The Midwest is home to some of the biggest whitetail bucks with plenty of opportunities to bag one. (Shutterstock photo)
October 12, 2025
By Brandon Butler
If you want to start an argument no one can win, claim your favorite Midwest whitetail state is the best. This debate will go in circles because there are too many factors by which “best” can be defined. Does trophy buck potential make a state the best? What about the overall number of deer? Or could a state be the best because it has a long season with over-the-counter tags and an abundance of public land?
The days of just buying a deer tag at the hardware store and knocking on doors to find a place to hunt have all but disappeared. Hunts are often planned years in advance because applying for licenses drawn in a lottery and building points to eventually have a shot at hunting a trophy buck zone has become the norm for many hunters. Yet, much of the Midwest still offers over-the-counter licenses. These five states are my picks for the best Midwestern states you can deer hunt this year.
WISCONSIN The Badger State owns the Boone & Crockett Records Book. It is the #1-ranked state with 1,822 total entries. It’s not just the giant bucks that make deer hunting in Wisconsin special; it’s the culture. You’ll still find old-timers here hunting in red and black lumberjacks with wool stocking caps and snowmobile boots. Hunters feel welcome in Wisconsin.
Equally important, Wisconsin is home to more than 7 million acres of public land, has a long season, and hunters kill around 300,000 deer per year. Up north, hunters will find vast forests of wilderness. This is big country, especially for a hunter from down south. Big bucks are killed each year in the 1.5 million acres of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Hunters looking for a wilderness experience in the Midwest should consider this location.
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Further south, where most of the record book bucks come from, hunters have hailed Buffalo County as one of the best for a long time for good reason. The surrounding counties are also known for producing monsters. The south-central region of Wisconsin is another well-known big buck producer. Dane County and those surrounding it are top-notch. Numerous state Wildlife Areas are scattered throughout the region. Chronic Wasting Disease is prevalent in this region.
Wisconsin ranks #1 with a total of 1,822 Boone & Crockett Club entries. (Shutterstock photo) OHIO Ohio is no secret to trophy hunters. Ever since a bowhunter bagged a 294-inch non-typical in 2000 that held the Pope and Young world record archery spot for 18 years, the Buckeye State has been on the radar of big buck enthusiasts. Ohio has no shortage of giant whitetails, ranking #5 all-time in the Boone and Crockett record books with 1,049 total entries.
Arguments rage around the Midwest about whether to have firearms deer season during the rut or not. Ohio doesn’t, which undoubtedly allows bucks the opportunity to grow older and larger. The short gun season is split, running December 1–7 and December 20–21, leaving bowhunters to enjoy the spoils of the rut with the entire month of November open to archery hunting.
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Ohio hunters kill giants in
every county across the state, but the southeast portion of Ohio is special. Several counties, like Perry, Hocking and Morgan, are known big-buck producing hotspots. A few of them are home to portions of the Wayne National Forest, which offers 240,101 acres of public land open to deer hunting. With large swaths of public land in the southeast drawing much of the attention, hunters could seek out overlooked public honey holes along the Indiana border, like Fish Creek Wildlife Area near Edgerton and Rush Run Wildlife Area just south of Dayton.
MISSOURI Missouri holds the world record non-typical whitetail with a 333 7/8-inch mega-giant found dead in St. Louis County in 1981. In 1971, Larry Gibson killed a 205-inch typical east of Moberly. It was #2 in the world for 22 years and now stands at #4. Along with these famous giants, Missouri has 896 total Boone and Crockett entries and an all-time rank of #7 overall. The opportunity to kill huge bucks certainly exists in the Show Me State.
Yet, it’s opportunity that Missouri really hangs its hat on. Licenses are simple to obtain through the website or the easy-to-navigate MO Hunting app. The regular firearms season is November 15–25. Bucks are rutting and on the move. Hunters who know how to identify travel routes in agricultural lands can do well on the many Conservation Areas north of I-70. The Missouri-Iowa border is a magical place.
The Ozarks aren’t what they used to be. The notion of no big deer down south is false. Giant bucks are roaming the vast forests of Dent, Texas, Shannon and Reynolds counties. There is also a ton of public land. The Mark Twain National Forest, Sunklands and Current River
Conservation Areas are enormous swaths of land. The terrain is tough and steep, so there may be some hunting competition in easy-to-access areas along the roads, but if you are willing to go just a little way back into the forest, you rarely see another hunter.
Missouri hunters keep rewriting the record books, with six of the state’s top 10 typical and seven of the state’s top 10 non-typical state records killed since the year 2000.
INDIANA Indiana has been operating under the “one buck rule” since it was implemented as a temporary measure in 2002. The rule came about to grow bucks to an older age class. It’s worked. In 2001, 56 percent of the bucks harvested in Indiana were yearlings. With the implementation of the rule, results were noticeable right away. The state made the rule permanent in 2007.
Kentucky boasts millions of acres of public land and a very generous archery season from September through January. (Shutterstock photo) From 1980–2002, Indiana hunters entered 209 Boone and Crockett whitetails into the record books. From 2003–2020, after the one-buck rule was implemented, Hoosier hunters have entered 683 B&C bucks. That’s what you call coming on strong. The highlight of the last decade is Indiana producing the new #2 typical whitetail. The 205 6/8-inch behemoth was killed near Columbus.
Indiana is 95 percent private land. The northern half of the state is hurting for public access. There are numerous Fish and Wildlife Areas, but they can be crowded during the firearms season and top times to archery hunt. The southern half of the state, however, is flush with state forests and the 202,814-acre Hoosier National Forest, which is home to some giant whitetails. There are plenty of places to get away from the crowd if one is willing to do a little walking.
KENTUCKY Kentucky hasn’t always been a giant buck factory. In fact, the state has never been as productive as it is today. Over the last 10 years, Kentucky has ranked in the top for Boone and Crockett entries for whitetails. With millions of acres of public lands and a long archery season that kicked off Sept. 6 and runs beyond the New Year until Jan. 19, 2026, hunters have plenty of places to go and time to make it happen.
In the thick forested mountainous regions of the eastern half of the state, most big old bucks live like ghosts in the timber. That is, until the end of October when the rut kicks off and they lose their minds. The Daniel Boone National Forest offers 2.1 million acres of whitetail-rich public lands. Position yourself in the right draw or patch of timber, and you never know if a giant is going to walk by.
In western Kentucky, where giant bucks are known to roam, success often comes when hunting close to picked agricultural lands. Setting up between bedding and feeding areas should put you on the path of deer traveling to and from food. Most of the action will happen early and late. The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area offers 107,594 acres of prime whitetail habitat, and there are numerous Wildlife Management Areas near the confluence of the Mississippi River and Ohio River offering thousands of acres to hunt in an area with a high deer population.
