By Joe Wilson

Just to be clear, I love hunting my home state of Michigan. It’s tradition and will always hold a special place in my heart. But it sucks sometimes. While there is great habitat and deer numbers, there are also about 25 million hunters here (or so it seems) and just as the bowhunting is getting good, gun season comes in and turns the deer herd into schizophrenic homebodies who you swear wear invisibility cloaks.  Rather than whine about this year after year, I highly recommend taking an out of state hunting trip. These trips may seem like a dream that requires extensive knowledge and superior skills but they do not, I am evidence of that. The other thing they do not require is a small fortune. For three years I have traveled from my home state of Michigan to hunt both Ohio and Kansas. These are trips that all gave me legitimate chances at mature bucks and can be done by anyone with a little will power to save the money and a couple hours to plan.

Due to the fact that no one wants to read the novel I have prepared on this subject (unless of course, you are suffering from insomnia), I have split it into two parts. Here in part 1, I will describe to you how much my trips costs, how to find the money for the trips, how to find lodging, and how to apply for tags. In Part 2, I will discuss finding land to hunt, strategies to find the deer once you get there, and one subject some forget about; how to transport your deer home without getting a hefty fine.

Total Cost

Both trips were split two ways as I had a hunting partner. The more buddies you go with, the less you will pay for gas, lodging, and even food so start recruiting. Gas was estimated at $2.40 per gallon. Food mostly consisted of meals made in the kitchen with a couple dinners at restaurants.

Finding the Cash

Most hunters I know hear of my trips and say, “I wish I could take an out-of-state trip but I just don’t have the time or money.” What they are really saying is, “I would like to take an out-of-state trip but I have other things in my life that are more important. Also, I make dumb statements a lot and I probably voted for Hillary.” Okay, so the last part might not be true. The cost of a trip to a state like Ohio should be simple. $430 comes out to saving just over $8 a week. The Kansas trip was a bit more and equates to $82/month or $19/week. That seems like a lot? Do me a favor, keep track of your finances for one month. Put everything into a log and summarize it by category. Now take a minute to call out any expenses that are a want, not a need. Do you really need satellite TV? How many times did you go out to eat when you could have eaten at home? How many coffees from Starbucks did you get? What about that new truck payment, could you have gotten by with a used one? I guarantee you will find the money, it just depends on how bad you want a ticket to deer paradise. As for time? If you really want to go you will find the time. Even a long weekend is better than nothing.

How to Find Lodging

We stayed at a cabin that went for $375 per week. It included a small kitchen (which saved us money on food) and full bathroom with shower. To find it, I simply went to google, put in “Cabin rental (secret hot spot), Kansas” and saw what came up. Later on I even found a ranch that rented out cabins cheaper than what we found initially. Now if you think I am a princess for wanting to stay comfortable, you are probably right. The good news is you can save even more money by not doing so and camping at a state park which will usually have public land close by. If all else fails, find a cheap hotel room. Sure, it will be more expensive but you won’t break the bank.

Applications

Here is where it gets to be a bit tricky. Certain states require you to put in an application in order to draw a whitetail tag.  In some states (Iowa) you need a few years’ worth of preference points in order to draw certain areas. You can find the draw statistics (your chance of drawing) at the sites below. Below I have put together a quick rundown of popular Midwestern states and how to obtain a tag:

Ohio – Over the counter. Price: $150. Archery season: Late September – Early February. For more information go to http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/huntingandtrappingregulations

Indiana – Over the counter. Price: $150. Archery season: October 1 – January 1. For more information go to http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/2344.htm.

Wisconsin – Over the counter. Price: $160. Archery season: early September – early January. For more information go to http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/deer.html

Illinois – By application (application period is in June) but tag is nearly guaranteed. Price: $467.75 Season: October 1 – early January (closed in certain counties during firearm season). For more information go to https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/DeerHunting.aspx

Kansas – By application (application period is in April). Price: $540. State is split into 18 units. When applying you will choose the unit you are applying for PLUS one additional unit that touches your unit (Basically you get to hunt two units but they have to touch each other). NOTE: Kansas is getting more competitive each year. I suspect that soon some units may require a preference point to draw the tag. For more information go to http://ksoutdoors.com/Hunting/Applications-and-Fees/Deer

Iowa –By application (application period is in May) Price: $549 + (depending on the unit) preference points ($52 per point). Season: October 1 – early January with a break in December during the Iowa Firearm Season. State is split into 10 units. You get to hunt one unit. For more information go to http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/Nonresident-Hunting.

There you have it. Sit down with a buddy or two and hammer out details on which state you want to get a tag from, fill out your application (if need be), figure out your finances, find your lodging and you are well on your way. In part 2 we will discuss the more fun parts of process; finding land to hunt and then finding the deer.

By Joe Wilson

Yesterday I watched the biggest buck I have ever seen in Michigan hit the dirt. The only problem was I wasn’t the one who fired the shot. A neighboring hunter sitting 20 yards from the corner post of his property line shot him as he was headed towards our property. He piled up 100 yards in front of me in a swamp, although I didn’t know it was him at the time. As I sat waiting for word from the property owner on who shot the deer and when they were coming to track, I see blaze orange moving through the swamp. As I confront the trespassing hunters (it is illegal in Michigan to track a deer on neighboring properties without permission), I take a look down to see the monarch laying in a sled. Needless to say, it was a tough way for my story with this buck to end.

I have watched this buck through three years of trail camera pictures. This year he sported a 12 point typical frame that will likely score in the mid 150’s. In my area of Michigan where it’s a small miracle for a buck to live to be 2 ½ years old, he was a once-in-lifetime kind of buck. To me he might as well had been a unicorn.  He showed up on trail cameras consistently (at night) and was seen on multiple occasions by the property owner at night. It was obvious I was hunting near his core area but could not catch up with him in daylight. I spent most of my vacation days dogged by hot weather in search of his whereabouts with no sightings. The only glimmer of hope being a daylight trail camera photo on the same morning I was hunting the other side of the property. As gun season started, I knew the chances of him being killed were considerable but I hoped he would stick to his core area that had kept him alive. The rut combined with a strong cold front the night before the morning he was shot proved to be this deer’s undoing.

One of the many trail camera pictures of the big 12.

I know this wasn’t “my buck” and everyone had as much of a right/chance to shoot him as me. The point I want to make is that I believe in this age of trail cameras, it’s becoming an almost universal feeling to have your target buck killed, most of the time not by you. There are many serious hunters that can relate to the disappointing feeling of putting (literally) hundreds of hours into food plots, habitat work, shooting, scouting, and sitting on stand only to come up short. I believe most of us don’t have a “hit list” of bucks with weird names. For me, he was it. Suddenly the woods seems empty. You don’t feel like hunting. I didn’t feel like doing anything. So what do you do now?

The natural beauty of a November sunset that any hunter can appreciate.

I did the only thing I know to make myself feel better; I went hunting. Sure, it wasn’t quite the same knowing I didn’t have any real chance of shooting a mature buck but sometimes it takes a disappointment to remind yourself why you hunt in the first place (Cliché, I know, but true). For me it’s being a part of the world many have forgotten about; the natural world. Where the only clock is the rise and fall of the sun. Where the brutal north wind stings your face but does nothing to vanquish the smile that covers it. One where the sounds of the wind in the trees is all you hear as another day comes to an end punctuated by the multitude of colors from a fall sunset. I was reminded again of all of this tonight and as the sun set, I looked up at silhouetted trees on a ridge swaying back and forth in the fading light and thought to myself, “what a beautiful evening.” I may not have accomplished my goal for the year but I had found my passion again. I also came to the conclusion that there are a couple absolutes in life:

1. Things aren’t always going to work out in your favor, no matter how hard you work but this shouldn’t stop you from trying.
2. It will end. Both your hunting season and life itself.

So instead of sitting around my house moping and waiting for next year, I am choosing to push on. This season is not yet lost. The thing I have found about hunting that keeps us coming back, even when we’re down, is that you never know what your next sit will bring.

A puzzle, much like deer hunting, takes time and keen attention to detail in order to put the pieces together and for everything to align. Have you ever tried to put together a puzzle in a day and succeeded? No, I’m not talking about one of those 50 piece specials that you pick up at the dollar mart. I talking about the 2,000 piece popcorn kernel marathon that takes an hour just to get two pieces to match up! Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a successful whitetail pursuit for the do-it-yourself guys.

Make sure read Part 1 of this series, Taking Post Season Inventory With Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend: Part 1 as it will help paint a better picture as to what I’m doing at this time of year.

Putting The Pieces Together

When it comes to hunting mature deer, I’ll take any legal advantage I can get in an effort to put the pieces together towards killing a trophy buck. Big Tine is another tool in the arsenal and plays a valuable role in my post season scouting. In conjunction with trail cameras, Big Tine allows me to determine which deer made it through (or didn’t make it through) the season.

A small whitetail buck posing for a picture.

I’m not going to lie – I was hoping to showcase this article with all of the monster bucks I have on camera running around my hunting property but the truth is, my trail camera pictures are less than ideal. I put the cameras out for over three weeks and have a bunch of does, small bucks, and mule deer to show for it but no big boys showed themselves.

Does this mean that my hunting property is terrible? No. Does this mean that Big Tine doesn’t work? No. What I’m learning is that the properties I hunt do not hold the same amount of deer during the Winter months as they do during the Fall. I’m slowly putting the pieces together!

The pictures are telling me that there are indeed deer in the area but I’m certainly not getting mature buck pictures. My guess is that the majority of deer are wintering elsewhere due to the fact that the bedding areas and fields on the properties are now cow pastures. It is common practice for farmers to switch pastures for cows on a seasonal basis so that they can sustain them throughout the Winter months. Long story short; if cattle are present in both major bedding and feeding areas, deer numbers on the property will decline.

It’s Better To Know Than To Wonder

My trail camera pictures were not as I had hoped but at least now I know more about Winter movement and the reasons that may be affecting the lack of deer in the area. If it weren’t for putting out Big Tine and checking the cameras, I would have never known in the first place. Its better to know – knowledge is power.

One of the highlights of my weekend endeavor, in addition to checking trail cameras, was finding a matched set of antlers in close proximity to one of Big Tine sites. This little guy is an up-and-comer with great genetics for a 1 1/2 year buck! I believe I have pictures of this guy from last Fall so it will be cool to see what he turns into as a 2-year-old.

QuietKat is a great tool for shed hunting. I found this matched set within 100 yards of the Big Tine!

Learn more about how I use my QuietKat as an efficient shed hunting vehicle, HERE. I also found another nice 4 point side that had been laying a while (not fresh) and I also witnessed something that I have been wanting to see for a long time. I watched the bigger mule deer buck I have on camera shed one of his antlers as he was running away! After three hours of grid searching the spot where I saw him drop in knee-high grass, I was not able to locate his shed but it was still cool to see none the less.

Mule deer enjoy Big Tine too!

Never Stop Learning

I encourage you all to go out and run cameras over the top of Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend. It will not only help you discover what deer are using the properties you hunt but it will also add to your overall knowledge of deer movement and patterns. Whatever the outcome may be, it will make you a better deer hunter and will help you find the real reasons behind your results. It forces you to analyze and ask questions as to why deer are or aren’t there. And above all, it gets you outside doing what you love the most.

For more information about Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend and Attractants, please visit:

www.bigtine.com

– Adam Parr