My instinct kicked in, and at sunset, I hiked to an overlook to scan a distant winter wheat field. My instinct was still working. The field was littered with muleys and whitetails. I counted nearly 80 deer and at least 20 bucks while scanning the winter wheat and an adjacent milo field. None were exceptionally outstanding, but with the bulk of the does in the neighborhood, the bucks would all be nearby. Two problems remained. I only had the next morning to hunt and getting to this location required busting ice to cross the river in my truck. Even if the ice would break I still had to hope my truck would crawl back up the slippery riverbank on the far side. Overnight, I heard it rain, further diminishing my confidence.

Wes White Podcast

Trophy Whitetail Bucks

Idaho is home to the Northwest Whitetail. Should you choose to travel to Idaho on a whitetail hunt, two things to keep in mind: Be in shape, and be able to shoot at long distances. Many shot opportunities will come across canyons, and 300 yards should be a comfortable shot to make, with 400 yards even being within reason. The country is big and rugged, perfect for elk, bear, mule deer, and yes, even western whitetail. Intense walking may be required to make something happen, especially if searching for that true trophy class buck, but it’s doable if you’re in good physical condition. The whitetails in this part of Idaho are healthy and thriving. But be warned, once you set foot in the pristine land these deer call home, your impression of whitetail hunting will be forever changed, as it’s a bit different in this part of the West. This is Idaho whitetail deer hunting!

Idaho Whitetail Deer Hunting

For a reasonable chance at a trophy-class Midwest whitetail buck, there are few secrets. Midwestern states like Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and the like dominate the conversation. Then there are the outliers such as eastern Colorado or northern Oklahoma. Of course, you can’t rule out the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, which produce some real studs each year. The state where I have done most of my serious trophy hunting the past several years is Kansas. It’s no secret that Kansas in general, and the eastern half of the state in particular, produces a goodly number of really big whitetail bucks every year.

Midwest Whitetail, Kansas Adventure

Only one state holds the title for the birth of modern whitetail hunting: Texas. Texas whitetail deer hunting is synonymous with deer management. Whitetail management, food plot innovations, hunting products and calling strategy all can be traced to the Lone Star State. Have you had luck rattling in whitetails? Give some credit to innovative Texas hunters. Does your food plot attract a nightly herd of whitetails? Thank a Texan. It’s also the birthplace of quality deer management and a hunting destination you should enjoy at least once during your hunting career–there’s nothing like Texas whitetail deer hunting!

Texas Panhandle Bucks

I couldn’t have scripted the hunt any better. Whitetails — Dakota — were filing out one by one to the western Nebraska winter wheat field. In tow behind the brigade of does and fawns was a mature, classy-looking 4×4 buck only steps away from my muzzleloader tag. I was hidden in an abandoned irrigation pump site; and, as I scanned the field one more time to ensure my concealment I turned to check on the buck. To my astonishment, the buck was gone. I gripped my T/C Triumph firmly and eased up on my knees to get a better viewpoint. Questioning my first sighting, I sighed when I spotted him again, bedded a mere 60 yards away. Unfortunately, I only had eyeballs and antlers in view. I knew I didn’t have a shot. Plus, shooting light was fading faster than a toddler on an all-day shopping marathon. My mind raced with headache ferocity as I tried to find an answer to my muzzleloader dilemma.

Nebraska Deer Hunting Adventure

As we compared notes and spoke of past hunts and hunts to come, I mentioned that I had enough bonus points to draw an Iowa whitetail tag. He immediately informed me he had been guiding in Iowa for several years. That is how I first met Jeff Eaton from Timberghost Ranch. Like a lot of hunters, I had heard about Timberghost; and like a lot of hunters, I thought they were only a high fence operation. Jeff explained that while a part of their operation is a high fence preserve, they also run a completely free-range hunting operation. The more we talked, the more intrigued I became.

Iowa Whitetail, Outside the Fence At Timberghost

No matter where they live, whitetails are whitetails. They have the same amazing senses of smell and hearing wherever they’re found. And they have the same basic needs -- food, water, and shelter. They experience an intense rut, though it can be of a shorter duration in the north than it is in the Deep South, where it stretches over months. So as bowhunters, when planning hunting strategy, it doesn’t matter where one is hunting, you must respect the whitetail’s senses and their innate wariness of people. 

Bowhunting Whitetails, East to West

Whitetail deer hunting in the Lonestar State is unlike hunting anywhere else, largely in part due to the sheer size. Texas covers 268,586 square miles. For reference, Delaware, the first state could fit into Texas 108 times while Rhode Island, the smallest state, could fit 221 times. Luckily Texas whitetails are one of the most studied, written about, and outright famous members of the deer family, Cervidae. Texas is home to an estimated 3.6 million white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus texanus), providing a vast amount of hunting and wildlife viewing opportunities. 

Texas White-tailed Deer Hunting

Today, of course, mechanical broadheads have evolved to a point where the best are easy to tune, fly like (or nearly like) a field point, are strong, have razor-sharp blades, and can penetrate as deeply as the best replaceable-blade styles, and their popularity has soared. While mechanical broadheads have become the rage these days, tried-and-true fixed-blade broadheads (replaceable-blade) remain extremely popular for good reason – they’ve been cleanly killing everything from groundhogs to grizzly bears for more than half a century.

Best Mechanical and Replaceable Fixed-Blade Broadheads for 2019

A good example of the modern pack horse is the 2019 Suzuki KingQuad 500 AXi. This sporty model is big enough to haul elk quarters from a backcountry trailhead, yet small enough to zip through the tightest quarters in whitetail timber. You can easily load it into the back of your truck to move it quickly to another location and yes, you never have to scoop manure.

The 2019 KingQuad 500 AXi From Suzuki

You have just signed up for a guided hunt in the Western states. Or, you have a DIY hunt in the works. Congratulations! A big game hunt in one of our Western states can be the hunt of a lifetime, and not only because of the abundant game animals. The Western vistas, the mountains and the High Plains, and the wide-open spaces—all those sights stay with a hunter long after they have returned home. But what to take? Truthfully, there are book-length answers to that simple question.

5 Tips for Western Big Game Hunting

Completely redesigned for 2019, the new Fanatic System takes the quest for silent hunting apparel to the next level. Informed by research into fabric noise and the science of deer hearing, the new system has been proven to cut the audible engagement distance in half for treestand whitetail hunters. Constructed with ultra-quiet fabrics along with Gore-Tex Infinium with Windstopper Technology, the updated system is quieter and warmer than ever. 

The Sitka Gear Fanatic System

Arizona offers hunters the unique opportunity to hunt black bears during many of its whitetail hunts. Since I was 10, it has been a goal of mine to harvest a mature black bear in my home state of Arizona. After years of buying over-the-counter bear tags and not filling them, I went into the 2013 fall season with the confidence to add a bear harvest as the eighth in my pursuit of the Arizona Big 10. Simultaneously, I was hoping to find a giant Coues buck too.

Bear’n Down for Coues Deer

What if you don’t live in a state where “monster” bucks roam, like Kansas, Illinois, Ohio, and the like, but you want to give it a go? A guided hunt might be your best and only option, at least the first time or two. That’s not saying these and other states like them don’t have solid public land options, because they do, but generally speaking the best chances for shooting a whopper buck is on private land where the gates are locked, food plots and crops are planted specifically for deer, and the harvest is tightly controlled.

Guided Whitetail Deer Hunts

Winter is the time of solitude when the desert hills and distant mountains call the hunter forth to shed his social shackles for a time. It is the season to fulfill the longing for the wild and high, to get nigh the earth, God, and self; to be sheltered alone by the dome of the sky. It does not take much—a backpack, forty pounds of gear, a tough body, tenacious desire, and a big bunch of mountains, such as the Mazatzals.

The Deer On Top

In the digital age, our editorial staff realizes the need to provide content that is valuable to the reader as well as available in several mediums. The Wes White Podcast provides access to our core content in an easy-to-listen-to format, for those that prefer to listen rather than read. Wes White represents the collective -- yet individual -- voice of the Western Whitetail editorial staff.

hubhopper

Wes White Podcast

hubhopper