Best Your State/Area Offers??

[Osprey]

Getting back into BP after a few years of just dabbling between archery seasons and admit to being out of the loop on what's out there for opportunity. So what's the best you feel your State/area offers in blackpowder hunts? Love to travel to hunt and just wondering what's out there.

I'll start by offering that for my area here on Maryland's Eastern Shore it's got to be our 3 day late October BP hunt, specifically for sika deer. Wild herds here and they're rutting then. Awesome time to be in the woods and marsh, searching for a nice stag, listening to them bugle and scream. Allowed one stag and one hind, tags are OTC.

 

[rabjr]

Here in R.I a nonresident can get 3 archery tags, 1 either sex 2 antler less tags. Last year we had a "Earn a buck" thing where if you checked in the two antler less tags you could get another either sex tag. Not sure if that will be done again this year. The season goes from October 1 to end of January.

Muzzle loader season which is 3 tags, 1 either sex and 2 antler less tags seems to change every year but starts with an antler less week the end of Oct, runs a couple weeks where the either sex tag is good then shuts down. Lately we've been having another antler less only week in middle of Dec.

But unless you own a good piece of property here or know someone who does, your probably SOL. Of course theres State property's but thats a scary thought.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

I live and hunt in colorado, i dont see any plans on me leaving the state to hunt elsewhere. We have a draw system and for deer, i usually head up north because deer are easier to find and in more #'s up north. This year we're hunting around whiteriver ntl. forest. When we used to rifle hunt, we'd usually go home empty, but now that we muzzleload, we usually fill our tags.

 

[rabjr]

I maybe mistaken but I thought he was looking for Nonresident offerings of your State.

 

[bigbore442001]

Hmm. Here in Massachusetts the muzzleloader season runs from December 10th to the 31st. ( This is after archery and two weeks of shotgun) You cannot hunt Sunday so that shortens the season for most people in many ways.

You have two buck tags and an application for an antlerless tag in the zone of your choosing. Some zones are very hard to get drawn in while others have extras you can buy.

 

[RC]

:hmm: N.Y.! you can hunt with a bp gun all season...like oct.12(?) --- dec. 20(?) deer and bear.. get a tag fer rifle/shotgun(can use ml too) -- bow -- ml...but the last week of the southern zone you can use them all with a ml.. course there's[url] differences..in[/url] area/date/quarry but if yaanna hunt deer.. you get awhile to do it.. RC

 

[Slamfire]

Same here as in New Yawk, hunt all season with yore smokepole. Two deer seasons, 3 deer limit, 2 antlered. In between the two deer seasons, there's a bear and European boar season. Feral hogs are huntable anytime.

 

[Fullstock58]

Here in SC Deer Archery starts around September 15th, Deer Muzzleloader starts around October 1st to October 11th, from October 11th to around January 1st is regular rifle season. So for the most part you can use a Muzzleloader from October 1st through January 1st.
Lots of public land close to us, but for the most part it's private land.

 

[shmrck1]

Osprey,
Lets see, try Pennslyvania,Michigan,W.Virginia,
Virginia,Kentucky,Indiana,even Illinois.Great hunting in them states because that is where all
the Ohio deer go and hide during deer season:rotf::rotf::rotf:
Just kidding,some of the best deer hunting in the Midwest can be had in Southeast,Southwest and Central Ohio.Lots of info at[url] www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife.[/url] Archery season last almost 4 months. Good luck wherever you go!
snake-eyes:thumbsup:

 

[Osprey]

I already know about Ohio, no deer there at all. :hmm: Been hunting the Wayne near Athens during bow season for about five years now. I need to check and see when your BP dates are... :wink:

 

[captaincaveman]

this years laws havn't been posted yet but here's last years to give you an idea. About 2 weeks total for ML deer

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/regs/deer.htm

Josh

 

[shmrck1]

Osprey,
That is surprizing. I hunt Wayne in the Logan area
and always see something. You can use M/Ls even during the shotgun slug season. First couple days it's hectic as hell, but after that its not bad at all.
My son who is a much more serious hunter that I,
will hunt with a bow during the rut in that area.
In the last few years he has harvested,two spikes, 2 6pt and one 11pt with bow. Like I said
he is a lot more serious hunter than myself.I've
taken 1 spike, 1 8pt and several does with M/L
during the same period of time.
I'm wondering when you bow hunted. Season usually opens up at or around the end of Sept which most years coinsides with the rut. Mite have better succses during that first week or so.
The yearly deer harvest in Ohio runs well over 200,000. That is deer that are tagged. Does not include road
kills or untaged illegal deer taken. Oh,there are deer in Ohio, make no mistake about that!
snake-eyes:hmm::surrender:

 

[Osprey]

Oh, I know. Just going along with your laughs. :wink:

We're out there the first full week of November, see plenty of deer. A few of our group have taken some nice bucks, a few have missed, I've been close on some big boys and passed tons of does and little bucks. We've got so much meat from home we get picky on trips like that one. We stay at one of the cabins in Lake Hope SP.

September rut in Ohio? I think you're probably a bit off on that though, we hit it generally peak or just a week early.

I was out for the turkey opener this spring, I was amazed at how many people were hunting! Tons more than during archery season. :shocked2:

 

[fw707]

We stay at one of the cabins in Lake Hope SP.

Osprey, I been hunting around Lake Hope since 1977. Lots of deer and turkey there. :thumbsup:

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Here in CO our season starts the middle of Sept, very nice time of year to camp and hunt, cool mornings maby a little frost.
You can draw a cow tag out of state(nonresident) just about every year for around 250.00, a Bull tag will cost you 500.00 and it will take at least two years for a nonresident to draw ,and... as a guide I can tell you until our Division of wildlife gets there act together it's really not worth 500.00 for a rag horn bull,we do have decent bulls here and there but without a ton of scouting or hiring a guide it will be the needle in the haystack. There are trophy areas that take longer to draw. I pull a cow tag every year and have killed an elk every year for the last 18.
You can contact our local DOW office at 970-641-0088, Our draw is over, but they may have some leftover tags for certain units.
:thumbsup:

 

[Osprey]

There's one problem for me with that CO elk hunting - I've lived my whole life at 1 foot above sea level!! :surrender:

 

[Vaino]

Love that Colorado MLer elk hunting and whether it's a cow or a bull, the meat is the best. Here in Wisconsin we have a lot of deer, but due to the powerful and well organized archery lobby, the MLer season follows the regular gun season and we MLer hunters have second pickings. Last year we had 9 deer tags for 3 hunters during the regular gun season { a MLer can be used } and filled 5 and it'll be the same this year. Seeing I've always been a meat hunter, hopefully we'll get 9 this coming season. Also love that venison......Fred

 

[Idaho Ron]

Idaho has some good mule deer hunts. Some are better than others. Elk hunting is well,,,, It sucks for a ML hunter. Our state has awsome elk hunting don't get me wrong, but the ML hunter for the most part only gets cow tags. I wish the state would offer some early bugle hunts for bulls and late season for bulls. A cow with a ML is a SLAM DUNK! Ron

 

[jethro224]

The best... that's a tough call. Best what?

Illinois has some of the "best" deer hunting in the country. Lots of deer. Big corn-fed bucks. BUT the season is short and chopped up, public land can be crowded, private land is hard to get permission to hunt, guides are expensive, and I've heard non-resident tags can be hard to get. No "big" woods in my area neither. All fields and small strips of timber along rivers and ditches.

I've been seeing more and more turkeys. I've never hunted them. Could be good...

We get lots of ducks and geese.

I gotta go with squirrels. The season lasts from August 1 thru mid February (except during firearm deer). There's tons of them critters! The woods are never crowded. You don't have to get tags. You don't have to hold out on the small ones 'cause you know there's bigger ones. Choose your weather conditions, hot and sweaty to freezin' yer behind. AND fried squirrels are delicious! :thumbsup:

 

[lone hunter]

Idaho Ron, come up north. We have 20 days of Bull elk and whitetails in November in Units 4&7. Also can hunt Bulls for 7 days in Oct. Can point you in right direction if interested. Will be down your way middle of Aug. for archery antelope. Would post some pics if I knew how. Mike