Kansas, Missouri and Iowa Deer Hunting

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Dearhunter61

New member
All,

I watch all of these shows on the tude about deer hunting and they are almost always hunting in the states above. Are these hunts conducted on game ranches? Could an out of stater buy a license and have any chance at all of getting a deer of the caliber I see on these shows?

Just curious....

I know when I see the hunts from Texas on TV they are done on Game Ranches which would require me to sell both my children and all my possessions to hunt there.

I know the general manager, super guy, at Carter's Country, good company based on my experiences, in Houston and the owner of this company has a couple of ranches and Ronny told me the cost for 150 class deer cost I think he said $10k and as the inches go up so does the cost...200+ class deer I think he said it would cost around $25k. First understand I do not have a problem with people hunting these places and paying this much if they can afford it...it is just that I can not. Heck I could not come close. I have chose to put off hunting Elk this year...which would have been the first time because I could not afford the $2k to do it. I know you can pull this hunt off a little cheaper but because it would be my first I would need to make some equipment purchases that would run the cost up for me.

I would like to start trying to deer and elk hunt in different states and am curious about the costs to do so and which states are the most accomidating. Do you hunt public land? Private?

I have had the opportunity to hunt in S.C. on a deer hunt for a few years through work and it was an outstanding experience but I am not sure I could afford to do this on my on dime. It was a private ranch. They treated you the way you see these outfitters on the tude which I really enjoyed but the cost was crazy when I asked the outfitter what it would cost if I wanted to bring some friends there to experience it.

Thanks for your responses.
 
Here in MissouriI hunt on private land, but I know of some private ranches where hunts are available. Many of the ranchs have gone under. One was due to "poaching" by some. Prices definately vary.

Here is a shot of mine taken in 2002/2003:
100_0973.jpg

His hanging weight(without head) was 175lbs. he was a MONSTER. I have some 35mm shots of his hoof, the were as big as my hand. I still haven't BC'ed him, as I hate handling the mount to much.

But, as you can see....we grow em' big up here!:D
 
I hunt in Missouri just south of the Missouri River on private land but a fairly small parcel. Where I am I would say it's difficult to get a really big buck, (personally I've never even see one), about 8-10pts is about the biggest I've seen. In my opinion, this is primarily due to the amount of hunting pressure in my area, where most of the deer don't survive more than about 3yrs. Granted I may be very wrong in this assumption but it's just the impression I get from my little corner of the state. I'm not saying they don't exist but they seem really few and far between where I hunt.

The other important thing to note is that 2yrs ago the Missouri Department of Conservation instituted an antler point restriction in a majority of Missouri counties making any deer with less than 4pts on one side (to an extent that means nothing less than a 7pt) illegal to shoot which in theory will increase the numbers of deer with larger racks over time. So in essence your chances of getting a large buck not on a game ranch should be getting better as we go forward, in theory at least.

Missorui's antlerpoint regulations for fall firearms deer season

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/antlers.htm

General fall deer hunting regulations

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/


To return to my opinion in the original paragraph, my fathers buck from a couple of years ago (link below) was about the biggest I've seen come out of our area. After linking this on another forum, another poster commented that he should have let it pass so it'd be larger the next year as it looked like a younger buck. My counter-argument was that it was probably pointless since if he hadn't shot it someone else likely would have.

 
For the exception of Kansas, I have hunted most of the states you mentioned and then some. We have hunted public and private land. Have to admit that most of our big bucks, have come out of private lands. You will find that most areas are fairly accomodating to what you are looking for. My biggest deer is at 156, taken in southern Wisconsin but year after year, we see some big hawgs. You will also find that there are firearms restrictions on deer hunting and you should visit their DNR websites. Look into the state's forrest preserves. I have never hunted in a game preserve for deer.

Carter's Country !!! :)
My gosh, have not been there in a few years but you are correct in that it is a pretty neat store. Whenever I wear their ball cap, I'm asked "Where is the H*** is that?

Be Safe !!!
 
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