Late Season Public Land Strategies

Brent from Iowa asks,



Bill: Do you have any tips or advice for someone that will be hunting the late Muzzleloader season in Iowa for the very first time? My family and I relocated to Central Iowa this summer. With that, I lost all of my permission spots in the southwestern corner of the state. I don't have any private land permission spots currently and would only be looking at late season muzzleloader public land hunting. If it helps, I live in Pella and fortunately have access to an abundance of public land around the Lake Red Rock area. I'm just not very familiar with it and am unsure on how deer utilize food sources here. *Congrats on your monster bow buck!! Would you ever consider doing an interview with me about your hunt this year, and talk about strategies for hunting the rut? I'm a farm broadcaster with the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network out of Des Moines and like to incorporate some hunting/wildlife interviews when I can. Stay safe and God Bless!




Bill responds,


Topic: Late Season Public Land Strategies:

Late Season Public Land

When hunting around reservoirs, whether private or public, the big opportunity lies with the water. You can access the area without being detected most easily if you approach from the water side and hunt the upwind bank of the impoundment. There are usually ridges extending out into the water and these are most often bedding areas.

Brent,

First off, I would be happy to help you with the radio show. You can contact me at bill@billwinke.com.

Anytime you hunt the late season it can be tough and more so on public land.  I know that area where you are hunting, but have not actually hunted it myself.  I think your best bet is to wait as long as possible after the regular gun season ends to start hunting to give the deer time to settle back down.  I would suggest waiting until after Christmas and even better if you can wait until after January 1.

If the winter is mild, you can find the deer in a lot of places spread out, but if it is hard, you will need to look for the places where they are feeding, likely cornfields and maybe bean fields in that area. These will be on private land, but the deer will still bed on the public land.

Whether warm or cold, the best spots on the public land at this time will be the bedding areas (spread out if warm and concentrated closer to food if cold).  Around reservoirs, these bedding areas are most often the ridges that stick out into the lake.  These are best accessed from the water, but that will likely be out of the question during the winter.

You will need to look for these ridges in areas where you can walk them from access points.  The whole trick is figuring out how to sneak in there without being seen, heard or smelled. It is easy enough to keep from being smelled by following the waterline on the upwind side of the lake, but it will require a bit a stealth on your part to get there without being seen or heard.

It can sure be done, but your challenge is much harder than for the guy hunting a food plot on private land from a nice warm Redneck Blind.  Good luck. (12/17/21)

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