Guthrie Center, Iowa

Hey guys, I met a nice guy this weekend from Iowa while I was at the Olympic wrestling trials. He lives in Guthrie county, specifically Guthrie Center.

He is a farmer and has 460 acres of private land. Anyways at the end of the conversation he invited me to come out and archery hunt deer whenever I wanted. He said, "if you draw the tag, you can come out". I am pumped! All I hear is great things about Iowa deer hunting.

Two things: #1 If you guys know, how is the hunting around this area? #2 How do I apply for and draw a tag to hunt Iowa?

I know you have to draw, but what are my odds and do you have to pick a season/unit?

Thanks in advance guys

 

You need to apply for a tag. If you are going to apply for Archery you are better off just buying a preference point the first year. It costs $50 for the point most places in Iowa take 3 points to draw a Archery tag. That way you dont have to put up the $600 plus and wait for a refund.

https://jc.activeoutdoorsolutions.com/ia_customer/app/goHome.do

 

$600??? Really??? Holy cow!!

 

Just looked it up and you only have a 1 month window to apply for non-resident and it starts in 2 weeks.

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/NonresidentHunting.aspx

 

Thanks guys!

It looks like I'll be purchasing a preference point this year and the probably the following year. It could be a couple years but I'm still excited. This is the statement that really got to me in our conversation, "I hate all the sheds because they get stuck in my tractor tires and I have to get out to move them". He said he just throws them into a big pile on the side of his barn!!!

$600 is crazy for a tag but I think it will be worth it for this addicted whitetail hunter

 

Should still make a weekend trip one each spring and go get all those sheds for him! I'll even go help you find them all!!!

 

Thats what I was thinking!

I might have to look into that for sure!

 

Us out of staters can begin buying preference points on May 5 and it runs through June 3.

 

Depends on what zone you are applying for. Zone 5 = 2 preference points and then apply. Zone 4 = 1 preference point and apply. Guthrie Center is in Zone 4. You can go to: http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu/client...ion=zoomin&pwidth=600&pheight=450&x=292&y=237 to see an aerial photograph of Guthrie County. The information on zones and preference points needed to be drawn in these zones comes directly from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. You should do pretty good because Guthrie County has a high number of NR tags each year.

 

Thanks for this information. It is very helpful. It looks like I'll be getting a preference point this year and then hopefully hunting next fall!