Iowa anyone?

[duckhunt]

Im seeing alot about western tags being drawn. Im curious if anyone drew an Iowa tag. Us locals can get tags over the counter but nonresidents have to put in for the draw. Whos coming to the Midwest for cornfed whitetails?

 

[bobbydean]

I am curious. Does cornfed whitetails taste a lot better than normal venison?

 

[JohnCushman]

When can I start buying preference points?

 

[LopeHunter]

Not that interested in hunting whitetails in row-crop country. Sitting in a tree stand and then driving back to a wooden structure with running water and a nice, soft bed is not what I look for in a hunt. The amazing vistas, prairies, mountain ridges and big country have spoiled me as I only whitetail hunted around farms as a kid in the Midwest.

I do like chasing Coues whitetails.

As for flavor of corn or soy bean fed, that is hard to beat if you were holding a deer cooking contest.

 

[johnp]

First time Iowa bow hunt planned for this year . A co worker was kind enough to get permission for me on a 40 acre piece near Davenport . After scouting it and hanging a couple stand s I have got to say it is the best 40 I have ever seen ! Really looking

forward to it.
As far as the taste of venison, the only really tough meat I've had is from the " north woods " bucks .

 

[glass eye]

Might have to start putting in.

 

[michsteelguy]

Based on PP history, I was told I should draw an archery tag next year. Hopefully I can scratch Iowa off my destination bucket list in 2017!

 

[maxx]

Yup but I live here. For the most part they taste great. I can only think of one or two that didn't taste good.

It should be a good year. The EHD a few years back really put a hurt on the population.

 

[MN Public Hunter]

I would love to hunt Iowa, but with the 2-5 year wait, basically zero public land and the over $500 to do so I will take my money out west as much as I would love to get an Iowa giant.

 

[maxx]

I would love to hunt Iowa, but with the 2-5 year wait, basically zero public land and the over $500 to do so I will take my money out west as much as I would love to get an Iowa giant.

There is more than enough public land here. Anyone coming here wanting to hunt public ground go archery. Late muzzy is an option but the deer have been pounded hard by then and they congregate to private ground with food. Food is key late in the year.

I hear you on the 500 but they sell out every year so it won't change.

 

[MN Public Hunter]

Please explain how 356,000 acres of public hunting WMA's is enough for how over run Iowa is with hunter these days. I'm happy to be educated, but from my searching there is no way enough land for the amount of tags they sell and at the cost the charge. It's my understanding Iowa is one of the states with the lowest public lands available in the US. I'm not saying you won't find a place to hunt, but you and tons of other hunters are looking in Iowa.

It won't change until people realize they are stupid and do more research before going to Iowa. Now I'm going off what a few people have told me over the years so maybe it's old info, but I'm betting is has just gotten worse. MN has 1.3+ million acres, just not the hype and advertising Iowa does to get people to hunt there and I still have issues with finding a place to hunt that 10 other are not hunting.

 

[duckhunt]

I think June 5 was the deadline for buying points. As far as public land theres state and county lands. We dont have alot like some western states but i dont usually have a problem finding a place to hunt. Its just like hunting anywhere else, in general people are lazy. everyone wants to hunt the edges or close to the truck. If you walk in a little ways you can get away from most other hunters.

 

[duckhunt]

Hey bobbydean, ive never had venison from other states but i can tell you Iowa deer tastes great. no shortage of food,water, or habitat here.

 

[maxx]

Please explain how 356,000 acres of public hunting WMA's is enough for how over run Iowa is with hunter these days. I'm happy to be educated, but from my searching there is no way enough land for the amount of tags they sell and at the cost the charge. It's my understanding Iowa is one of the states with the lowest public lands available in the US. I'm not saying you won't find a place to hunt, but you and tons of other hunters are looking in Iowa.

It won't change until people realize they are stupid and do more research before going to Iowa. Now I'm going off what a few people have told me over the years so maybe it's old info, but I'm betting is has just gotten worse. MN has 1.3+ million acres, just not the hype and advertising Iowa does to get people to hunt there and I still have issues with finding a place to hunt that 10 other are not hunting.

Iowa hasnt changed the out of state limits for deer in the last 10 years so I am not sure how we are over run more now than ever.

Yes we don't have huge tracks of public but you can still kill big deer on public ground of you work a little. I have used a few stretegies. Bow hunt only on public. Hunt during the week if you can. Find the bigger tracks and go where others don't want to. Last is find really little tracks that people over look.

 

[Zim]

I've been hunting Iowa public land as a nonresident since the late 1990's. It's good but was better back then, as resident pressure has gotten worse over time. There's some good public places IF you have lots of time to scout in advance. I had three points this year and likely would have drawn, but had a pacemaker installed a week before my 4 day scouting trip was planned. Was just too sore so I had to pass. As a result, I elected not to apply this year. If I'm going to pay $600 and wait 4 years I want to be extremely confident in my scouting. In recent years I've seen far too many high-tech nonresidents from far away states show up on public who had only scouted via aerial imagery. Pissed me off when I had some stomp right through my setups totally clueless on where to go. These guys unknowingly walked right past a great spot without realizing it. Also since the 90's I got residents who use the public parking lots as their personal campgrounds! One group brings two huge mobile homes w/ATV trailer and sets up camp for 2 weeks in a lot. There's not even room for one other vehicle to pull in there. And the DNR allows this. It's illegal to use ATV's on the public but I've seen them use it to retrieve deer. Called a CO and they even knew about them but did nothing. Anyway I got disgusted with both these types of pressure in lots of the public in zones 5 & 6 so now I'll only go if I pre-scout in February and find some great sign in a hell hole to get to. I do the same here in Illinois where as a resident I get two buck tags for $26/ea. Intense scouting over 20+ years has me a few decent public spots here too. Iowa is better IF you scout on foot a LOT.

BTW the points required to draw jumped this year, likely a result of Huntin Fool directing all their clients to apply apply apply apply apply. The vast majority of these guys are from western states and bad hunting states far away so I expect to see even more high-tech clueless NR's in the parking lots next time I draw. I expect the points required will only continue to climb to the point where Iowa DNR will bend over point holders by morphing the draw from preference to bonus like all the western states have been doing. Cheapening everyone's point values. It's not IF, but when.

 

[okie archer]

Man, I just purchased my second pp this year hoping to draw in a couple more years but after reading some of these comnents it doesnt seem very exciting.

 

[maxx]

Man, I just purchased my second pp this year hoping to draw in a couple more years but after reading some of these comnents it doesnt seem very exciting.

Ahh keep at it. It is still pretty dam good. Next few years will be good again.

 

[Zim]

Man, I just purchased my second pp this year hoping to draw in a couple more years but after reading some of these comnents it doesnt seem very exciting.

I don't mean to discourage you, just be helpful. Don't even think about hunting Iowa public without at minimum one full week of scouting on foot in February. At minimum. And I don't just mean scouting for deer sign, but hunter sign. You'll find deer sign everywhere, but obvious funnels will already be hunted by locals and aerial scouting nonresidents. The Drury's really got resident newbies crawling everywhere these days. Hunt the hunters. Have plan A, B, C, D, E, F, G, etc. all lined up and hunt the ones where no vehicles are in the lot, even if habitat isn't as great. My advice based on 25 years on their public. One positive is the fact their pheasant numbers are crashed there these days. The locals used to pound the hell out of the public for birds rather than ruin their private land spots. for deer. Now they don't bother. No birds.

 

[maxx]

I don't mean to discourage you, just be helpful. Don't even think about hunting Iowa public without at minimum one full week of scouting on foot in February. At minimum. And I don't just mean scouting for deer sign, but hunter sign. You'll find deer sign everywhere, but obvious funnels will already be hunted by locals and aerial scouting nonresidents. The Drury's really got resident newbies crawling everywhere these days. Hunt the hunters. Have plan A, B, C, D, E, F, G, etc. all lined up and hunt the ones where no vehicles are in the lot, even if habitat isn't as great. My advice based on 25 years on their public. One positive is the fact their pheasant numbers are crashed there these days. The locals used to pound the hell out of the public for birds rather than ruin their private land spots. for deer. Now they don't bother. No birds.

Umm pheasant numbers have come back pretty strong the last two years and I suspect them to be better this year than last.

It is all about expectations. If you expect to see a 150" around every tree then you will be disappointed. If you want to see a lot of deer and a lot of bucks with a chance to arrow a nice one then you will still have a good time. N

 

[Gr8bawana]

Not that interested in hunting whitetails in row-crop country. Sitting in a tree stand and then driving back to a wooden structure with running water and a nice, soft bed is not what I look for in a hunt. The amazing vistas, prairies, mountain ridges and big country have spoiled me as I only whitetail hunted around farms as a kid in the Midwest.

I do like chasing Coues whitetails.

As for flavor of corn or soy bean fed, that is hard to beat if you were holding a deer cooking contest.

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.