked out!
Good points again Jeff and Ben, agreed, balanced herd, healthy carrying capacity, being able to hunt large tracts of land, hunting during all phases of the season in their entire habitat..etc.. solid age structure throughout the herd etc.. but no one has thrown in highly nutritious feed ie crops food plots or genetics yet.. in pertaining to top ground.. There has to be some takers out there! and Jeff, thanks.. hope you kill the one that makes you happy too man!
I gotta run grrrrrrr. hope to hear from many other members on this post.. Be back tonight..share my vote then!
Let me get a few more food plots in and I'll get back to you on this!:d Having the top ground may not be the only thing to consider. The best ground will not produce the best deer hunting unless you go about the right way. You also need the knowledge of how to hunt that ground, so you take advantage of its potential.
Honestly, there are a lot of different types of top ground, which has alreay been mentioned. I don't know exactly what everyone else's ground holds, only mine. If we're going to talk about age structure and herd balance, I got it. I have areas that only we hunt and no one else.....when I say "area" I'm talking 20-30 aquare miles. Over the last 5 years only a few of us have hunted it....and before that, pretty much only the occasional Native American from years ago. Now, if we're talking rack size, its not here. We have a lot of mature bucks, but a lot of them top out in the 100-130 range, with the occasional 150+. Did I even answer anything pertaining to the question?
Yeah I've got new grounds in JoDaviess in NW IL. Not far from Todd. It's got al least one monster on it (see avatar) Always psyched about hunting a new farm. The old one in WI had a crotchety old farmer next door who loves deer,and always seems to screw up my hunt,running dogs in the woods etc. I'm glad I'm out of there!
I guess I didn't really answer the ? in my other post, so here goes. From what I know personally, I gotta go with my own land. It's in a known trophy buck producing area. There is a good number of deer there. I have been hunting in the area for a while, and know guys that hunt almost next door. It is only 45 minutes from home. A good mix of woods and crops in the neighborhood. But the #1 reason is, I own it and can do what I want to make it better and hunt it as I see fit. That has to be a big advantage to the way I have been hunting in the past. On someone elses property with other hunters. The one thing that I would consider a drawback is I only have 85 acres.
I admit I have some good ground but with the other 2 hunters and limited acreage I almost feel like I am hunting public. I would have to go with GregH but that does not mean you can just walk in and wack a P&Y or Booner. Yes higher odds but mature bucks are still something special to me.
I will have to go with Todd P from WKP I have seen his ground and what roams it!! But Passthru wouldn't be to far behind!! I have a bunch of 130-150 and 1 that will go close to 190 and it is 750 acres but the kicker is it is what I can hunt so I will say "MINE"
Todd does have some studs on the Iowa properties he hunts, can't believe I left him off my earlier reply, JM Buckhunter also has a promising property he is dialing in.
I don't know....Hunsucker has to get a vote in there somewhere. He's consistantly putting up the trail cam pics. I'll be in Carrol and Jo Davies counties this fall for week but they are not mine. LOL Anybody with any amount of midwest properties.
