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Make a stand for public land - Iowa 2025

Pucky Freak

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State legislators are sworn into office the first week of Jan, kicking off the 9th consecutive year of full Republican control of Iowa government at the state level. Each annual legislative session brings fresh assaults on public land, public land hunting, and resident hunting opportunity. Natural resources bills introduced by a small cadre of Republican lawmakers overwhelmingly seek to advantage nonresident hunters, hunting corporations, and the Iowa Farm Bureau.

Iowa BHA recently emailed its members with the following invitation:

“Legislators have repeatedly proposed bills aimed at limiting the ability of state entities, such as the Department of Natural Resources, to acquire additional land for public hunting purposes. In 2025, Iowa BHA anticipates continued initiatives aimed at limiting public hunting opportunities.

The Iowa Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers encourages our members and the hunters of Iowa to consider the excitement of the fall hunting seasons and appreciate the public lands available to us. We urge you to transform this enthusiasm into action by contacting your lawmakers before the legislative session begins on January 13, 2025, to express your support for public lands. After the session starts, be prepared to advocate for your hunting access and protect Iowa’s natural resources.”

I will plan to update this thread thru April with bill information as it becomes available, including legislator contact information.

Any and all support from nonresident hunters is always appreciated, so thank you in advance!

As always, anyone planning a DIY hunting or fishing trip to IA, feel free to PM me, and I might be able to point you in the right direction. I’m well acquainted with public lands and waters in eastern, southeastern, south central, central, and southwestern IA.
 
Not at all. I’m a 100% DIY public land hunter, Iowa is my neighbor, and I’m sitting on 5 points. All good in the hood.

Thanks for keeping us up to speed @Pucky Freak👍
I hope that Iowa is able to properly care for their residents 😀 - glad you agree.
 
And, here we go! Representative Taylor Collins is off to the races...
photo.png

Bill to carve out 10% of all either-sex NR WT licenses to landowners, and ensure they don't get allocated to DIY hunters. Have to pay back the political donors! https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF22&ga=91

This bill has not yet been assigned a subcommittee.

Mr. Collins does not have any contact information on his government bio page.
 
Thanks @Pucky Freak! I spent some time reading up on the bills yesterday. It looks like the 600 NR tags to outfitters is back. I didn’t see a crossbow bill, yet, but there is an “air bow” bill, which of course would allow the use of the air bow during regular archery season.

The same culprits are back at it. Austin Harris is traditionally anti-DNR, public lands, and private property rights. I was reading dialogue of the debate for expanding depredation tags and the rep from Ottumwa, Wapello County is a farmer with over 1000 acres who suffers crop damage. Someone asked him how many hunters are allows on his land and 2 was his response.
 
Thanks @Pucky Freak! I spent some time reading up on the bills yesterday. It looks like the 600 NR tags to outfitters is back. I didn’t see a crossbow bill, yet, but there is an “air bow” bill, which of course would allow the use of the air bow during regular archery season.

The same culprits are back at it. Austin Harris is traditionally anti-DNR, public lands, and private property rights. I was reading dialogue of the debate for expanding depredation tags and the rep from Ottumwa, Wapello County is a farmer with over 1000 acres who suffers crop damage. Someone asked him how many hunters are allows on his land and 2 was his response.

What the phuck is an air bow?
 
We need SOME wilderness in Iowa.

Ain't happenin'
Wilderness by the federal definition is not possible in Iowa, but I believe there is opportunity for wilderness in areas of Iowa. We need to fight to keep those areas from being opened to activities that are traditionally not allowed in Wilderness, and expand on rules to make other areas more like wilderness. Non motorized areas of the Upper Mississippi Fish and Wildlife refuge would be a start, limiting atv/utv use in parks and state forests, having units of the state forests designated as primitive would be good.
 
You can do this with a muzzleloader too. As my old Kansas neighbor, Monty Sneegas, did back in the 1980s when he jammed an arrow into a plastic sabot and crammed it down his muzzleloader before firing it more or less straight up and out of sight. It landed in my garden 300 yds away. Brilliant and ahead of his time.
 
You can do this with a muzzleloader too. As my old Kansas neighbor, Monty Sneegas, did back in the 1980s when he jammed an arrow into a plastic sabot and crammed it down his muzzleloader before firing it more or less straight up and out of sight. It landed in my garden 300 yds away. Brilliant and ahead of his time.
that was his million dollar idea. He should have got a patent.
 
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