Adam from TN asks,
Bill, I’d first like to say thanks for all your content and information to your followers. I’ve learned a lot over the years just from reading your material and watching your YouTube content. Now to my question: A friend and I have four points for Iowa and plan on hunting there next year. This will be my first hunt in Iowa. We plan on hunting some public. With four points what zone would you recommend and what dates would you recommend for a 7 day trip? Any other input you have regarding my first trip would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Bill responds,
Topic: Best Iowa Public Land:
The key to success when hunting public land anywhere is to have lots of options so if you find other hunters in your number one spot, you have plenty of other good places to hunt.
Adam,
Thanks for your support and kind words. I really appreciate it.
I have lived in both NE Iowa (where I now hunt on a lease) and in southern Iowa (where I hunted land I owned) and though I have not hunted public land since I was much younger, I have paid attention to the number of vehicles at the various parking areas over the years. There are more public hunters in NE Iowa because it is so close to Wisconsin and those guys are very aggressive about putting in for tags and hunting the public areas in that part of the state.
There is less pressure overall in southcentral Iowa, both on public and private land. For that reason, I feel that the access is easier in the south and the trophy potential is also better, overall. I love the bluffs and the beauty of NE Iowa (it is where I grew up), but it is just not as good as southern Iowa from the standpoint of shooting a mature whitetail buck.
The key to success on public land (wherever you hunt it) is to have lots of options. That way if someone (or a group) are in your number one spot you have lots of good Plan B locations. I would not rely on just one area unless it is really big. Good luck. (12/4/21)
Hi Bill, you commented about your effort to get the buck to doe ration down? I have 250 acres in Southern IL and have a similar problem. I would like to know how you did it, did you have help, how many did you kill. I know that it took you 4 years to do it how long do you think it will stay at that ratio?
Thanks
Rob Stanfa
Southern IL
Rob, you have to shoot every doe that comes past for a couple of years and on a farm that size, you will need at least one other person doing the same thing. I had one friend that would shoot 12 to 15 does each year and I shot more than that myself. I also had a neighbor who shot at least a dozen per year. But that was on 600 acres. If you hit it hard, in three to four years you will see a real difference in herd makeup – a lot closer to a balance between buck and doe numbers. Long term, as long as you are killing about 25 to 30% of your adult does each year you should be fine. You may have to guess at that based on what you see on your trail cameras an what you see when hunting. That harvest rate should keep the herd in check and balanced. If your neighbors aren’t shooting any does you may have to shoot a few more than 30% each year because you will be shooting some of theirs too – coming to the food on your farm. Good luck.