I don't know who lied to you fellas, but there aren't any big deer in Kansas. Half of our bucks don't even have antlers, and those that do are scrawny and have tiny antlers. :bash:

I'd have to say KS, WI, OH, TX, IA, KY, & IL. Oh wait, that's more than 5 :)

Ha, a good campaign to raise...
 

fees for non-resident hunters.

Southern Michigan Kansas, Idaho, Vermont and Texas.

Non Resident fees are about to go up here in Michigan as well as Resident fees. Going to force us to buy a small game license too even though we have no interest in small game hunting.

:D Al

What are you defining as "trophy"? That's an important distinction because people have differnt ideas when it comes to trophy deer. If you're talking about the odds for a good mature buck for the average hunter without a guide then that is different than stricty record book deer. So, the original question can be taken 2 ways.

If you are serious about a buck that makes Boone and Crockett these states would give you the best odds based on recent record book entries:

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Missouri

If you expand to include Canada then Saskatchewan and Alberta would need consideration as well.

If you are just after a good mature buck then I'd say that the following would be best:

Illinois
Missouri
Wisconsin
Eastern CO
The Dakotas

I pick those due to the number of good deer in relation to the herd sizes and the ease of non-residents to be able to hunt them on their own without a guide. That is why TX doesn't make my list because a non-resident isn't hunting without a guide there.

For all you guys thinking Iowa is so great. It's not what it used to be. Way too much over harvest and with EHD the last two years we are really hurting when it comes to big mature bucks

finally someone who stays up to date on deer hunting iowa USE to be good now its just above average. Your best states are Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio and look out for Kentucky in the next few years. INdiana would be if the regs weren't designed to slaughter all the deer so they will never be considered one of the best for growing trophy deer IMO.

Kind of depressing for us in Michigan. Our state is surrounded by states on the list with Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota....

this was a little suprising to me: http://www.northamericanwhitetail.co...nting-in-2013/

Scratch N.WI off that list - there will only be about 10 deer left after this winter.