I love hearing this point of view. Yup it is really easy just sit in a tree and shoot a 200" deer that is around every corner. There is a lot of work that goes into just in a different way. I enjoy all types of hunting and I don't put any type down. As long as what you do is legal and it doesn't affect anyone else go for it. Stick together!
Iowa anyone?
- Thread starter duckhunt
- Start date
I love hearing this point of view. Yup it is really easy just sit in a tree and shoot a 200" deer that is around every corner. There is a lot of work that goes into just in a different way. I enjoy all types of hunting and I don't put any type down. As long as what you do is legal and it doesn't affect anyone else go for it. Stick together!
beagle001
Well-known member
Explain to me all of the tag soup I have from last year...
jeffpg
Active member
After building points for several years I finally found the place I want to hunt so I pulled the trigger and drew the tag. I'm really looking forward to a fun archery rut hunt in zone 5.
NICE!! Good luck!
FishN4Eyes
Well-known member
Non-resident Zone 6 muzzleloader for me!
I'll be out there starting Dec. 26th for a week or so.
Hopefully zing a doe with the bow if the buck hunting gets done early and I get lucky.
I'll be out there starting Dec. 26th for a week or so.
Hopefully zing a doe with the bow if the buck hunting gets done early and I get lucky.
LCH
Well-known member
Not liking stand hunting is fair enough. It's not as adventurous as a backcountry hunt out west, for sure.
I do think it's funny though, that a lot of guys that have never hunted eastern whitetails think it's all like an episode of Bone Collector. Just like a lot of guys around here don't have any concept of how a western spot/stalk hunt goes down. One of my BILs actually asked me if I took a climber on my antelope hunt a couple years back.
I live in pretty good whitetail country, and often put in a couple hundred hours before getting a buck. Indiana (i know, it's not Iowa) has something like a 25% success rate on filling tags on any deer, let alone a mature buck (a rough number, since many unsuccessful hunters are unaccounted for - landowners, lifetime license holders, e.g.). Most folks do not have access to food plots, and either crowd onto tiny parcels of public land, or hunt some distant relative's 20 acres of woods.
I do think it's funny though, that a lot of guys that have never hunted eastern whitetails think it's all like an episode of Bone Collector. Just like a lot of guys around here don't have any concept of how a western spot/stalk hunt goes down. One of my BILs actually asked me if I took a climber on my antelope hunt a couple years back.
I live in pretty good whitetail country, and often put in a couple hundred hours before getting a buck. Indiana (i know, it's not Iowa) has something like a 25% success rate on filling tags on any deer, let alone a mature buck (a rough number, since many unsuccessful hunters are unaccounted for - landowners, lifetime license holders, e.g.). Most folks do not have access to food plots, and either crowd onto tiny parcels of public land, or hunt some distant relative's 20 acres of woods.
Provincialism at its "finest"...
'Course it may not be as "adventurous", but I can kill more deer in a year here than a guy in NV will or even can in a decade. Not to mention that my oldest had killed 3 deer before his 9th birthday. Kinda tough for him to do that in NV as well...
Flatland Crusoe
Member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2014
- Messages
- 572
I could never hunt another day of Midwestern whitetails and die happy. Access issues, the density of hunters and the lack of activity while stand hunting all drive me nuts along with the fact that whitetails aren't really interactive animals to hunt. I'm pretty sure if whitetails weren't so tied up in family traditions or weren't the only big game species for 80% of the country's population they would be a lot less popular. The only reason for a western hunter to hunt the east for whitetails is so they can realize what constitutes pressure.
Would I spend North of $600.00 bucks to come to Iowa for a whitetail? No, I don't think so but I'm spoiled as far as whitetail hunting goes. Then again I'll drop that much on a NR elk tag and I bet the odds of success favor the NR whitetail guy over the NR elk hunter, especially if you don't drink the TV cool aid and expect a 150 or better behind every tree.
Yes, Iowa ranks 49 in the State for public land. Believe it or not if your not an A hole and put the time in you can still get permission if your willing to put in the work. Good public land can also be found. Again you have to work. Your lucky no one could grow crops on the Mt. tops.
Stand hunting not for you fine. Good luck with the spot and stalk. I love hearing guys poo poo "lazy tree stand hunters". Most I've ever really talked to about it have never even done it or understand what it takes to be good at it....
If your looking at Iowa I wish you luck. For the popular zones your looking at three years, maybe 4. I don't discount what Zim says. If your puplic land only I'd go with a bow. No way I'd be out there during shotgun season and late muzzy can be real tough. When I went back through the old shows and saw Randy here over Shotgun I cringed. I think he was lucky it was so cold....
Yes, Iowa ranks 49 in the State for public land. Believe it or not if your not an A hole and put the time in you can still get permission if your willing to put in the work. Good public land can also be found. Again you have to work. Your lucky no one could grow crops on the Mt. tops.
Stand hunting not for you fine. Good luck with the spot and stalk. I love hearing guys poo poo "lazy tree stand hunters". Most I've ever really talked to about it have never even done it or understand what it takes to be good at it....
If your looking at Iowa I wish you luck. For the popular zones your looking at three years, maybe 4. I don't discount what Zim says. If your puplic land only I'd go with a bow. No way I'd be out there during shotgun season and late muzzy can be real tough. When I went back through the old shows and saw Randy here over Shotgun I cringed. I think he was lucky it was so cold....
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I would much prefer to actually "hunt" a mule deer once a year than to just kill buttloads of whitetails anywhere every year.
JohnCushman
Well-known member
According to dictionary.com....
hunt
[huhnt]
Spell Syllables
Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
1.
to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.
2.
to pursue with force, hostility, etc., in order to capture (often followed by down):
They hunted him down and hanged him.
3.
to search for; seek; endeavor to obtain or find (often followed by up or out):
to hunt up the most promising candidates for the position.
4.
to search (a place) thoroughly.
5.
to scour (an area) in pursuit of game.
6.
to use or direct (a horse, hound, etc.) in chasing game.
7.
Change Ringing. to alter the place of (a bell) in a hunt.
verb (used without object)
8.
to engage in the pursuit, capture, or killing of wild animals for food or in sport.
9.
to make a search or quest (often followed by for or after).
10.
Change Ringing. to alter the place of a bell in its set according to certain rules.
noun
11.
an act or practice of hunting game or other wild animals.
12.
a search; a seeking or endeavor to find.
13.
a pursuit.
14.
a group of persons associated for the purpose of hunting; an association of hunters.
15.
an area hunted over.
16.
Change Ringing. a regularly varying order of permutations in the ringing of a group of from five to twelve bells.
So, hunting in Iowa would, by definition, still be 'hunting'. You scout for deer and pattern them and then try to kill them. Whether or not it's over a food plot or not is not the issue since we pattern deer and elk to water and hunt over it. So, in an area with limited access, a treestand or ground blind might be the only viable option in a small parcel of land. The way I see it..we are ALL hunters, and should respect each other's ways of hunting, as long as it's legal. We all hunt within our respective boundries, whether it be a treestand on 40 acres in the East, or 400,000 acres of national forest in the West. Get over yourselves...we are all hunters.
hunt
[huhnt]
Spell Syllables
Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
1.
to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.
2.
to pursue with force, hostility, etc., in order to capture (often followed by down):
They hunted him down and hanged him.
3.
to search for; seek; endeavor to obtain or find (often followed by up or out):
to hunt up the most promising candidates for the position.
4.
to search (a place) thoroughly.
5.
to scour (an area) in pursuit of game.
6.
to use or direct (a horse, hound, etc.) in chasing game.
7.
Change Ringing. to alter the place of (a bell) in a hunt.
verb (used without object)
8.
to engage in the pursuit, capture, or killing of wild animals for food or in sport.
9.
to make a search or quest (often followed by for or after).
10.
Change Ringing. to alter the place of a bell in its set according to certain rules.
noun
11.
an act or practice of hunting game or other wild animals.
12.
a search; a seeking or endeavor to find.
13.
a pursuit.
14.
a group of persons associated for the purpose of hunting; an association of hunters.
15.
an area hunted over.
16.
Change Ringing. a regularly varying order of permutations in the ringing of a group of from five to twelve bells.
So, hunting in Iowa would, by definition, still be 'hunting'. You scout for deer and pattern them and then try to kill them. Whether or not it's over a food plot or not is not the issue since we pattern deer and elk to water and hunt over it. So, in an area with limited access, a treestand or ground blind might be the only viable option in a small parcel of land. The way I see it..we are ALL hunters, and should respect each other's ways of hunting, as long as it's legal. We all hunt within our respective boundries, whether it be a treestand on 40 acres in the East, or 400,000 acres of national forest in the West. Get over yourselves...we are all hunters.
Gellar
Well-known member
As a person who helps manage public land in Iowa I will admit that we could do better in some areas and we could offer more public opportunities in some areas, but in other areas we have very ample opportunities for people to take a pope and young class or larger whitetail. We are no different from western states where some zones have a better chance at a trophy, some areas have high densities and some areas just suck. In Allamakee county, the #2 county year in and year out for deer taken and trophy potential, there is about 10,000 acres in wildlife management areas, 10,000 acres in Yellow River State Forest and about 40 continuous miles of the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge all available for public hunting. Some of the areas, like public land in the west is easy to access and some are more of a logistical problem. In Iowa there is no law that says you have to be in a treestand, every year deer are taken by still hunting and spot and stalk, ecspecially when it is frigid and the deer bed on hillsides. As the numbers show there is no shortage of people who are waiting to come to Iowa and they gladly pay the 600$ year in and year out to draw a tag of a lifetime for whitetail deer. If anyone is interested in hunting in Iowa during any of the seasons feel free to get a hold of me and I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.
1976
Active member
Theres some nice public land areas in Iowa where you can park and get lost all day, see some deer bump into another hunter maybe, I have only hunted late season ML but its no different than many other states public hunting areas, you do have to put in some homework but where don't you have to do that. Like hunting anywhere else it is what you make it out to be.
Good For You...
Zim
Well-known member
That's unfortunate to hear for deer hunters. Last scouted in Febr. 2014 and never heard/saw one pheasant in zone 5/6. 5 was a zoo back in the 90's. Birds everywhere no need for a dog.
C17loadclear
Active member
As a guy who grew up still hunting out west it was a change to hunt in NC but it is still not as easy as most people think. I also know guys who have the dedication that rivals western hunters...For example, spending all night in the tree to catch the deer moving first thing so he didn't spook them. For me, I am good for about 2 or 3 hours but I know guys who can sit all day...That takes some serious dedication if you ask me. Now being able to kill 6 deer a year is nice...
It is tough to hunt Whitetails in NC any other way...
It is tough to hunt Whitetails in NC any other way...
We are not there yet nor do I think we ever will get there. Crop prices kind of killed that. Farmers typically till fence to fence now. I have lived in Iowa since 01 and I have had a dog since 04. From 04 to 08 if you worked you could kill birds on public. From 08 until 13 it got really bad. It started to turn in 14. The crop prices sucked but the floods in the springs did more damage than anything.
You wouldn't believe the birds we have seen the last two years, specially in the spring. I will try to get out once or twice before Christmas typically after a sit in the stand and then I will focus on them for the last two weeks of the season.
duckhunt
Well-known member
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.
beancounter
New member
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18
Whitetail hunting is my go to living here in the Midwest. I love it. I can understand people not wanting to do it, especially with the steep tag price in IA.
That said it is not as easy as it looks on TV, especially if you are hunting public. Here in WI, the better hunting is in the southern and western portion of the state, which conveniently is not where most of the public land is. Most of the public is in the national forest in northern WI where the deer herd is struggling. You could really cover a lot of ground up there, and struggle to get onto a good buck.
Most of the terrain in WI at least lends itself to ambush style of hunting, so tree stand or ground blind. You could try a spot and stalk type of hunt in the marshes that dominate quite a bit of the public land available, but it wouldn't be very effective.
It all boils down to the fundamentals of hunting for the guys who are successful. Even guys who hunt good private ground most of them are putting in a ton of time running trail cameras, doing habitat improvement, glassing, and scouting throughout the year. I don't know of many guys who shoot good deer that just show up one day, throw up a stand and get it done. It happens, but not consistently. I am guessing guys that get it done regularly out west are putting in a similar amount of work, just doing different things.
That said it is not as easy as it looks on TV, especially if you are hunting public. Here in WI, the better hunting is in the southern and western portion of the state, which conveniently is not where most of the public land is. Most of the public is in the national forest in northern WI where the deer herd is struggling. You could really cover a lot of ground up there, and struggle to get onto a good buck.
Most of the terrain in WI at least lends itself to ambush style of hunting, so tree stand or ground blind. You could try a spot and stalk type of hunt in the marshes that dominate quite a bit of the public land available, but it wouldn't be very effective.
It all boils down to the fundamentals of hunting for the guys who are successful. Even guys who hunt good private ground most of them are putting in a ton of time running trail cameras, doing habitat improvement, glassing, and scouting throughout the year. I don't know of many guys who shoot good deer that just show up one day, throw up a stand and get it done. It happens, but not consistently. I am guessing guys that get it done regularly out west are putting in a similar amount of work, just doing different things.
