Top 10 public land states for mature buck

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mheichelbech
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Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby mheichelbech » Sun Apr 19, 2015 1:15 pm

What states are worth the trip and cost of out of state license?

I've heard good things about Kentucky.

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"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
BassBoysLLP
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Re: Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Sun Apr 19, 2015 11:47 pm

In no particular order

Iowa
SE Minnesota
N Missouri
W Kentucky
S Indiana
S & W Wisconsin
S & W Illinois
E Nebraska
S Ohio
Kansas

In many regards, you get what you pay for. There is no secret state that is cheap.

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ihookem
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Re: Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby ihookem » Mon Apr 20, 2015 12:55 am

I would take ANY state if I had good land to hunt on. Even here in Washington co Wis. the genetics are unreal.. One of the guys on this sight said if Wis would limit the harvest we would beat Iowa. He might be right. When I go into Iowa I dont see much that would make it a trophy state. Nice land but I dont see the big black muddy marshes, cattails, and dogwood. I just see disproportionate amount of corn to woods. Not that I have been to a whole lot of Iowa but there doesn't seem to be all that much for them to eat in the winter time. Just what I have seen. I have a chunk of land in Shawano co. , west of Shawano. ( amazing to many, I dont hunt it.) East of Shawano, some Texas boys bought up a whole lot of land and paid a whopping price for it. I asked my BIL why Shawano? I guess those Texas boys looked all over the country for the very best genetics and soil for trophy bucks. They settled on Shawano co. Wis. They said it was the best there is. The only thing I can think of is noone knew the area could hold such big bucks cause the hunting pressure and mentality of Shawano co. hunters for 80 yrs has been get your buck. If it had 8 points and would have scored high 70's you got free beer cause you were da man. So, noone knew the potential of letting them get to 5 yrs old. The place is fenced in and you can see absolutely giant racks in the fields there. I have not see it yet though but my BIL has friends with land close by and talk about it all the time. I never was a QDM guy, most likely never will but I think it is time to start limiting buck harvest and maybe antler restrictions. It will only take one year and the whole state will see a huge improvement.
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Re: Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby keb » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:22 am

They are popping up all over the place in allot of the OTC states with liberal rut rifle seasons, once the ink dries on the big dogs it's to late or time is limited for the DIY guy.

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mheichelbech
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Re: Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby mheichelbech » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:48 am

Southern Indiana is terrible! Don't waste your time! Okay....since it's the Beast....I think it can be good prior to gun season...as with most places I would imagine....you are almost risking your life going into the public woods in shotgun (to be rifle) season. Especially opening weekend.

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Hawthorne
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Re: Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby Hawthorne » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:32 am

The problem with Indiana is the state is like 95% private land so the public is over ran. Ive hunted down there. There was a check station in town that had pictures on the wall of the bucks that came thru there. Some giants. This was northern indiana. I think Indiana and Ohio has got it going on with their one buck rule. They passed it about 15 years ago in Indiana and all the hunters say it has made all the difference. Coming from Michigan, its a different hunting culture down there. Guys are passing lots of bucks cause they don't have the free tag to shoot a little buck or they are done for the year.

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Re: Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby Stanley » Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:02 am

BassBoysLLP wrote:In no particular order

Iowa
SE Minnesota
N Missouri
W Kentucky
S Indiana
S & W Wisconsin
S & W Illinois
E Nebraska
S Ohio
Kansas

In many regards, you get what you pay for. There is no secret state that is cheap.

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If I were to put together a list it would be close to this list. I have hunted in 6 of them.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby mheichelbech » Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:16 am

southern Indiana has a fair amount of good public I think. I agree that it is also a lot of private with permissions already locked up. Maybe the same everywhere else but the key is scoring before gun season. Everyone I talk to complains about the number of gun hunters. Not saying it's not possible to score then but October is 100% better from a pressure standpoint and a not getting shot standpoint.

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Horizontal Hunter
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Re: Top 10 public land states for mature buck

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Mon Apr 20, 2015 1:27 pm

mheichelbech wrote:southern Indiana has a fair amount of good public I think. I agree that it is also a lot of private with permissions already locked up. Maybe the same everywhere else but the key is scoring before gun season. Everyone I talk to complains about the number of gun hunters. Not saying it's not possible to score then but October is 100% better from a pressure standpoint and a not getting shot standpoint.

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That is the key. I have some friends that hunt private in Ohio. They flew down in the spring and knocked on some doors which resulted in a very large piece of private land to hunt that turned into a nice friendship.

Bob

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