Hunt Your state NR information

[HeadHunting]

I am from Louisiana but have hunted Mississippi since 1986, so I will post about Mississippi.

There are 6 hunting zones in Mississippi; South Delta, Delta, Northeast, East Central, Southwest and Southeast

Season dates are pretty much the same in each zone with slight differences in the Southeast zone.

All zones except Southeast season dates are as follows: October 1st thru January 31st, with the following breakdown:
Archery: Oct 1st thru Nov 20th
Youth Gun: Nov 7th thru Nov. 20th (Private and certain state lands)
Youth Gun: Nov 21st thru Jan 31st (Open Public)
Special Primitive Gun Season: Nov 9th thru Nov 20th (Antlerless Deer Only)
Gun Season: Nov 21st thru Jan 20th
Archery/Primitive Weapon: Jan 21st through Jan 31st

Southeast Zone dates are as follows: October 15th thru February 15th, with the following breakdown:
Archery: Oct 15th thru Nov 20th
Youth Gun: Nov 7th thru Nov. 20th (Private and certain state lands)
Youth Gun: Nov 21st thru Feb 15th (Open Public)
Gun Season: Nov 21st thru Jan 20th
Archery/Primitive Weapon: Jan 21st through Feb 15th; Feb 1st thru 15th being bucks only

This may seem a little confusing however a couple of years ago Mississippi changed the ruling on primitive weapons to any caliber weapon. This means that you can use a high powered rifle during any gun or primitive weapon season. This generally translates to come the last day of the first archery season it is rifle season for the rest of the year.

NR fees are about $395.00 for all licenses, you do have to buy a primitive weapon endorsement even if you are going to use your high powered rifle during that season. There are generally four endorsements and be sure to get them all! There is one endorsement that costs $5.00 but if you do not have it on your NR Lic. It will cost you a lot more!! If you plan on hunting Archery and gun during all seasons you will need the following:

Archery Endorsement(Tag)
Primitive Endorsement(Tag)
Gun Endorsement(Tag)
That $5.00 Endorsement (Sorry forget what the name of it is but be sure to get it)

Mississippi does not give tags that you wrap around your harvests. If hunting public land, someone can correct me if I am wrong, you have to check your harvest in at a check point. Private lands are a bit more relaxed with some being involved in DMAP's like my organization is.

There are WMA's (Wildlife Management Areas) all over the state as well as National Forests.

The deer here are a bit smaller than what a lot a people from up North may be used to. We don't have 150" deer running all over the place. They are generally smaller in body size as well with bucks generally weighing in at 160lbs+. A 200lb deer is a huge deer in Mississippi. A 200" deer would be a unicorn. The Delta and South Delta zones are where the largest deer come from.

Bag limits are generous. In all zones except the Southeast and South Delta you can harvest 5 antlerless deer, just 2 in the Southeast and South Delta

You can harvest 3 bucks in all zones except the South Delta which is limited to 2.

Check the below link for antler restrictions for the area you would like to hunt

https://www.mdwfp.com/wildlife-hunting/

[UntouchableNess]

Iowa Non-resident hunting: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/Nonresident-Hunting

First thing as a NR is to figure out how to buy a preference point. Then you'll have a couple of years to save $ and figure out the rest of the regs before you draw.

[cbigbear]

Both have been posted but I’ll add my two cents.

LA & MS have pretty high NR cost for the opportunity they offer. Both around $400. But if you break it down on a per deer basis it’s extremely cheap compared to other states. Both states have liberal limits around 5 or 6 deer a year. It’s unlikely a NR could come down & fill their limit on a week hunt. Both states have high deer numbers but cover & terrain make it difficult to put eyes on them.

Both produce solid bucks if hunting along the MS river corridor. A 140”-160” buck isn’t uncommon in this area but public is limited & extremely pressured in these areas.

You can catch the LA rut from September-February depending on location in the state. MS is a little more traditional with a late Nov-late Jan rut depending on location.

Both states have ridiculously long rifle seasons & they make sure gun hunts correspond with the rut. So if you plan a rut hunt the orange army will be out in full force. Also both states allow dog hunting but in recent years it has been heavily restricted on public land. Both states allow baiting on private land & it’s big business down here. Unfortunately if you venture down here anytime September-February you will see the empty corn bags & rice bran bags littering the road ways.

If anyone is entertaining come down I would suggest MS & hit it right after Christmas. The cool thing is a MS license runs 365 from date of purchase so you could come down this yr after Christmas kill 3 bucks & then come back next yr before Christmas & kill 3 more on the same licenses!!!