WTA’s TAGS consultants love discovering the very best whitetail destinations for our clients. We love hunting mature bucks on public and private land and are well-versed in the world of whitetails with boots-on-the-ground vetting. When you call our office to book your next whitetail adventure, you can be assured that you’ll be getting solid, up-to-date recommendations from true whitetail hunters.
Below are some of our favorite whitetail destinations in the lower 48. Although all require drawing a tag and some require preference points, we can help you make the process simple. We love helping to put our clients on nice bucks all over North America.
Kansas
Drawing a whitetail tag in Kansas is usually quite simple, with an 80% draw rate. Therefore, early booking is crucial if you’re after trophy bucks. The Sunflower State offers muzzleloader hunts in September, archery hunts during the November rut, and high-powered rifle hunts in early December. Each season has its advantages. During the September muzzleloader season, deer are habitual, consistently moving between the same bedding and feeding areas. During this season, we’ll be looking for deer that move right before dark. This time of year provides the best opportunity to harvest the biggest bucks. November is an excellent time for bowhunting. The deer are in rut and moving all over the place. Plus, in Kansas, crossbows are permitted during archery season. The December rifle hunt is perhaps the most challenging period of the season, but using this long-range tool is always appealing to our clients. We believe that the whitetail draw in Kansas may become more competitive/complex and are now advising our clients to purchase a preference point, ensuring they secure a tag in the future. If you’re looking for a giant buck in Kansas, now is the time to get started!
Iowa
Iowa is known for putting deer in the record books. In fact, lots of the biggest deer harvested every year come out of the Hawkeye state. However, Iowa’s tags are in high demand and do require preference points. If you’re hoping to harvest a big whitetail buck, it’s time to start building preference points today. Typically, it takes a minimum of four preference points to draw a tag during the archery season, which also coincides with the November rut. Iowa also offers gun hunting with shotgun and muzzleloader. We book our shotgun clients in December and our muzzleloader clients in early January. Hunting during these late-season firearm hunts is generally more challenging than the November archery season; however, it does take fewer points to draw, allowing clients to hunt Iowa more often. Gun hunts typically only take two preference points to draw. One hot tip as you plan: many of our clients hunt whitetail deer in Kansas while they are building their Iowa points. It’s a great way to go!
Montana and Wyoming
Hunting trophy whitetails out West is becoming more and more popular for nonresident hunters. The enormous private land ranches located in Montana and Wyoming have low hunting pressure and are full of mature deer. These hunting trips offer extremely exciting experiences in the beauty and grandeur of the North American West. Furthermore, obtaining tags to hunt whitetails in these states is easy. You’ll typically draw each time you apply. However, you must not miss the application deadlines—Montana’s deadline to apply is March 15 and Wyoming’s is June 1.
South Dakota
Deer hunters often overlook South Dakota as a premium whitetail destination. This is a sleeper state filled with monster bucks. As far as giant whitetail deer go, it’s comparable to both Iowa and Kansas. Archery tags in South Dakota are over the counter. However, the rifle tags west of the Missouri River often take two to three preference points to draw. Hunting from ground blinds, ladder stands, and by spot and stalk are all effective methods in the rolling farmland and creek bottoms of beautiful South Dakota. In South Dakota, you can purchase preference points up until the January 31 application deadline. Start building deer points today!
WTA TAGS has professional whitetail outfitters located in all of the states above and we can’t wait to help you this whitetail hunting season. If you’re hoping to get into some huge bucks, please reach out. The best way to view our offerings is to go to our website and select the whitetail species and then select your states of interest. You can also call our office at 1-800-755-8247 and ask to speak to a TAGS consultant. Let’s talk about whitetail deer hunting, hunting licenses, and preference points. We’ll help you get a plan in place that allows you to hunt this incredible species in the best places in the United States!
