I have to say.....i just love to hunt...so i'm sure hunting anywhere is good. but i love hunting on our home ranch. like was stated before...the diversity here is already so much. we can hunt deer/hog/dove/quail all readily avaialble. a good place to stay/sleep...nobody to compete with. don't have to travel very far. always with people you know.

i could travel upstate and pay however many thousand to hunt, and have a damn good time, but i don't think i could say i had anymore fun than i did cruising down to the ranch.

That is what its all about man! I hope you have a great season buddy!

I love hunting Texas with a passion. It's a big part of what makes me who I am. With that said it's also nice to hunt different parts of the country just to be in a different terrain/environment. Just being outdoors in an isolated area watching wild life and listening to mother nature is what its about for me. Honestly I have a blast even if I don't see a deer.

Me too! I love to hunt here in TX but its fun hunting in other states too and seeing really big bucks and then hunting AR where they use dogs. Always thought that was a little unfair until I went hunting there and now I don't think that way. It was outrageous!

I hope everyone gets the buck they want this year!

I go to northern missouri every year and I love it up there. I wouldn't give up my texas places for nothing but I do love to hunt the Midwest. I booked a rifle hunt 4 miles from the Iowa border in ne missouri this year for the first 5 days of gun season. So I have big hopes this year but we will see how it pans out.

Goodluck!!

This is a bit of a change of topic but do you think deer will act a lot different depending on State?

Reason I say this is I was on a plane with a Missouri boy. He told me that in Missouri the deer literally walked looking up in trees to spot hunters. He said he hunted Iowa, and he had 130inch bucks cruising under him never picking their head up.

I would assume this is due to hunting pressure in a given area.

Definitely. Deer will learn where to look for predators/ danger in their given environment. Have done a lot of hunting in West Virginia and I have seen deer in this exact scenario. A lot of it is going to depend on the hunting pressure in the area as well.

Well I ain't never deer hunted the Midwest but I can tell you there's nothing in the world that can give a rush like being in south tx or Mexico at the right time of year on a good ranch with cold lite drizzle and cracking those horns together and hear what sounds like a truck coming through the brush . Cause you just don't know it could be a 180 inch deer . Oh my !!!!!! My neck is swelling!!!!

I'm from Texas, but moved to Missouri and hunted there for 5 years. Just got back to Texas 2 years ago.

Mid West deer - Bigger than Texas deer as they are eating mostly on "natural" corn (vs being fed grain via feeders) and soy beans. They supposedly taste less gamey as they are eating corn/beans vs nuts (I know most people will swear that their deer doesn't taste gamey the way they harvest/prep their own deer...I'm just saying what I was told/heard. I couldn't tell the difference). Rifle season is ONLY 10 days long. It sounds like World War 3 during those 10 days. You cannot high fence your property and hunt it (game preserves are difference). You cannot hunt on a feeder. You can have feeders, but can't hunt them. So the deer travel everywhere, and someone mentioned about the corridors that they travel...and that's true because the natural food they are eating. During rifle season, you have to wear hunter orange. So during World War 3, all you see is specs of orange in trees...EVERYWHERE. During bow season, it's cool enough to wear long pants/shirts and not sweat up a storm. Even though most counties have antler restrictions in Missouri, I'd say most people harvest bucks as soon as they hit the 4-point (one side) minimum. So managing deer appears to be less of an importance for a lot of the folks up there. You may have a 500 acre lease, but 400 acres may be farm land. So you're looking for spots to put up stands on 100 acres (even though you may pay for 500 acres). More public land to hunt on (you have to draw for spots, but you can technically hunt without paying for property/lease...I had 2,000 acres of public land that was 15 minutes from where I lived, but I never hunted it. 1/4 of 1% of each state sales tax goes to Missouri Conservation (hunting/fishing/etc).

Texas deer - a bit smaller in size. Better managed (as more effort is needed for stands, feeders, etc). Antlers appear to be not as thick as in Mid West. Lots of deer in Texas (but lots of deer in Mid West). Longer rifle season. No hunter orange to mess with. More hogs to shoot when you're bored. You get to hunt on a feeder, and when you have too much money in your pocket, you can high-fence your property. You can hunt in December and not worry about 10 degree, sleeting weather. When you get a 500 acre lease, you typically get to hunt most, if not all, of the 500 acres. Less public land (if you don't want to pay for a lease).

I prefer Texas...both as a state and to hunt. Just my opinion.

I grew up in the north east and have hunted, NY state, NJ, PA, NH, Maine,Ks, CO. WY. I have killed deer and other game in each of these states. I know we get our rocks off on big racks. But I'll be honest if I never see another big rack I will still continue to hunt as I love the challenge of the hunt regardless of the rack size. Texas is different as we can feed to attract deer which cant be done in most states however It is still a challenge to be at the right place at the right time with the right conditions to score, Stalking and still hunting, sneaking up on deer is what I miss most in Texas and was my main method of hunting in other states but I still love Texas deer hunting

It would be nice to shoot a big bodied deer from up North. More venison!

Yep. And the bucks in South Texas often top 200 pounds at maturity. For the life of me though, I don't know why someone is all that concerned about what a buck weighs. I prefer eating hogs and does and axis and pere davids. I typically donate WT buck meat. Or feed it to dogs.