OutdoorMissouri.com

Well, Dennis, your point is well taken, but, what is the word I am looking for here... oh, horseshit, that is it. Otherwise, folks would be coming to MO and not to IL or KS to kill monster bucks on a regular basis. I spent 1 week in IL and saw 2 real nice bucks and a few others (the one that I killed, and one that would go over 150"). I spoke with a major outfitter who lives here the other day (he hunts KS almost exclusively), and he clearly states that MO isn't even close to these states as far as big deer. In fact, he killed a 165" deer in KS during the last week of bow season. He said he had 12 big bucks in his foodplot and that in MO, he would never see anything like that. He leases 7k acres around here for hunting and does bring clients to mid-MO, but he hunts in KS?



Oh, and 2B, the reason you can state that MO has been just as good to you is because you and I know as much about killing big bucks as the pimple on my left donkey cheek.



I forgot to add. You wanna' know where a lot of the big boys in MDC go to kill big bucks? IL and KS. Heck the Drury boys live in MO. Where are their farms? Iowa and IL. Mark Drury did settle for a 12 point 145" deer with a ML this year, however. I doubt he would have ever shot that deer in Iowa or IL.

This is something I have never understood. Internet forums are loaded with guys dreaming to hunt in IL, KS, and IA. MO is right in the middle of them, so what gives? Is it the rifles? The terrain? Not as many crop fields? Maybe you guys have just seen all the outfitters, and NRs leasing up all the good ground, and you`re just keeping it quiet. Whatever the reason I would think that MO would not have to tip its hat to anyone when it comes to producing big bucks.

A friend of mine shot a 175 net up by Moberly in 03. Grossed 180. They are there....but he will tell ya it was 99% luck the 1% was that he was in the woods.

@ PS. Now I have to clean up my computer....

I wonder how the number of tags bought and the number of deer killed in Kansas compares to Missouri...Isnt Kansas on some type of quota system, so there wont be as many killed there will there?

170: We have all of that and then some. I honestly believe it is the rifles. That, and we have a half-million rifle hunters that blaze the state every year. One thing I have noticed about IL and I have only been to two places, mind you. It was thick. I mean dang thick. I have hunted all over this state and I have never seen brush like I did in IL. I think with the shotgun seasons being out of the rut, and the thick brushy draws you guys have, a lot of deer live longer than they do over here. The place I turkey hunt in KS is thick too. And, they have their rifle season in December. So, it has to be the rifles. That, and the sammich bow killers like myself. PS

I have to disagree about our shotgun season "being out of the rut" PS. I hate to guess how many of the bigger bucks that are killed in this area are shot because they followed a hot doe too close to a road. I know of several including a 182" 10-point that a friend of mine witnessed.

I do agree about our brushy draws, ditches, and fence rows. If I showed you where some of my stands are located, you would probably laugh. I`m sure Robin will agree with me on this one.

That is true. Your first shotgun season starts the second weekend of our rifle season (A little after the 20th of November or something like that). But, you only have 3 days of that mess.

Okay, Here is my $.02 on this for what its worth. I have lived and hunted in Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. I would agree that I have seen alot more bigger bucks in Iowa, than in MO. I would account this to the reason that alot more hunters in IA and NE are dedicated to bird hunting and do very little, if any, deer hunting. The pure fact of it is, that MO has a large population of deer hunters, and until recently, the majority of those hunters cared little of the quality of the deer harvested. They were only concerned that they brought home something with . I hope the antler resistrictions will help improve MO herds, and the MO deer hunter mindset.

From reading this " horsechit " it quite evident that the only reason you kill big bucks 170, is that you hunt in Illinois.

Yer right PS, you need to leave the state iffin you want a bigun. In fact, all you all hunt elsewhere. There are no big deer in missouri.

Excellent point, Cupped & Caked. Deer hunting improves here when the quail, and rabbit seasons start.

Cupped&Committed said:
Okay, Here is my $.02 on this for what its worth. I have lived and hunted in Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. I would agree that I have seen alot more bigger bucks in Iowa, than in MO. I would account this to the reason that alot more hunters in IA and NE are dedicated to bird hunting and do very little, if any, deer hunting.

SHEESH! There's one I never would've guessed. A better population of game birds will result in a better deer herd? Focus on pheasant & quail management so the bucks can have bigger . Get Lonnie Hansen on the phone and enlighten him immediately, C & C is onto something here.

Rafe, Listen smartazz. All I was refering to is that in those states, there is a large number of hunters that do not hunt deer, but rather they focus on bird hunting.

2B: That is what I intend to do next year. I have the skinny on a good farm in Iowa that I got an invite too. They killed 5 deer during the late ML season that averaged over 150". Since I do not intend to gun hunt in MO anymore, I may as well pay for an Iowa tag and ML hunt up there. I figure it will still be a longshot, but I like new areas.

2B, big buck killers are the product of a good place to hunt. It is that simple. I'm not taking away from 170's accomplishments, but I would bet that even he would admit such. You don't see [email]Keith@aimlow[/email] talking the talk about MO. Robin was sick when he didn't get an IL tag. The biggest buck that has come off of the square mile of which I hunt in the last 16 years is 164". There have been a few 140s that I am aware of.

Why are there more bird hunters in those states? I'm guessing it's because there's more birds. We need more quail and more pheasants in MO to keep us from having so many darn deer hunters. It's brilliant, I tell you.

The more I read about states producing big bucks, the more I think rifles during the rut are standing in the way of MO being just as good as any of the top deer producing states. Even with the rifles, we aren't out of the running for being in one of the top 5 WT hunting states imo.



Part of the reason KS is tops for big bucks, is there is ungodly ammounts of grain for them to eat, and only so much cover. It can't be as hard patterning a big deer in KS as it would in terrain like south MO. When I first started hunting north MO I was shocked at how easy it was to 'guesstimate' where the deer would be comming from. Honestly they don't have much choice, its either hang close to the limited cover, or stand out in the wide open. Its practically the same deal in IA, but with the added benifit (to the deer) of shorter range shotguns.