Best Deer State

[REHJWA]

Which state produced your best deer.

2016 Idaho buck.

[Special T]

Idaho, but I saw some absolute mashers in SE Kansas...

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[cbond3318]

Washington, Whidbey Island Doe. Best tasting deer I’ve had.

[tonymiller7]

Washington, just because it's the only state I've hunted deer in!

[vandeman17]

Mule deer and whitetail both from Montana

[CaNINE]

Wyoming

[jjhunter]

Colorado for me, but overall, I have had the worst overall success in Colorado.   Best buck from each state:  CO, ID, NV, MT, WY, WA.

It's always interesting for me to look back and compare time vs. success.   Pretty telling over time.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Other, never hunted out of state.

[jackelope]

JJ-
If you ever need any advice on killing big bucks, feel free to ask. You know how to get hold of me.
 

[jjhunter]

JJ-
If you ever need any advice on killing big bucks, feel free to ask. You know how to get hold of me.
 

Haha.  If you figure it out, let me know.  I spend way too much time agonizing over where to spend my limited time/resources every year! 

[huntnphool]

 I've tagged 180"+ bucks in all three, each has its positives and negatives.

[X-Force]

I've tagged 180"+ bucks in all three, each has its positives and negatives.

I want to hunt with you... But I really just want the positives. 

[huntnphool]

I've tagged 180"+ bucks in all three, each has its positives and negatives.

I want to hunt with you... But I really just want the positives. 

 Positives.......Montana has more deer! If you are looking for a high scoring buck, and understand that to find a "true" 180" buck, on average you will need to look over more than 500, then it makes sense to go where you actually can look over that many. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, and you can't account for luck, but that's a good rule of thumb. Some would say it's closer to 1000.....ymmv.

 Idaho is remote enough that you won't run into the pumpkin patches you see here, and has a good population. But the beauty of Idaho for me is they have units that are draw only. For those of us looking for mature bucks, are not concerned with filling the freezer and just enjoy being out there with the real possibility of connecting with a masher, Idaho has options Washington doesn't. Montana has a couple of these units as well, they regularly produce trophy quality bucks.

 The reason I like Washington is "mass". Compared to Washington, Montana bucks are spindly for the most part. Again there are exceptions to the rule, but on average the bucks I'm targeting have quite a bit more mass.

 The obvious positive to Washington is resident fees and close proximity to home. Where I hunt in Montana is 16 hours away, and requires two of your hunting days just to get there and back.

 Maybe we can get JJ to chime in on a few of the other states he's hunted recently, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada...etc.

[time2hunt]

Colorado is probably the top producing state for trophy bucks every unit has potential of producing 180 plus bucks.  Wyoming would be in the running with a little bit of game management . Montana is coming on strong over the last couple years with Idaho dropping off a tad do to winter kill and over harvest is some units. Washington and Oregon still can produce but need some serious help on the management programs. This is my Colorado muzzy buck and I saw over 25 different bucks In a week hunt.


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[Miles]

My best buck was from Washington.   With that said, I think my future best buck will come from Wyoming.   Maybe Colorado, but I’ve got a good feeling about Wyoming..

Not sure I’ll ever make the trip back to hunt Washington again.  Maybe if I have an odd year and fail to draw a tag elsewhere.