Hey Everybody, I'm in the mix of planning a DIY public land bowhunt. I don't know a whole lot at this point. Only that it's gonna take about 3-4 years to get a tag and it's going to cost over 700 for all the licenses and such. Does anyone have any knowledge they would like to share regarding places to search for decent public land? Also what zones are good to hunt? Stuff like that. Thanks in advance! Tim
If you're just going for the experience. Go for it. But if you're just going because you hear everybody talking like you're gonna see a boone and crocket in 10 minutes. Ahh not really. There's better states than Iowa that has similar qualities to Iowa. Missouri is one, sw Wisconsin
Iowa DNR has lot of good info on their site, draw statistics, harvest information etc. I'd suggest calling their offices & talking to a wildlife biologist as well as calling a local game warden or area manager of the locations your considering.
One of my goals is to do an out of state hunt. I hunt northern Wisconsin so Iowa isn't too far for me. A booner would be an amazing accomplishment. Let's be honest, we all know how hunting is. It's hard no matter where you are and you need to put in your time. In my eyes a 120-130 is a booner. Overall I would be going for the experience!
There are a couple of State Forests that would work but a lot of others want those areas too. Rest of the state is small strips and patches on private ground. I would be looking in Mo, Ill or Wi for public ground.
Last time i was looking at terrains on Google map on hill country by the mississippi river. NW Illinois seems interesting. Hill and farm country there. But dont know if the state owns some of the hill country parcels there.
I wonder if there is an app on the DNR website where you can search and determine what's public versus private. sent from my mini hand held phone
If I was planning an out of state hunt, I would most likely look past the Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, etc... And look into the more overlooked states like Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri etc etc.
P&Y Ratio and B&C Ratio: This is a computation of the ratio between the record book bucks in relation to the overall harvest for the past five seasons 2010-2014. For example, more B&C bucks have been killed in Wisconsin than any other state, but Wisconsin also has a very high deer harvest. If you look at the number of B&C bucks as a percentage of the overall harvest, five states rank higher than Wisconsin: Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa and Indiana. Read more: http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/trophy-bucks/20-best-diy-whitetail-states-for-2015/#ixzz4bVSugQTV Found this by doing a quick search. You have better odds of a trophy in Colorado than most of the states recommended so far. lol You need to talk to people that have actually hunted the states mentioned when considering their advice. Also, some states are very heavily outfitted. The outfitters have a financial interest in making sure that bucks get entered into the books. (ie: WI, IL) If you don't want to wait for an Iowa tag, you might look at Kentucky.
A hunter can get a lease in the four bow-only counties of WV for roughly $3 an acre. And all tags needed for around $250. Nice deer there. http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/deer-of-the-day/chad-scyphers-188-inch-west-virginia-record/ http://wvmetronews.com/2017/01/27/teens-logan-county-buck-ranks-high-in-the-w-va-record-book/ http://wvmetronews.com/2017/02/04/another-buffalo-creek-buck-makes-the-record-books/
I have hunted Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin and Kansas and without question I would hunt Iowa over the others and it isn't even close!
Iowa does have big deer mr monster racks. But if tags were over the counter I'd hunt there too. But given the fact that you have to wait for years just to get a tag drawn 4 yrs later. 700$ with fees taken out for pts. Id rather go to another state thats off the counter That still had a good buck. Iowa's not the only place that has big bucks. Ive tagged plenty of nice bucks with my bow along with a P&Y officially in the book. Don't get me wrong iowa does have big deer if you got land and you can legally feed deer during the season in that state.
As a resident of MO i can tell you we do have a lot of nice public ground to hunt. However inexpensive tags sold over the counter to non-residents increases the amount of hunting pressure in the state. Mid-October thru rifle season public ground can be crowded. What appeals to me about Iowa is just what fletch points out. I've never hunted Iowa but I'd think there is relatively less hunting pressure even on public ground. Sure I know MO has more public ground & hunters can spread out but it just seems to me that Iowa would have less pressure due to their permit system. Can any resident of Iowa comment on this? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I have hunted Iowa several times and will shotgun hunt there this year. Since you are going to have to wait to get a tag let me suggest another approach. Give up the public land idea and find some good private ground. I have been a Presbyterian minister for thirty years. Several years ago I decided I wanted to hunt Iowa and drew a circle around the best areas I could find on the map. I then looked up every rural church in my denomination in the area and started making calls. Sure enough, I got to hunt about 1000 acres in southern Iowa. My mistake was taking my friend who tagged a WHOPPER. We went back several times and he managed to get another good deer three years ago. He owes me big time! Anyway I did the same thing in northern Missouri and got in on some great ground. I hit a really nice buck with a bow , but never found it , and saw lots of good deer. I have taken a break from ministry for a while and now train and kennel dogs for a living. Somebody showed up with Iowa license plates at our kennel and one short phone call to her brother later , I am going to Iowa this fall shotgun hunting hundreds of acres. He said I will be the only one he lets hunt. Here is my point. There are zillions of acres of prime deer habitat to be had if you talk to the right people. Figure out what tools you have at your disposal and start making connections. You could pick your area, take some time to visit a small town there, have breakfast with the old guys at the McDonalds and I guarantee you you can get some leads. Taxidermy shops are good too. If you want to hunt Iowa,have at! People skills will get you on some great deer.
