First out-of-state hunt. Where?

[greenhorndave]

Contemplating going out of state to hunt whitetails.

Live in WI.

Where would you go and why? Keep in mind no preference points are in my quiver...

[seazofcheeze]

Contemplating going out of state to hunt whitetails.

Live in WI.

Where would you go and why? Keep in mind no preference points are in my quiver...

Whats important to you? Numbers? Big buck potential? Tons of public? Farmland, Hills, Wildwest? If you can answer some of those questions, I could give my 2 cents.

Without answering any of those, if you aren't scared of hills, I'd look at Kentucky based on your location.

[greenhorndave]

Contemplating going out of state to hunt whitetails.

Live in WI.

Where would you go and why? Keep in mind no preference points are in my quiver...

Whats important to you? Numbers? Big buck potential? Tons of public? Farmland, Hills, Wildwest? If you can answer some of those questions, I could give my 2 cents.

Without answering any of those, if you aren't scared of hills, I'd look at Kentucky based on your location.

Good questions. Low-ish pressure, Numbers and good bucks, don’t necessarily have to be absolute giants. Public ground, doesn’t matter in terms of terrain. Not afraid of hills, although my hill experience is next to none.

I can get most of that in WI, but no surprise that the high-density buck areas I go have limited public that gets drilled by pressure.

[seazofcheeze]

Contemplating going out of state to hunt whitetails.

Live in WI.

Where would you go and why? Keep in mind no preference points are in my quiver...

Whats important to you? Numbers? Big buck potential? Tons of public? Farmland, Hills, Wildwest? If you can answer some of those questions, I could give my 2 cents.

Without answering any of those, if you aren't scared of hills, I'd look at Kentucky based on your location.

Good questions. Low-ish pressure, Numbers and good bucks, don’t necessarily have to be absolute giants. Public ground, doesn’t matter in terms of terrain. Not afraid of hills, although my hill experience is next to none.

I can get most of that in WI, but no surprise that the high-density buck areas I go have limited public that gets drilled by pressure.

Sounds like you are looking for an outfitter! In all seriousness, you'll probably get two of those three in certain states, but I doubt you'll get all three. I'd research some herd data, public land acreage, and trophy stats. Factor in your budget and how willing you are to drive, and I think you'll end up with the right answer for you.

[greenhorndave]

Contemplating going out of state to hunt whitetails.

Live in WI.

Where would you go and why? Keep in mind no preference points are in my quiver...

Whats important to you? Numbers? Big buck potential? Tons of public? Farmland, Hills, Wildwest? If you can answer some of those questions, I could give my 2 cents.

Without answering any of those, if you aren't scared of hills, I'd look at Kentucky based on your location.

Good questions. Low-ish pressure, Numbers and good bucks, don’t necessarily have to be absolute giants. Public ground, doesn’t matter in terms of terrain. Not afraid of hills, although my hill experience is next to none.

I can get most of that in WI, but no surprise that the high-density buck areas I go have limited public that gets drilled by pressure.

Sounds like you are looking for an outfitter! In all seriousness, you'll probably get two of those three in certain states, but I doubt you'll get all three. I'd research some herd data, public land acreage, and trophy stats. Factor in your budget and how willing you are to drive, and I think you'll end up with the right answer for you.

lol... good to know. Any meet some of those criteria in your travels?

[BRoth82]

Are you bow hunting or gun hunting? I've been gun hunting Nebraska for the last 3 years, they have a limited number or tags and it's all first come first serve.

[Edcyclopedia]

Dakotas
KY
Indiana

[greenhorndave]

Are you bow hunting or gun hunting? I've been gun hunting Nebraska for the last 3 years, they have a limited number or tags and it's all first come first serve.

Bow.

[greenhorndave]

Dakotas
KY
Indiana

[Scott S]

I could be wrong on this, as I have no personal experience, but I thought Nebraska did OTC non-resident bow tags. Also, I think their bow season starts Sept 1.

[BRoth82]

I could be wrong on this, as I have no personal experience, but I thought Nebraska did OTC non-resident bow tags. Also, I think their bow season starts Sept 1.

Nebraska is OTC for all their tags, they go on sale I think the end of July. Then it's a first to buy them gets them, no lottery or points, just fastest on the keys.

Also Bow is unlimited and you can hunt the entire state, that goes for Muzzleloader as well.

GreenhornDave You can PM me if you have more questions.

[thwack16]

Going off this; Low-ish pressure, Numbers and good bucks, I think I'd look NE, SD, or ND. IN & KY probably meet those parameters as well.

I make no qualms about it, I go out of state looking for a P&Y. The best chance to do that in my opinion is a state that limits hunter numbers and backs gun seasons to after the rut and severely reduces the length of them. It's pretty much KS & IA in my opinion, and of course you can't hunt those every year.

[seazofcheeze]

Contemplating going out of state to hunt whitetails.

Live in WI.

Where would you go and why? Keep in mind no preference points are in my quiver...

Whats important to you? Numbers? Big buck potential? Tons of public? Farmland, Hills, Wildwest? If you can answer some of those questions, I could give my 2 cents.

Without answering any of those, if you aren't scared of hills, I'd look at Kentucky based on your location.

Good questions. Low-ish pressure, Numbers and good bucks, don’t necessarily have to be absolute giants. Public ground, doesn’t matter in terms of terrain. Not afraid of hills, although my hill experience is next to none.

I can get most of that in WI, but no surprise that the high-density buck areas I go have limited public that gets drilled by pressure.

Sounds like you are looking for an outfitter! In all seriousness, you'll probably get two of those three in certain states, but I doubt you'll get all three. I'd research some herd data, public land acreage, and trophy stats. Factor in your budget and how willing you are to drive, and I think you'll end up with the right answer for you.

lol... good to know. Any meet some of those criteria in your travels?

Statistically, you already live in the best state for killing a trophy whitetail, so anything out of state is probably going to be some sort of downgrade. My experience hunting other states vs. Michigan is almost always lower numbers. Michigan has good deer numbers, just terrible age structure. If you want to see a lot of deer, Michigan is actually a pretty good option, OTC and tags are relatively cheap, just don't expect to see much over 100". Apart from that, I'll stick by my original suggestion of KY.

[greenhorndave]

Contemplating going out of state to hunt whitetails.

Live in WI.

Where would you go and why? Keep in mind no preference points are in my quiver...

Whats important to you? Numbers? Big buck potential? Tons of public? Farmland, Hills, Wildwest? If you can answer some of those questions, I could give my 2 cents.

Without answering any of those, if you aren't scared of hills, I'd look at Kentucky based on your location.

Good questions. Low-ish pressure, Numbers and good bucks, don’t necessarily have to be absolute giants. Public ground, doesn’t matter in terms of terrain. Not afraid of hills, although my hill experience is next to none.

I can get most of that in WI, but no surprise that the high-density buck areas I go have limited public that gets drilled by pressure.

Sounds like you are looking for an outfitter! In all seriousness, you'll probably get two of those three in certain states, but I doubt you'll get all three. I'd research some herd data, public land acreage, and trophy stats. Factor in your budget and how willing you are to drive, and I think you'll end up with the right answer for you.

lol... good to know. Any meet some of those criteria in your travels?

Statistically, you already live in the best state for killing a trophy whitetail, so anything out of state is probably going to be some sort of downgrade. My experience hunting other states vs. Michigan is almost always lower numbers. Michigan has good deer numbers, just terrible age structure. If you want to see a lot of deer, Michigan is actually a pretty good option, OTC and tags are relatively cheap, just don't expect to see much over 100". Apart from that, I'll stick by my original suggestion of KY.

Appreciate it!

There are many different areas in WI that I have not yet hunted but want to, so staying in state would effectively be remote hunts but in my home state. It’s big enough and diverse enough to treat it that way. I’m leaning that way, but just want to consider other options too. Who knows if I’d tag out early?

[Thesouthpaw]

Dakotas
KY
Indiana

I second this.