1eyebuck

Hello,

I have been on paid hunts before and had some good and bad experiences. I was thinking of hunting Iowathis timeand wanted to see ifanyone has used any services there and if so which ones, was it good,badand did it fulfill expectations set by the guide service?

What weapon did you use?

What load did you use?

What bullet – weight did you use?

How far was the deer?

How many did you see per day and at what times?

What was the typical weather?

What dates did you go?

How was the facilities?

Hope to hear from all of you, thanks.

srwshooter

i have never done it. i have plenty of friends that do it every year. last year a bunch of guys went colorado ,they all killed either pronghorns or mullies. the problem came in the way the outfitter handled game after the kill. they would haul animals around all day on the truck in very warm weather. they ended up loosing one cape. they also did a poor skinning job on all of there kills. all of the hides were full of holes and were not cut the way they should have been. this can be a unseen cost to a hunt when you get home to your taxidermist. before you go on any hunt away from home ,go talk with your taxidermist to see how he likes a animal skinned and cared for ,it will save you money.


srwshooter

1eyebuck

Good point and I'll keep that in mind, thank you for sharing your story!

driftrider

Why do you want to come to Iowa? We don't have any deer around here! [8D]

I've never been on a paid hunt, but I can answer some of your questions regarding Iowa.

Depending on the season, you can hunt with bow, shotgun (w/slugs only), ML, or CF handgun (w/ straight-walled cartridge .357cal and over). In the southern two tiers of counties it is legal to hunt with a CF rifle only in the late (resident-only) antlerless season.

You can use whatever you want with a few limitations. Shotguns must shoot single slugs (no buckshot), ML's must be .44cal or greater, handguns must be .357cal + and straight-walled only. Bows have a minimum draw weight, but I can't remember what it is. No crossbows unless you've got a disabled hunter permit, no CF rifles except as described above, and then they must be .243cal or greater.

Again, you can use what you want as long as it meets the minimum guidelines. All firearms must shoot expanding projectiles.

Shots distance depends on the prevailing terrain, of course. From heavy timber where a you won't see a deer past 10 yards, to across a corn field where it's 500+ and well out of reach of the weapons legal during the normal seasons. I've never shot a deer over 100 yards in Iowa, with my average being about 50 yards.

This can range from nothing all day to dozens, depending on where you are, time of day, which season and what the weather is like, etc... I've seen most of my deer in the evening close to sunset. In Iowa it is legal to shoot 1/2 hour before official sunrise to 1/2 hour after the official sunset.

During the archery season, which generally runs from Oct 1st to the middle of January with break in December for the shotgun seasons, can range from 80 degrees and muggy, to -20 degrees windy and miserable. The shotgun seasons are in early and mid December and are usually cold, temps could range anywhere from the 50's down to below zero. Come prepared.

As a non-resident, you have fewer seasons to hunt deer than a resident, depending on your weapon of choice. Non-res hunters can get one any-sex archery tag that's good for the entire archery season (last year was Oct. 1st-Dec. 5th and Dec. 22nd-Jan. 10th). You can also get one tag for either of the two shotguns seasons which run back-to-back in December (last year was 12/6-12/10 for 1st Shotgun, and 12/13-12/21 for 2nd Shotgun). Non-res hunters can also get an any-sex tag for the Late Muzzleloader season which immediately follows the 2nd shotgun season and runs until the middle of Jan (las season was 12/23-1/10/09). I think that Iowa has a lottery tag system and quotas for all non-resident deer tags.


Mike

1eyebuck

Hey thanks for the information. What part of the state do you live in? We are looking at zones, 4,5,6,7 and 9.

driftrider

I live in the Iowa City area, which is SE Iowa, very close to the southeast corner of zone 7. I've hunted in both zone 7 and zone 4. There are plenty of deer all over the state, but the concentration gets greater as you go further south. The southern two tiers of counties issue special antlerless tags by the thousands every year just to try to get a handle on the population (hence the DNR relenting and allowing CF rifles during the January antlerless season in those counties, to encourage more hunting of does).

If you go the paid guide/outfitter route you should be fine as far as having a place to hunt. Iowa has VERY little public land, as a percentage of total land area, Iowa ranks among the lowest of all states for public hunting land. Most of the land is tillable farmland and privately held, so if you decide to go the DIY route on public land, you'll be pretty limited. I hunt both on private land owned by relatives and on public land. I've had more success on private land, but that may be because much of the public land is left wild and is very dense and overgrown. When I said there are places where you could have a deer standing 10 yards away and not have a shot, and maybe not even know it's there, I wasn't kidding.

As far as the zones go, like I said, I've done all my hunting in 7 (Johnson County), and 4 (Guthrie County), and there are plenty of deer in both.

Another thing to consider is that I think that Iowa uses a lottery system for deer tags for non-residents (residents buy our licenses over-the-counter) with a point preference system. I have no idea how it works or what your chances would be to draw a tag. If you want more info about non-resident deer hunting, try the following link. 2008 Iowa Non-Resident Deer Info

This information is for the 2008-2009 season, so it could change for this coming season (especially dates), but it'll give you an idea what you are looking at. Just also be aware that if you do draw a tag, Iowa also requires you to buy and possess a regular (small game) hunting license and a "habitat stamp". For non-residents in 2008 the Non-Res hunting license was $80.50, the Habitat Stamp was $11.50 and the Non-Res Any-Sex tag w/ mandatory Antlerless tag (so you get two tags) was $323.00... $415 total (man they really stick it to the non-resident hunters!). Also bear in mind that to get your tag, if you were born after Jan. 1, 1972, you MUST provide proof that you've completed a hunter safety course or your application would be rejected. Also the application window for non-residents starts in early May and runs about one month. If you miss it, you're S.O.L. for that year.

Reviewing Iowa's non-resident deer regs makes me really glad to be a resident, because they sure don't make it cheap or easy. I'm also glad Minnesota's non-resident deer tags are MUCH easier and cheaper to get.

But if you do apply, good luck to you. I'm not one who has a big problem with non-resident hunters. We've got plenty of deer to go around right now. If the deer herd were a lot smaller I could see severely limiting non-resident hunting, but right now we've got so many deer that (for residents) they're practically giving doe tags away. So feel free to come over and blast one or two, the hood of someone's car will thank you.

Mike

1eyebuck

Hey thanks for the information it's very helpful. We have a great group of guys who hunted many places for whitetail. We are looking forward to seeing your fine state and what it has to offer.