RE: iowa public land
Stonewall,
I hunted Sedan Bottoms several trips back in the 90's. I have to say it was a great property until coon & pheasant seasons started. Then it was over-run and pretty worthless. Also bumped into two CO's there my last year. Seems there was a lot of poaching going on there from northern Missouri folks. Caught a few. Hope it's improved. Overall this property was very crowded with both locals & nonresidents. I foundbetter places. The worst thing were the coon hunters who pounded every nook & cranny of the public land when we wereat home sleeping. This took place at every property we hunted.
The bird dogs also really shut down nice bucks immediately. I saw many bucks walk around leisurely in October who quickly became nocturnal when chased by the hounds. The public land can be a puzzle there. Just have to snoop around till you find some unpressured corner. Usually the good bucks were just over the line on private land.
Reit,
Consider knocking on doorsfor private land but stay away from Albia area where leasing took hold. The farmers in Iowa are by the far and away the nicest folks anywherefor granting permission, especially archery. One buddy of mine got 5 yeses in a row. He had access to more land than he could even hope to hunt inthe best of habitat.
Check out Honey Creek State Park if you want to camp or gawk at booners.