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Muzzleloader Deer& Turkey Hunting
Access to some of the best muzzleloader deer hunting in the Midwest:
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Whitetail deer are available throughout both Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. |
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Mule deer are abundant in central and western Kansas. Mule deer hunting is one of the most underutilized MAHA resources, and may offer the best opportunity for a Boone and Crockett trophy. |
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Turkey are abundant throughout Missouri, Kansas and Iowa, with spring and fall seasons and multiple tags available. |
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Small game is abundant on most all MAHA leases and is legal quarry for the frontloader. |
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Predators are also common on most MAHA leases, including bobcat, coyote and foxes, and are available to the muzzleloader hunter. |
Regarding all of the above species:
Trophy
Opportunities
Hunters from some states claim that
their state has the best deer hunting, usually based on the sheer number of hunters, or
the number of deer harvested. In the Mid West we judge our hunting quality by
the book (i.e., Boone and Crockett, Pope and Young).
Fact: The largest non-typical whitetail on record (Boone & Crockett) is from Missouri, scoring a whopping 333+ inches! The trophy is on display in Kansas City, at the Brywood office of the Missouri Conservation Department.
Fact: Kansas ranks among the top trophy buck states, especially in recent years.
23 of the top 100 typical whitetails, and 24 of the top 100 non-typical whitetails, including 6 of the top 10 non-typical whitetails listed in Pope & Young (archery trophies) records, have come from Kansas. 28% (14) of the top 50 all time non-typical Pope & Young whitetails come from Kansas. The No. 2 all time non-typical Pope & Young whitetail was taken in Kansas, scoring 257 points. In the ten year period from 1984 through 1993 (what happened historically in previous decades has little bearing on hunting now), Kansas had as many deer entered into Boone and Crockett Club records (89), as all of states along the Atlantic coast plus the states of West Virginia and Vermont.
Fact: Few of these trophies were taken on public land.
Fact: Record book roles and the MAGBA membership role share several of the same names, for Missouri, Kansas and Iowa bucks. MAGBA only has some 650 members, many of which are not deer hunters. Try randomly polling 650 public land hunters and see if you find any record book entry holders.
Reservation System
The MAGBA reservation systems assures a quality hunting experience, and peace of mind. Each member reserves ample space on quality leases. MAGBA hunters avoid the highly congested public hunting lands, where hunters often outnumber the deer, where most hunters leave without a trophy, where the volume of gunfire rivals that of war zone, and where hunting accidents often occur. MAGBA can hunt deer under natural conditions, not limited primarily to shooting at spooked deer.
Choose Your Weapons
Modern Inline Muzzleloaders
Kansas, Missouri and Iowa both allow modern inline muzzleloaders and optical sights. Many firearms deer hunters looking for another season to hunt and more deer tags to feel, now have a reliable and accurate weapon with which to take advantage of special seasons and permits in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.
Traditional Muzzleloaders
Of course, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa both allow traditional muzzleloaders including percussion lock and flintlocks rifles, pistols and scatterguns. Traditional muzzleloaders in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa can enjoy hunting the same country as the pioneers of the heritage they continue to keep alive. Kansas, Missouri and Iowa both hold significant places in the history of the west. Both states saw blackpowder weapons action by many famous mountain men, plainsmen, outlaws, lawmen, and great Native American warriors.
Calibers, Restrictions
Caliber requirements, and restrictions regarding muzzleloading pistols and shotguns vary by state. Always check with Kansas Department Wildlife and Parks and Missouri Conservation Department regarding the most current hunting regulations.
Technique and Strategy
Every type of hunting is available, depending on the season and the chosen habitat. Tree Stand hunting with portable stands is the preferred method throughout Kansas and Missouri. Food source pattern hunting (crops, hay fields, woodland mast crop, etc.) is available to the early season hunters, and again in the late season (late standing corn, hay fields, etc). Still hunting and organized drives can be executed without unknown hunters in the area to spoil the activity in any portion of the season - great non-rut mid-day tactics if hunting with one or more buddies. Rattling and grunting are available to pre-rut and rut hunters and have netted big bucks for MAGBA hunters (try rattling in bucks on public land where the bucks are busy fleeing the hunter filled woods). Spot and stalk techniques are available in the open country of western Kansas, especially for mule deer. Ground stands are used with excellent success. Your portable tree stands are much less likely to wind up stolen or with some other hunter in them, on posted private property.
The Mid America Game Bird Association staff will help you select the right leases for your particular hunting style and needs.
Success
Most MAGBA deer hunters manage to put themselves into shooting opportunities at deer every season if they put in ample scouting and stand time. Most that put in the time come home with deer, many with multiple deer, some with wallhangers. Most see lots of turkey from their stands, and often get opportunity to take turkey along with deer.
Will all MAGBA deer hunters take big bucks each year? If we did, it wouldn't be called hunting, it would just be called shooting. If you want a guaranteed, or near certain shot at a record book buck, you will have to book a guided hunt on one of the famous managed herd properties like those found in Texas, Saskatchewan, or Michigan, but be prepared to spend $5,000 for a one week hunt. They will take you to the big ones and tell you when to shoot, or put you in a tree stand site they selected and hung, where you remain the shooter but they did much of your hunting for you. And you may even get your name in Boone and Crockett or Pope and Young.
We don't provide guided hunts, and we don't have managed herds in high fenced ranch enclosures. And those hunts are okay if that's what your after, and even some MAGBA members travel out of state for guided hunts. But, will you have the same true hunting experience and lasting satisfaction as the MAGBA muzzleloader hunters who went out to a Mid West farm or wood lot, seldom coming up empty handed after putting in ample stand time during the season, and bag a big one on their own once in a while?
We can't guarantee trophy success, but we can guarantee private lease hunting with a reservation system, in two great deer hunting states, which removes many of the variables of deer hunting and puts your hunting success in your hands. This is why we offer some of the best deer hunting opportunity in the Mid West.
Every muzzleloader hunter knows, you don't have to kill big bucks to be successful, or even bucks for that matter. Any deer taken with a frontloader is an accomplishment to be proud of.
Kansas, Missouri and Iowa offer multiple deer tags to muzzleloading hunters, especially antlerless. Antlerless deer permits make it much easier to be successful and put venison in your freezer while performing necessary conservation functions of addressing overpopulation problems to prevent starvation and disease and limit crop damage, and also to maintain and balance the buck/doe ratio. Many serious trophy hunters pass up all small bucks, and choose to fill only their antlerless tags in seasons when the big ones had better luck than the hunter, letting those little bucks live to become big ones. Who is the more successful hunter, the one who killed the first buck he saw, or the one who passed up many small bucks, and filled only antlerless tags?
Habitat
All Mid America Game Bird Association properties consist of privately leased farms and ranches
Whitetail Habitat
Habitat
Description
Croplands
Corn, soy beans, milo, wheat - major deer magnets especially during the early season. Late standing corn and winter wheat sprouts are great in late season. It is these crops that account for 200+ pound and even 250+ pound field dress bucks on MAGBA leases.
Pastures
Cattle pastures are a food source for deer year round.
Hayfields
Brougham, clover, and especially alfalfa work well all season, and especially in the late season.
Farm Wood lots
Whitetails require cover, but the cover doesn't have to be big. In fact, man hunters prefer farm country with only small wood lots, hedgerows and wooded creek bottoms which funnel the deer making them easier to find.
Timber
Big timber, the classic whitetail cover, is available in the Missouri Ozarks, across northern Missouri, and portions of northeast Kansas.
Strip Pits
Reclaimed strip mining pits offer a unique environment in which whitetails thrive. Mining operations in years past gouged out steep parallel ridges with permanent waterholes in between. The abundant water draws deer during droughts, where they often remain. These ridges are often covered with dense hardwood and cedars which whitetails prefer as cover. Strip pits often border farm land which provide a food source for deer.
CRP
CRP provides both year round food sources and cover.
Open prairie
Especially in western Kansas, open parries provide food source, and tall native grass and brushy draws provide cover, for both whitetail and mule deer.
Ridges
Throughout Missouri, and in eastern Kansas you can hunt ridge-runner bucks. One of the oldest rules in deer hunting - find the high ground to find the big bucks.
Mule Deer Habitat
Open country in central and western Kansas, including open prairie, CRP, wheat and other crop fields, and brushy draws. For the muzzleloading hunter, tree stands can be set in thinly wooded creek bottoms and in some thinly wooded hedgerows - both of which serve as natural funnels for cover seeking big bucks (many older mule deer bucks exhibit habits similar to their whitetail counterparts). Waterholes offer another close range alternative for the closer range muzzleloader.
Licensing
Always check with Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and Missouri Conservation Department regarding the most recent license information.
Kansas uses a drawing system for firearms and muzzleloader deer permits. Applications are available in the late spring and are due in by mid July for the primary drawing. One or more leftover permit drawings occur thereafter.
MAGBA can help you plan hunts, including providing recommendations regarding which leases to hunt in each game management area, to suit your style of hunting. It is best to start working with the MAGBA staff regarding out of state hunting plans before state permit drawings.
Non-Residents
It is common for MAGBA members who live in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa to hunt both states, and both states offer licenses to muzzleloader hunters to support this.
If you are from a state other than Kansas or Missouri interested in taking advantage of the superior muzzleloading opportunities in Kansas and Missouri, Mid America Game Bird Association can provide you a place to hunt, on a reservation basis. There are an increasing amount of out of state hunters taking advantage of this opportunity, many of which learned of this opportunity on the MAGBA.COM web site.
MAGBA can help you plan hunts, including providing recommendations regarding which leases to hunt for your style of hunting, how to get there, lodging or camping, etc. Particularly for out of state hunters, it is best to start working with the MAGBA staff regarding out of state hunting plans before state permit drawings.
Always check with Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and Missouri Conservation Department regarding the most recent license information.
