8 Big Buck States for 2012

Is this the year you set your sights beyond your own home hunting boundaries and go after that faraway buck with true record book potential? Or maybe your local hunt houses a monster with record potential and you’re wondering if you should just focus on things right there? North American Whitetail has taken a look at Boone & Crockett’s Trophy Search, showing which ones offer a realistic choice at a true B&C trophy this season. Despite concerns about the drought that slammed much of the country, as well as disease outbreaks that can have a huge impact on trophy potential, this year has the chance to be a monster-producing year. Here are our picks for the top eight states to kill a giant buck in 2012.

Illinois

Last year Illinois was a perennial whitetail record producer, partially as a courtesy to the famed Pike County and partially due to every other awesome acre of agriculture in the state. The Land of Lincoln didn’t produce the most B&C bucks last year at 27, but it did produce the most among the top 50 typicals and non-typicals with a total of 15 on both lists. Of the top 15, eight were typicals and seven were non-typicals, including Travis Cockburn’s gnarly 30-point Williamson County buck, which scored 247 2/8 inches to earn a spot as the second largest whitetail killed in North America last season. Some biologists fear record drought across much of country and Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD), both of which are hammering Illinois herds right now. This could sharply impact not only the number of deer hunters in the field, but the size of the bucks as well.

“A lot of bucks are going to have difficulty reaching their full antler potential this year due to the drought,” says whitetail biologist and Growing Deer TV host Dr. Grant Woods. That being said, they aren’t going to disappear, either. A big buck last year may not leap up in size like he would with optimal feed and water, but it’s doubtful he’s going to shrink much either.

Where EHD is concerned, Illinois’ last big outbreaks were in 2007 and before that in 1998. How many bucks did the state put in the Top 50 Typical and Non-typical lists those years? A total of 32, which indicates that despite years where deer herds suffer EHD outbreaks, the odds for taking a record buck remain as high there as they do elsewhere.

While Pike County still gets the ink, a growing number of hunters are starting to believe the odds of a hunter scoring one are beginning to get played out. Hunts here can run you top dollar and because lease rates are so high, outfitters are forced to run herds of hunters through the season. If you can swing it with a top outfitter there, go for it; but if not, look elsewhere in the state, particularly toward the Indiana line, which is producing ample beasts itself. Of the 27 Illinois bucks to make the records last year, two hailed from Pike.

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Top 8 Big Buck States for 2012

Silver Doctor

The sleeper state is Missouri. You can hunt with a rifle and buy a tag over the counter. There are some awesome bucks there under normal conditions… I don't know how it will be this season given the drought in the Midwest, but I have never been disappointed hunting there.
George

I don't think hunters in Iowa are registering their bucks in the B&C book bc I'm pretty sure between lee & tiff, the kisky's, n drury bro's I've seen at least 8 booners so 11 entries is just hard to believe. WI with 30 n Iowa with 11??????
http://www.facebook.com/mp08052 Michael Powell

can not enter a buck that is not considered fair chase
theoutdoorwriter

How does Alberta make the list? When did we get that as a state?
- Cummins45306
  
  I agree, the Title of the article is 8 Big Buck STATES for 2012,,, you want to talk about Alberta, then do a story on Canadian Whitetails. Last I knew we didnt need a Passport to hunt in a neighboring STATE.
otis rily

how does the primos boys ie bums continually get tags in iowa? every year? when its a pt. system to be drawn? ill tell you.its all about money they pay off the iowa dnr. they are a bunch of phonys like the natural born idiots..
hunter

Nc has giants. Just have to manage your farm
Todd

Alberta?
Not a state moron.
JBoone

ummmm… Alberta??? Seriously?
Werner

Alberta is not a state but there are a lot of hunters coming here to hunt. Makes one think. There are also a large number of large bucks up here.
Randy

Lists like these are what will help you loose your place to hunt,Ive lived it in Missouri,Iowa and Kansas.All the farms we hunted in the past are now leased by nonreidents who are here 2-3 weeks @the most during the season and most have the crowded as h–l east coast mentality (stay off my land) I run into while trying to gain access to neighboring farms I hunt in MY community.Not makIng this list made my day and hopefully we'll never make one again. Have you seen the price paid for an acre of ground to hunt in most of the states on the list let alone the cost of a non res.tag in them.Which state had the most trophies killed compared to the number of hunters trying to harvest them was?Im sure a crowded eastern state with 2-3 times the hunters will always harvest more B&C bucks.What cha think?
- Norbert
  
  I hear ya bro, Don't much like getting priced out of the game either. it wont be long before ya need a corporate sponsor just to get a license.
- embracinggrey
  
  I am not a hunter but if I am paying for an exclusive lease then, yeah, I am going to have a problem with someone taking trophy bucks off land I'm paying for without my OK.
Jim Spagnola

Buck probably shot on private lands and fed supplements
6thgenKansasn

A few errors on the Kansas report…the state hasn't offered transferable landowner permits for at least five years, but most units have left-over non-resident permits after the early draw. Also, you don't have to have a guide to hunt in Kansas. A few years ago the largest typical whitetail bow-killed in the nation was by an out-of-state guy who'd made friends with some Kansas farmers and was hunting for free…no lease, no guide fee.

Also, it's been a great year so far for trophy bucks…by mid-Oct I'd already gotten credible reports of at least 12 bucks grossing more than 200-inches…but that includes a few mule deer, too.

That said, Kanas has very, very little public land, non-resident permit numbers have been sky-rocketing and poaching is a huge issue.
http://twitter.com/ISOwhitetails @ISOwhitetails

As a Missouri bowhunter I'll add my voice to those who were intensely disappointed that a Canadian province was chosen over our state. There's great hunting here, outstanding conservation efforts, and best of all, no passport required.

Dan
In Search of Whitetails – Bowhunting Deer and Turkey in the Midwest http://eruditesys.com/hunting
jake

I live in Indianan tri-state area and have seen more monster bucks this year than I can count, I dont know what the deal is but it seams like every time I see a buck they just keep getting bigger and bigger. Ive seen at least 3 in the 175 to 200-inch deer. Several in the 150 range.
Chuck

Anyone want to buy some land with monster bucks just drop me a email cjenkins4952@yahoo.com. I have 160 acres that join the white river refuge in Ethel Arkansas, asking 3500 per acre
kenwalker

I have a 118 acre farm for sale with 160+ big bucks, with over 1-mile of creek frontage.7172149243 or 7175761939 kenwalker@howardhanna.com