How many of those guys are killing 2-3 bucks? They only kill about 50,000 bucks a year in the whole state. I doubt many of the average guys are killing 2-3 bucks a year. I doubt many of the average guys are killing 150” bucks, either
They continue to impress me
- Thread starter Howboutthemdawgs
- Start date
Drive through IA N-S and E-W after the crops come off You'll know why the hunt is so restricted.any folks think this population estimate is anywhere close to acurate? Is the hunting something to behold across all of IA - or only decent is a few areas. A lot of the state with ten deer or less per square mile
View attachment 72421
Iowa DNR releases first county-level deer density report • Iowa Capital Dispatch
Iowa DNR and Iowa State University researchers conducted a county-specific deer population density and economic impact study.iowacapitaldispatch.com
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I've seen people comment on wanting that but not aware of any states actually doing it. The only change in "structure" recently that i'm aware of is they reduced the NR allocation % on moose, sheep, and goat tags. They changed the NR Elk General tag from being a state wide tag to splitting the allocation up between west, south, and east zones with individual quotas but that was just to be able to control distribution a little bit more.
Yeah, so if they aren't killing everything available to them in IA, why would they care about MN, WI, MO, IL, etc making it harder specifically for IA residents to get tags there as a "reciprocity" for IA being stingy with NR IA tags? Some might but I bet it's very few. It's funny if you think about how those states actually treat deer management. They want the NR $ AND their deer killing efforts to help them wage war on varmint deer way more than they want to protect deer hunting quality for residents.
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Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Why would most of the neighboring states of IA care? Last thing they'd do is discourage people from giving them money and shooting their deer.. MN, IL, WI sure as hell aren't going to discourage people from buying licenses and shooting deer.
The states with people most wanting to hunt IA already ruined their hunting and dont have valuable hunting to withhold..
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bwoods11
5 year old buck +
I wasn’t referring to just deer. Should Minnesota limit NR fishing, South Dakota pheasants ?
There are Iowa guys saying states “should protect the resource”. I’ve had this argument with them before.
I bet they would not like it if Elk tags were an extra 3-4 yrs for Iowa residents? Where do you draw the line?
BenAllgood
5 year old buck +
Reciprocity could be in many forms. Throw gulf coast fishing, flyway ducks, or even usage charges for nonresident beach goers.
"If it's snowbird season, why can't we shoot them?"
Maybe they want to hunt with a rifle. Maybe they want to expand their available hunting season. Even when we used to have turkeys, I was hunting three of four states. Some of us folks just like to hunt
bwoods11
5 year old buck +
I’d say most of Iowa regs are solid . I certainly don’t blame them for restrictions, they are in a tough boat now—partially due to the system they created.
You can’t just open the door to NR , but the restrictions are annoying if you own land in the state & they keep changing rules/laws that make it harder !
You can’t just open the door to NR , but the restrictions are annoying if you own land in the state & they keep changing rules/laws that make it harder !
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
South Dakota would sell their soul to have MORE NR come to shoot pen raised ditch chickens. Maybe waterfowl would be a better analogy since the already limit that. But trying to filter out applicants from one state seems like an unnecessary headache for something they likely give zero shits about (IA NR tags).
Why would states want to bolster their residents spending money in IA hunting and on land vs in state?
g squared 23
5 year old buck +
I just wish a state or two in the midwest (other than Iowa) would have the courage to try a regulation change that doesn’t make it easier for hunters, just for a while. In IL it was crossguns for all, now rifles during firearm season. The gd things don’t have a chance and the mature buck numbers are dreadful. They’re managing deer like ducks because they care about quantity and give no thoughts to quality. Can’t we possibly have both?
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Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Amen. Every single regulation and technological advancement is geared toward making sure no one “fails”. Hunting has literally become the most instant gratification, participation trophy endeavors. Same guys who like to rail on little league sports as the “everyone gets a trophy” event, are the ones who want to sit over a bait pile with a 300 mag in an insulated blind on nov 7th so they get their buck.
That’s why I respect Iowa. They are the last stronghold of trying to allow bucks a chance to reach maturity through regulations. Every other state, I say with confidence, relies on individuals to have to make a decision to let a buck go. I’d be willing to bet every buck I’ve gotten on camera this year has been seen by someone hunting. So the ones that survived have only survived because someone said so.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
And I say that knowing Iowa will fall too. Every state gives in. They cannot risk hurting someone’s feeling or being seen as discriminating. So eventually there will be crossguns and rifles and the season will creep towards the rut. And don’t forget about the poor kids, youth seasons will be any weapon all season at some point.
States in the Midwest will eventually have 2 month gun seasons and bait and I promise a night season will happen in the next 15 years. Too much money in thermal tech to keep it out of the corrupt legislatures hands.
No where will ever get more restrictive. It only goes the other way.
States in the Midwest will eventually have 2 month gun seasons and bait and I promise a night season will happen in the next 15 years. Too much money in thermal tech to keep it out of the corrupt legislatures hands.
No where will ever get more restrictive. It only goes the other way.
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
Farm Bureau’s new policy calls for extended Illinois deer season to boost harvest - Outdoor News
During a meeting this month, IFB delegates recently approved changes to wildlife policies that “concentrate on managing nuisance deer populations.”
www.outdoornews.com
I agree, but I think the biggest driving force in many states is what will bring in the most money from hunting permits and license. Some states like KY the budget for fish and wildlife comes from the sell of the license, so right away huge conflict. So in the other words will they make more money with Booners walking around or make more money letting everyone kill an easy deer, well they believe and probably so to let everyone shoot a dink and keep more hunters in the woods to make more money. I for one would pay twice as much to hunt to improve the quality of the hunt and they would make the same money but obviously they think I am the outlier and they are probably correct.
g squared 23
5 year old buck +
Farm Bureau’s new policy calls for extended Illinois deer season to boost harvest - Outdoor News
During a meeting this month, IFB delegates recently approved changes to wildlife policies that “concentrate on managing nuisance deer populations.”
The farm bureau is the absolute worst. Their optimal number of deer shot per year is ALL OF THEM. The last group that should have any input on regulations.
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BenAllgood
5 year old buck +
Fish and wildlife agencies are responsible for using sound biological principles to manage those resources. A sound biological principle for managing any animal population is to mimic the natural age and sex structure of that species. They need to start there and make regulations that support that.
Exactly. I have never hunted another state. I have enough challenge trying to drop my target buck every year on our little slice of heaven. I may do Kansas some year, because I laws live there.
OTH, I We do care… from the standpoint that I truly do wish others states would implement regs similar to Iowa to improve their hunting and take some pressure off our state.
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any folks think this population estimate is anywhere close to acurate? Is the hunting something to behold across all of IA - or only decent is a few areas. A lot of the state with ten deer or less per square mile
View attachment 72421
Iowa DNR releases first county-level deer density report • Iowa Capital Dispatch
Iowa DNR and Iowa State University researchers conducted a county-specific deer population density and economic impact study.
This looks pretty accurate to my experience. Good hunting in the southern third and along rivers. But northern 2/3 is nearly all ag—corn/soybeans.
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