PY Antlers

The ground I hunt is archery only with 150" minimum and outside of himself wife and son, he only lets 3-4 other guys hunt it. The Lansing wildlife refuge is good as long as you go deep, there is also the french creek area. There all open to the public.

Deer Crazy

I have a late season muzzle loader tag for zone 9. Looking at Lansing area or French Creek. These wildlife management areas supposedly have food plots. I am thinking with the early crop harvest this year these areas may be a good choice. I also hear Yellow River public land is good if you get far enough away from the roads. Also considering river bottoms east of Lansing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Trapper22

I see you did mention yellow river state forest (Harpers Ferry area) it would be a good bet if you can't get on private ground by asking. How long ago did you know you got the tag. Second season shotgun opens tomorrow and getting permission in the middle of the season might be tough.


If I wanted to fork out the big money for an out of state tag I'm lucky enough to know a lot of people in Allamakee Cty and Clayton Cty. I've been invited to hunt over there many times but I refuse to give that kind of money for a N/R tag. I live across the bridge from IA and I work in IA. My wife is also from Waukon so I have an in if I get rich.

Deer Crazy

Actually I have been giving some serious thoughts to Yellow River and have printed out the aerial photos and contours. I have known about the tag for some time but have been told some of the public land is as good as the private. I guess you need a little luck either way. Plan to get there next weekend, may be see where some of the hunting pressure is and possibly talk to some hunters. Might even rent a plane to look over several areas.

If you have any good contacts, as I noted earlier I would consider a trophy fee but am not really interested in looking at a daily fee at this time. Though I am not young, I am willing to put in the leg work to get away from crowds. Looks like yellow river may be a good place to find areas which have not received a lot of pressure.

Talked to a group of 4 bowhunters who did really well. Took 2 bucks on private land and 2 in Yellow River. They said if you got a mile off the road, you would not see much if any hunting pressure.