West goes East????

[Flatland Crusoe]

I have to say that despite some of the grumblings about how it should be easier/cheaper for non-residents to hunt western states, I haven't found an eastern that doesn't keep and iron fist on their hunting spots. Specifically, my father in law gets landowner vouchers in CO for a 1-2 point mule deer unit, voucher rules mean the holder gets to hunt his private land. Every year we harvest 3-4 bucks on the place and on average they are 140-160 and every 3-4 years we get something in the 180 range. After about 10 years of trying to find someone in the midwest/east/texas that would let him hunt decent sized white tails in the 120 inch range for a voucher he gave up and now just gets 1 voucher so he can hunt every year.

I would consider this to be a large part of why I don't like hunting in the East in that people put too much value on whitetail access. On the open market its not uncommon to see $30/acre annual hunting leases. I'm clearly lukewarm on whitetails in general, and I've found the biggest deterrent to hunt them is other deer hunters. I also think there is an unhealthy level of competition over who shoots the biggest whitetail, but among friends and in the eastern hunting community as the whole.

The biggest reason someone from out west would want to hunt the east would in theory be deer density and potential size in places like Iowa, Kansas and West central Illinois if they found access to decent properties in these areas. The irony from a public land DIY perspective is the really good deer (by B&C numbers) areas are mostly private and the bigger chunks of most national forest either have smaller deer (Ozark, Southern, Appalachian) or lower densities (Northern Great Lakes Big Woods).

I was going to say that turkeys, small game and waterfowl are a reason to hunt the East, but so far my experience is that they are plentiful out west in a lot of cases and are less pressured. Obviously there are still experiences unique to hunting the east like flooded rice fields/flooded corn/flooded timber that exist in varying degrees of public/private opportunity. Western turkey hunting is just different than the east. The birds are less wary, but finding them usually requires more miles.

Convenience is probably the big reason people like eastern hunting. It is certainly possible to get in quick morning/evening hunts and its possible to make the hunts as easy as one would like with fixed blinds and the like.

 

[TheNorthStar]

Don't come to Wisconsin. Hunting is terrible here. No public land. Wolves have killed everything

And those $160 non-resident deer licenses. Who can afford that!?

 

[jlmatthew]

The biggest reason someone from out west would want to hunt the east would in theory be deer density and potential size in places like Iowa, Kansas and West central Illinois if they found access to decent properties in these areas. The irony from a public land DIY perspective is the really good deer (by B&C numbers) areas are mostly private and the bigger chunks of most national forest either have smaller deer (Ozark, Southern, Appalachian) or lower densities (Northern Great Lakes Big Woods).

For some of us wanting to hunt East, it would be about a new adventure. After chasing mule deer my entire life, I'm looking forward to trying a new deer, and it would extend my season for deer to more than our 9 day season here and enjoy different parts of the country

 

[shootbrownelk]

I did the deer/pig thing in Alabama. Interesting experience. All on private land. Meet some real interesting folks to say the least.

Did you hear any banjo music?

 

[shootbrownelk]

And those $160 non-resident deer licenses. Who can afford that!?

From what I've seen when in Wisconsin hunting, it'd be folks from Illinois.

 

[RUT JUNKEY]

I agree with a few of the comments here for sure, but, others....wow! Ive been hunting whitetails here in Indiana for over 35 yrs and have seen the number of deer go up and down like crazy...like now, I think our herd is down, despite the harvest numbers. I have to strongly disagree with the guys who say you need thousands of acres to kill huge deer ( maybe public, yes because of the pressure...but not always true) Most of my deer are taken on less than 75 acres (private ground). I love hunting out West, but for me nothing beats a huge whitetail during the rut....having a Lifetime Hunting License also is pretty sweet! To each their own of course...I'm just lucky to be able to hunt here and out west and love different things about both.

 

[JLDemo]

It really depends on how far east, I live in Wyoming and have frequent trips "east" of here for hunting and fishing, you see, I have a very equal obsession with rutting whitetails on the river bottoms of Kansas as I do rutting bulls in the mountains. A sunrise is a sunrise, no matter if I'm in a stand in Kansas nor if I'm on a mountain side in one of the western states. I love them all equally. Each hunt brings it's own challenges, access in the east and just finding the animals in the west, but if you do your homework you can find public places that'll fulfill your needs in both locations. Public access is actually one reason why I hunt Kansas so frequent, yes it's a state that's overwhelmingly private, but there are some phenomenal parcels of public and walk-in areas that I've hunted and will hunt again in the future. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's all about experiences, being able to chase whitetails, catfish, crappies and bass in one trip is an experience I'll always appreciate and it's those previous experiences is why I'll always go back east.

 

[Steiny]

I live in IN and also hunt IL and eastern KS every year, no trouble finding a place to hunt, but it's much different than hunting the west. Mostly private ground, much smaller tracts, and a lot more people around. I own some ground, lease some ground and also have a few places to hunt for free on acquaintances land.

I have a good buddy that refuses to pay to hunt and really enjoys the public land challenge. He's killed some dandy whitetails on public ground in MI, IN, MO & eastern KS.

 

[3855WIN]

I guess my place in NE Louisiana is fairly tame. Not uncommon to see bears and gators.

In the Southeast, its more about lifestyle. We deer hunt for four months and make it to camp most every weekend. Camp life and friendships mean as much as the actual hunt.

My nineteen year old has killed around 70 whitetails. Back when we were on a DMAP place, I killed nine deer with a bow one season.

I've hunted a bit out West, and it's great, also. Every type of hunting has unique challenges and that's what makes it fun.

 

[ChrisS]

Going east and expecting a western-style hunt (spot & stalk mostly) is going to lead to disappointment. Going east to try a different hunting style in a different environment would be the objective.

The Adirondacks in NY consist of about 2.4 million acres of public land, 46% of which is classified as wilderness (very similar to USFS rules) and most tracts are in the 100k+ acre size. The draconian gun laws with regards to sporting firearms are no handguns unless you have a NY permit, and some limits on semi-auto rifles (basically no AR-15s with more than 10-round detachable magazines). A non-resident hunting license and deer tag is $100 and you get a fall bear tag, too, $10 for a doe tag (available depending on the unit).

The hunting style is either drives if you're in a group, or true-stalking and still hunting up against a mature buck on his turf. Find some tracks and go. You can hunt the Adirondacks and hike all day and visit areas that probably haven't seen another human in a decades. Why? Because it's easier to sit a farm field somewhere. The deer densities are low, but the deer also don't hang out in spots that don't appeal to them - so you can narrow down vast areas to more manageable bits. Six weeks of hunting over the rut with a rifle - get a few inches of fresh wet snow on the ground and it's a ton of fun. It's good adventure and I wouldn't miss it for anything.