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Russell Graves - Believes whitetails shouldn't be photographed in the back of a truck with their tongue hanging out.
Location - Texas
Brian Strickland - Has 369,518 acres of land that you can hunt on. Call him at (555) 281-HUNT.
Location - Colorado
Tony Hansen - Is pretty confident Michigan will release at least 300,000 archers into the woods this fall.
Location - Michigan
Jake Fagan - He's really just here to hang out, so don't mind him.
Location - Georgia
Will Brantley - Loves hunting in a dorag because it makes him look Ramboish. Some may call it Little Man Syndrome.
Location - Tennessee
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Idaho's Mountain Whitetails
Although known for its inspiring elk and mule deer hunting and its vast amount of public ground, Idaho also has excellent hunting opportunities for whitetails. The latest population estimate puts their numbers at a strong 200,000 and growing, and according to Idaho Fish and Game big game manager Brad Compton, finding a whitetail buck to wrap your hands around isn't that hard either. Just about any of the areas north of the Salmon river holds expanding numbers of whitetails, with the Clearwater and Panhandle regions of Northern Idaho being an excellent place to start.
Last fall hunter success for Idaho's mountain whitetail was roughly 50%, and you can bet a lot of this success was found on public ground. What's also impressive is that some 40% of the bucks taken sported 4X4 racks (that's an 8-pointer for you easterners), and a whopping 20% were adorned with an impressive 5X5 or bigger crown. Now I'm no mathematician, just ask Mrs. Graves who was my high school algebra teacher, but this many 4X4's and 5X5's running around equals to a lot of 125 to 140-plus inch bucks. And for the hunter willing to out-work the others, surely one of these bucks is in your future.
So where should a would-be whitetail hunter start looking? Well units 10A, 15 and 16 are good places in which to snoop around. Although it won't be too hard to get into quality bucks, Compton says if you're looking for those true-blue head-turners, public land hunters should get off the beaten path and go a little deeper. He also suggests non-residents buy their tags now. Even though Idaho allots about 15,500 non-resident deer tags, they are usually sold by opening day.
So it sounds to me like the mountain whitetails of Idaho should be on every whitetail freak's short list. It's on mine! Below are just a couple of the brutes the Gem State spit out recently for your gawking pleasure (photos courtesy of Idaho Fish & Game).
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