Contributors to this thread:
I got my Application submitted this early AM.
0 points......haha
Good luck, Robb
Next week I’ll do mine and do Az deer and sheep too. Hoping to draw in Iowa. 55% chance in my unit with my points
I heard the NR fees went up..... I will be applying this weekend with 4 points. Just wondering what the total $$ was at checkout? Ouch!....not sure I want to know.
I always figure on $750 by the time I get my tag if I put in with two points. They’ll get whatever they want for an increase. The number of new people or people that are sandbagging points increases every year.
$660.00-ish OTD...……….
It hurt a lil' bit at first......ha
Good luck, Robb
Point only here...gets me back up to three.
My son was smart and went to college there. I pay the out of state tuition and he gets resident deer and turkey permits. He’s no dummy.
$64.52 for a point this year. And no phone sales. Internet sales only.
Drew last year and had a hunt of a life time, points only for me this year.
Failed to draw zone 5 last year with 3pts, and can't go this year. Hopefully 5pts will get 'er done in 2020.
Sounds like he’s “management” material to me, MQQSE!
Hopefully, he, at least, helps with the food plots! ;-)
Anyone recommend a good outfitter down there. I have hunted there several times all on my own, looking to try something different. Would like to find a place that manages for gross 150-160+ animals.
Just got my point. Back up to two. Hoping for a zone 5 tag in two years but it may take longer than that.
Just got my 4th point. Maybe hunt IA next Nov
I bought my second point this year. Hoping to hunt in a year or 2!
Straight Arrow Outfitters Steve Hanson Zone 5 manages for 5+ year old deer which should meet your specs on score.
Thanks allot Kevin appreciate it!
Mr. 5575
Try Shermoe Adventures 586-212-4319 This guy is an honest outfitter that will put you on to some great whitetails....
I know a lot of people that have hunted with Shermoe (successful hunts i might add)... and all of them highly recommend that operation.
Yep nice photo gallery Looks to be $5900
Yikes, ah yeah that's not gonna happen deerplotter! I can go on the best deer hunts in Alberta for that price. I'd rather just find ground where they turn you loose, no stands, no food, no lodging. Like I said I've hunted public ground many times in southern Iowa and have taken some darn good deer, probably just end up doing the same thing again. Its just that before this I always went on my own. This time my oldest son and one of my best friends who also just happens to be a western Canadian outfitter are along for the hunt. And I thought we'd spoil ourselves a little. To be honest a 150+ deer is fairly common if you hunt long and hard every season around here,so paying a bunch for one in Iowa doesn't make allot of sense. Thanks for the heads up!
Hollay $1800 for a turkey hunt! ha ha around here the farmers would love for you to get rid of every single one of them if you could.
bought another point.. I have 6 already but keep donating. Have no clue when I'll go but when I want to i'll be ready.
I am good to go in Iowa zone 4. Have 4 preference points so this year hopefully I go. Yippie.
Point for me, even though I’ve got 5. Not in the cards this year to make that trip
I've already got 5 points banked. I'll probably cash them in next season. I already have a free hunt in KS this fall.
Now that I see my son didnt draw Utah Elk, I will be burning my Iowa points this year. My wife thought I drew a elk tag with the IA tag cost............
I have 3 pts gonna buy another although I know several guys who draw with 1pt a lot of years. Shawn
Went last year so I'm buying a point, but dad will for sure draw western IA with 3 points. I had to make him promise he'd at least hold out for a 2.5 year old since I'm paying so much for the tag and my attempts to talk him out of shooting a doe on public land were futile. My dad is "brown-its-down" for life. I still wonder if he has it in him to pass a fork.
The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree.
I hope your dad kills a monster, Ike.
Picked up another point. I'm up to 3 now. I should draw zone 4 next year.
i bought mine. i drew last year.
can't wait to go back...
Ike....your dad can shoot a doe AND hold out for a 2.5 yr old buck. You still get an antlerless AND an either sex tag, correct?
Yup, as of last year anyways.
You can shoot a spike on your antlerless tag, too!
I hate to say it, but I get a NR muzzy tag every other year and my son gets his in state tags every year. We own a farm in zone 5 and I can’t stand to wait every 3-4 years to hunt my own farm. I wouldn’t trade it for anything but just wish I could bow hunt it more often than never.
MQQse you can bow hunt during the muzzleloader season
Leo17
Great question! Here is what Google shows and I believe to be true. Good news!
“Hunters with a late muzzleloader license may use a bow, muzzleloader, handgun and Iowa residents may also use a crossbow. Hunters may not use a shotgun or centerfire rifles during late muzzleloader season and party hunting is not allowed.”
Check the regs to be certain though!
Hunting muzz season is a heck of a lot different than hunting the month of November
I so wish we could go every year, but it would not be what it is if we could
The wait adds to the anticipation and complete awesomeness of iowa!!
The residents are the best I have met so far in my limited travels
"The residents are the best I have met so far in my limited travels"
I could introduce you to a few that would change your mind about that... ;)
I love the late season. We farm our own land so I can leave all the crops we want in the locations we desire. It’s a different time of year for sure but you see tons of deer and if the weather cooperates the cold squeezes some giants out of the timber when the sun is still shining.
Ya busted me Adam!! ha
Good luck, Robb
What are these ball things? They aren't wasp nest from the summer.
This is the only tree that had them in it last year on my bow hunt.
Thanks
Good luck, Robb
Those are hedge apples, Robb. That's an osage orange tree. Farmers used to make fence posts out of it. Considered by many to be the best wood for a self bow.
Try trimming it with your pruning saw sometime or screwing a tree step in it. Like freakin iron!
""The residents are the best I have met so far in my limited travels"
"I could introduce you to a few that would change your mind about that... ;)""
I represent that statement, Ike. ;-)
“I could introduce you to a few that would change your mind about that”
Maybe they’re a good judge of character, Ike! ;-)
Yep. Like midwest stated, those hedge apples are from a Bois D’Arc, Hedge Apple, Horse Apple, Osage Orange tree. They still do make fence posts out of them. A buddy cuts and sells some every year. They don’t rot when set in the ground. Lots of them still standing that have been in the ground for the last 75-100+ years. You can drive a fencing staple in them when they’re still green, but once they are seasoned, you practically have to pre drill the holes. They are very prevalent in southern Iowa, but not so much, the farther north in the state that you get. People put the fruits/balls in their basements and around the foundation as a natural insect repellent. Supposed to repel spiders, cockroaches, boxelder bugs, crickets, etc.
Thanks for the follow-up Fella's.
Good luck, Robb
Yeah, trying to screw a step into Osage is like trying to go into an I-beam. I actually broke a step lag trying to set an Iowa Osage tree. Hand drills and bolts work really well though. My Treehopper drill actually drills hard trees better than soft trees. I'm lovin' bolts.
Mqqse,I think you should be fine. I attached the table with legal means of take.
Mqqse,I think you should be fine. I attached the table with legal means of take.
Old farmer I worked for as a kid used to tell me a hedge post would outlast 3 post holes.
I doubt this post on my Iowa farm was hedge. Had it been it may have withstood the abuse unleashed upon it over the years. Most likely black locust.
lineman21.......^^^ that’s funny!!
MQQSE.......I just pulled this post last week and set another one in it’s place. I don’t think it would have lasted another season. Not sure If your’s will either! Might use mine for a pedestal mount.
t-roy
I did the same thing!
Sorry for being so ignorant but why does there seem to be so much interest in Zones 4&5? Is there more public land there? Better success ratio? Just like everyone else I have been buying points but was looking at another Zone... am I missing something? By the way looking at zone 9. Any advice?
I hunt (and live) outside of the famous zones 4/5. They are well known and take more points for a reason. Generally more public land, more deer, and better genetics. If I had one week to hunt in Iowa every few years, that's where I'd go. However, if I had time to scout and/or make multiple hunts per year, I think you could do just fine in several other zones.
Yeah Ouch! $660 this year! Dang! Gotta work harder to get the wife to retire down there. LOL.
Thanks for the reminder. I just put mine in....I've got plenty of land in zone 4 to hunt. Probably be there in 4 years!
I am cashing my points in next week for a zone 5 tag, Thank to a good friend I just secured a farm to hunt on for the bow season.
Iowa and Az deer and sheep done today