Contributors to this thread:
I am looking at accepting a job in Iowa and moving out there. I'm hoping someone can answer a few questions for me. 1. How long must you live in Iowa to qualify for a resident tag? 2. Is there any public land not overhunted? 3. I also hunt a lot of geese. Looking at the state on the map it looks like it s/b good. Do you get a lot of geese wintering over? Or just migrating through? 4. If my son lives in another state with my ex-wife, can I still get him a youth permit?
check theDNR website-I think its 6 months-get a DL and register to vote immediately when you get there.Your son is a NR unless you are legally primary resdience.
Iowa has a limited amount of public land. Some get hit hard, some receives very little pressure. In some areas it is not that difficult for polite hunters to get permission to hunt private property. P&Y class deer are killed on Iowa public lands every year. Lots of problems with resident geese that don't want to leave. Not sure how good the migratory goose hunting is.
Geese migrate and overwinter here from what I've seen.
Chris,
To be eligible as a resident, you have to reside here as your primary residence for 90 consecutive days plus I believe you cannot declare residency in another state as well.
As far as public land is concerned, I cannot give you much help there as I am fortunate to have private land to hunt, but some areas of the state have quite a bit of public & others very little. I've talked to guys that said they have run into lots of competition & others who said very little. What part of the state are you considering moving to?
Like Ollie said, near most of the bigger metro areas there are large populations of resident Canadian geese that winter here. I couldn't really tell you how good the migrating goose hunting would be, but I would think decent at least. Snow geese in the spring but mostly in the far western part of the state.
Not sure about your son's situation. Best thing to do would be be to call the DNR and ask them.
Hope that helps a little. Good luck to you!
North East part of the State. Charles City area. I was out last week for the interview, now the ball is in their court.
Chris I live in Greene Iowa about 17miles sw of Charles City. Let me know how the interview goes, I would be glad to meet up with you or talk with you about the hunting in the area. Unfortunately there is very little public hunting in this part of the state. And the areas that are public hunting are pretty small. But the situation improves dramatically within 45 miles to the east of you. You will basically be living in the middle of a giant corn field, with most of the woods in small lots, or along the creek and river green belts.
James
Thanks Cornfield. Coming from PA, that's exactly what it looks like. 1 big cornfield with a few trees along the water ways. 45 miles is easily w/in driving distance.
I have lived, and hunted, in Iowa my whole life. Looks like you have your answer on residency. As some said, big public land deer killed every year, though most places will have pressure. Northeast Iowa has some good chunks of public. Some already mentioned there are resident geese. However there is good migratory hunting for a few weeks every year as well. Canadian geese use the Mississippi River as a flyway, eastern portion of the state. Snows and blues use the Missouri river, western Iowa.
