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Iowa zone 4 or 5?

A friend and I are going into the 2017 season with 3 preference points and will apply for tags this May. I am trying to decide on if Zone 4 or Zone 5 would be best for a NR to try and draw? Also what size buck can we expect to see and possibly be able to take, if we hunt hard for a week around the 2nd week in Nov? Is a 140"-160" buck a reasonable goal?

Before applying for a zone you need to know where you are can hunt. Do you have access to private land in a zone? Have you identified public land in a zone that you want to hunt? You goal of 140-160" is pushing it a bit unless you have access to private property that is well managed.

No private access as of yet, planning on a trip up this summer to knock on some doors. I have a pretty good idea of where to hunt in Zone 5 on public land, but I was just trying to expand my options for zone 4 as a possibility.

Sit all day and a good deer is not out of the question. Most of the big deer I have recently harvested came from all day sits.

with 3 points you'll draw either zone easily

According to last year's stats zone 5 was not 100 percent draw with 3 points.

Zone 4 is a ringer with 3 points.

Both look good for all day archery sits! For what it's worth a buddy has killed a p&y every year on public for the last 5 years. Iowa is king! PM if you want more help!

I am an Iowa resident, but both NR Zone 4 and 5 are typically your big buck areas. I think 140-150" is reasonable if you hunt hard for a week in that 2nd week of November time frame. Anything can happen during the rut anywhere in Iowa. You might even find one bigger than that. Zone 5 has more public land, but if you are able to get private access, either zone would be good. If I had to make a suggestion, I would plan a trip in March instead of this summer. Scouting is way easier with no leaves on the trees and you can still see a lot of the sign from the fall once the snow melts. Plus there is no undergrowth, no bugs, the temperature will be cool, and you might find some sheds. Most farmers aren't doing much that time of year either if you are looking to do some door knocking. My friend and I took a weekend hunting trip on public ground in Zone 5 during crappy hot mid-October weather this past year for 5 sits and between us, we saw 3 different bucks that were 130 – 145”. And that was during the hot weather October lull. Plus we had gone in completely blind. Like I’m talking head lamp, climber on back, looking for a tree to climb kind of blind. So if you do some homework and put some effort in, I think you can definitely reach your goal

Anyone know where to find draw stats from years prior? Maybe its not even worth looking farther than last year as that was all I found on the dnr website. I have been skipping years on preference points and thought I was sitting on 3 and didn't apply for one last year. Not my best move, I just realized I only have 2 points and it looks like zone 5 granted zero tags in '16 for people with 2 preference points. Is that right?

I started my points in '11 and then EHD had me holding off as we were hit hard at home with it as well. I'm all good with the wait and wish Kansas would do the same. Thanks in advance.

Sorry, I did not look further down the page and it looks like that answer was given in another thread. Looks like it was possible back in '14 and '15. Still not sure why my name is coming up Hoytman84. Bowsite is all messed up. (Doubledrop)

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