Iowa anyone?

[maxx]

I am seeing a huge comeback in the pheasant population from what it was a few years ago. But with farming practices and also a very strong coyote population, i dont think we will ever see what we had in the 90s.

I am not sure Yote problems is that harsh on pheasants. Yotes seem to get blamed for a lot of killing of game animals and I am not sure if I believe all that. If you look up what there diets is, it consist of a lot of smaller animals, fruits and grass.

I would argue other varmits have a larger affect on pheasants, skunks, coons, etc. These animals I believe do some damage to the nests and eggs more than anything. If you look at it this way yotes could help by eating animals that affect yotes.

I haven't read any studies on it but I have heard the large influx of turkeys and their nesting habits have affect pheasant population. I do know they compete some but there habitats don't complete intersect.

I love watching deer hunting shows in the Midwest when they kill a yote and then talk about how they are saving so many deer. Ya they may get a fawn or two but I don't think it is that huge of a problem here. Now from what I have read black bears are terrors on fawns.

 

[Flatland Crusoe]

I am not sure Yote problems is that harsh on pheasants. Yotes seem to get blamed for a lot of killing of game animals and I am not sure if I believe all that. If you look up what there diets is, it consist of a lot of smaller animals, fruits and grass.

I would argue other varmits have a larger affect on pheasants, skunks, coons, etc. These animals I believe do some damage to the nests and eggs more than anything. If you look at it this way yotes could help by eating animals that affect yotes.

I haven't read any studies on it but I have heard the large influx of turkeys and their nesting habits have affect pheasant population. I do know they compete some but there habitats don't complete intersect.

I love watching deer hunting shows in the Midwest when they kill a yote and then talk about how they are saving so many deer. Ya they may get a fawn or two but I don't think it is that huge of a problem here. Now from what I have read black bears are terrors on fawns.

Pretty much all spot on. Farming practices and dropping CRP enrollment and old CRP leases expiring when good farm ground was going for record prices a few years ago is the issue. You drive anywhere in the Midwest, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Southern Minnesota, Missouri, Eastern Nebraska during the winter and everyone has an excavator and dozer out clearing fence rows, brushy ditches and small groves of trees to make the fields continuous. During the summer the ditches are mowed clean. Edge habitat is disappearing or just flat out gone in much of the midwest, its that simple.

Coyotes primarily eat small rodents and have a minimal impact on a lot of game species. Controlling their numbers doesn't really work all that well because they reproduce more prolifically when there are fewer coyotes. When it comes to game birds spring weather destroying nests is a much bigger issue than predator numbers.

 

[duckhunt]

I live on 9 acres of wooded property. I have both turkeys and pheasants nesting there. I hope the turkeys dont push the pheasants out. I have alot of deer come through also, thats pretty cool. Not sure how the yotes affect any of that but I know in the fall and winter I hear them yelping all around my place. Found one turkey nest by accident when I walked up on it and the hen exploded out of the weeds. I almost crapped myself and a few choice words come out of my mouth. Stayed away from the nest and about a month later saw the hen across the road with a bunch of little ones not far behind.

Seams like deer numbers are slighty down from a few years back. Thats just what im observing around my area. But theres still some awsome hunting opurtunities.

 

[maxx]

I live on 9 acres of wooded property. I have both turkeys and pheasants nesting there. I hope the turkeys dont push the pheasants out. I have alot of deer come through also, thats pretty cool. Not sure how the yotes affect any of that but I know in the fall and winter I hear them yelping all around my place. Found one turkey nest by accident when I walked up on it and the hen exploded out of the weeds. I almost crapped myself and a few choice words come out of my mouth. Stayed away from the nest and about a month later saw the hen across the road with a bunch of little ones not far behind.

Seams like deer numbers are slighty down from a few years back. Thats just what im observing around my area. But theres still some awsome hunting opurtunities.

For deer numbers in Iowa you really need to pull up the county map and look at the antlerless permit issue numbers per county. The counties with higher numbers have higher deer numbers.

EHD really did a number a few years back. It is a weird thing because it is so localized. You can have one farm get hit really bad and then 2 miles over nothing. I saw this with my own eye. Where I hunted I didn't find a single dead deer. 10 miles north where I ducked hunted the river was full of them, it was gross. I bet we found 10 plus in a 1 mile stretch.

It affected the bucks more than the does for some reason. We have bounced back a lot but I think the big bucks may be down depending on how hard the area was hit.

 

[Muskeez]

I have hunted North, central, and southern Iowa. I found plenty of deer and plenty of land to hunt in all areas. BUT, if you want to shoot a big buck I wouldn't suggest NR hunters buying points and paying the hefty fees to hunt public land only unless they have a ton of time to scout like someone else said, or unless they have a resident that will give them the scoop on where and when to hunt. Sure, you could google earth scout and find a spot and walk in and set up and shoot a big deer, it happens, but it takes me 3-4 years to learn a piece of property and how the deer move within it and at what times of the year and day. And that is after 80-100 hours a year in a tree. If that style of hunting isn't for you, that's fine, but bashing it and saying it isn't real hunting solves nothing. We need to stick together. (As Cush stated). I used to think shooting an elk with a rifle out west was a slam dunk, and cheating. I had never tried it, only seen it done on TV. Now that I have hunted the west, I have a different view. I have also heard guys from the western states bash treestand hunting for wt in the Midwest when they don't have a problem with baiting bears where legal. Iowa wt hunting looks like a slam dunk thanks to all of the TV shows, spend a year doing it and I bet your views will change. And no, we don't all sit over foodplots in wooden boxes all day

 

[maxx]

I have hunted North, central, and southern Iowa. I found plenty of deer and plenty of land to hunt in all areas. BUT, if you want to shoot a big buck I wouldn't suggest NR hunters buying points and paying the hefty fees to hunt public land only unless they have a ton of time to scout like someone else said, or unless they have a resident that will give them the scoop on where and when to hunt. Sure, you could google earth scout and find a spot and walk in and set up and shoot a big deer, it happens, but it takes me 3-4 years to learn a piece of property and how the deer move within it and at what times of the year and day. And that is after 80-100 hours a year in a tree. If that style of hunting isn't for you, that's fine, but bashing it and saying it isn't real hunting solves nothing. We need to stick together. (As Cush stated). I used to think shooting an elk with a rifle out west was a slam dunk, and cheating. I had never tried it, only seen it done on TV. Now that I have hunted the west, I have a different view. I have also heard guys from the western states bash treestand hunting for wt in the Midwest when they don't have a problem with baiting bears where legal. Iowa wt hunting looks like a slam dunk thanks to all of the TV shows, spend a year doing it and I bet your views will change. And no, we don't all sit over foodplots in wooden boxes all day

Again I think it comes down to expectations and where you hunt. I kind of have a pretty high low end limit for what I would shoot these days. I am trying to push into the 140-150 limit with a bow. I have passed up some really nice bucks in the last few years because of this. For people coming from other states they would have been more than happy to have killed a few that I have let go.

Here are two from the last two years.

[video=youtube;c3UZyYIydcc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3UZyYIydcc[/video]

 

[maxx]

Last year

[video=youtube;9T_yymNPvY0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T_yymNPvY0[/video]

 

[duckhunt]

Hey maxx you have more patience than i do. Im a meat hunter. Any of those deer would have been in my freezer. Well maybe, the last 3 years ive shot at 3 deer with my bow with a complete miss every time. I think my new bow is cursed.

 

[maxx]

Hey maxx you have more patience than i do. Im a meat hunter. Any of those deer would have been in my freezer. Well maybe, the last 3 years ive shot at 3 deer with my bow with a complete miss every time. I think my new bow is cursed.

I love the meet myself but I shoot 4-5 minimum between the does I shoot and my kids. I didn't always have that much patience and after going 3 or 4 years without a buck with a bow I may start to get less selective.

I am less selective with my muzzy than bow actually. I really want to push one into the 140-150 range. I have one with a muzzy but not a bow.

 

[pointingdogsrule]

I would have to agree with LopeHunter. That type of "hunting" if you can call it that just doesn't appeal to me either. To sit in a treestand overlooking a foodplot on someone's back forty specifically to bring deer in to your shooting location knowing the deer will be coming is just shooting.

Holy cow!!!! I must be the worst hunter in Iowa and REALLY SUCK. Been here 27 years and put in a lot of scouting and hunting days. Average 30 days per year. I just can't seem to see the 27 deer that I have hanging on the wall. Maybe I need new glasses. All this time I thought hat I was "hunting".... must be some other type of sport that I am active in.

Let me know when the next deer is "coming to my stand" so that I can be out there. If you think that this is NOT hunting then you must not antelope hunt out west. Heck half the guys drive around in trucks and locate a buck and put a stalk on the antelope and make the shot. I've been there and I've seen it. It was the first advice given to me on this site. "don't waste time walking... drive and locate"

good luck to all (you hunters)
the dog

 

[duckhunt]

Watch the fresh tracks episode in Iowa and then ask Randy how easy it was. I didnt see any food plots on that episode.