One last tidbit of info before I start my honey-do's. Friends of mine always told me that it was next to impossible to get permission to hunt private land around Iowa. When I got stationed here to finish out my 30 year military career, I started driving into the country and watching for deer. When I saw large groups, I would drive up to the farmhouse and request permission to hunt. I was frequently told "No", and I would then politely thank them anyway. I always used "Sir/Ma'am" when speaking to the landowner. Many times after being denied, and then thanking them and wishing them a nice day, the farmer would change his mind on the spot due to the POLITENESS.
Another thing that has happened a lot is I made it a habit to eat lunch in small town diners while hunting. Local farmers seeing me dressed in camoflauge have approached me during lunch and requested that I hunt their property to get rid of deer. Now that I have 300 acres of land to hunt, I ask these farmers for their name and number and tell them I'll get one of my friends to help them out. I then turn the name and number over to a friend that I know will respect the farmers property and livestock.
Now, all those friends who told me you can't get permission have land to hunt on and I have mine. All it took was basic civility and politeness.

Good luck to all.

AF Hunter
USAF in Iowa???

Good point. Dress nice and be polite.

I have found out the same thing here in the small town here wehre I live.I would meet farmers at the coffee shop in the mornings when I would have coffee.After a couple years of talking to them and getting to know them I have more property to hunt then I am possibly able to do.I have my choices and use them the best I can.Just being polite and offering and actually doing somework on there places with them has granted me with lots of offers.
Sometimes you have to go that extra mile to get soemthing.besides it doesnt hurt helping people out.Everyone is happy this way.

I thank you for the tips sir. I had never thought of the small town diner approach to this issue but it makes perfect sense. I try to always be polite though.

Good deal

YEP BE KIND

What else have you all done to get permission to hunt? Let's do some sharing here to help others.

Growing up I spent many summers helping the local farmers in exchange for permission to hunt. Helping on the farms also allowed me to see the deer as we were out bailing hay or harvesting corn. Made scouting alot easier.

These days I try to wear some sort of hunting apparel when I go out. Not necessarily camo. I have some shirts from vendors and I often get stopped by other hunters just for conversation. Though in some cases I've received invites to hunt new areas.