Iowa question

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elknturkey
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Iowa question

Unread postby elknturkey » Sun Feb 05, 2017 3:26 pm

I despise doing this but I've researched till my eyes bleed. I've got 3 points and am deciding to cash them in this upcoming fall. The 2 I've researched the most is shimek and stephens state forest. Zones 5 and 6. Of the two which would you choose? I'm leaning towards shimek just cause of its location. Closest for me and furthest from the cities. Good or bad? I'm off from like the middle of October thru all of November so time is on my side. Wishing I would have put in for the turkey draw and made a trip this spring to scout and whack a bird.


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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby dan » Sun Feb 05, 2017 11:36 pm

I would suggest calling the dnr big game biologist for the area. He can tell you hunter pressure, and which properties harvest more mature bucks. He can also tell you about new properties, or over looked spots most don't know about, rather than going to the big well known areas...
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby JoeRE » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:42 am

Yea you are not gonna get answers about specific locations in Iowa like that on a public forum. 1000s of people will read it. People google names of places like that and this thread will pop up again and again thanks to the Google Gods :lol:

Dan had good advice, Iowa doesn't exactly have local biologists, just at the state level, but the person I would call is the conservation officers who oversee those areas. You can look who they are and their contact info up on the Iowa DNR's website. They see what gets drug out of there.

In general, any area with a lot of cover that has hard to access spots will have a few good bucks. Depends on your definition of good of course but to me that is a 4 year old of any size. Might be 125 might be 150.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Feb 06, 2017 2:53 am

Private land hunt is a coin flip. Public land I would do 5 as there isn't much public in 6. I've been debating on pulling a tag this year as well. I haven't had a lot of time to do things right the last year with work and family. Plus, I may pull another bear tag this fall.

I can't give you advice on zone. Ive only walked small portions of a few. Everything regarding the rise/decline of hunt quality is second hand I'll likely throw a bunch of numbers in a hat based on what I know today and have a drawing in May. :lol:
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby Stanley » Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:56 am

elknturkey wrote:I despise doing this but I've researched till my eyes bleed. I've got 3 points and am deciding to cash them in this upcoming fall. The 2 I've researched the most is shimek and stephens state forest. Zones 5 and 6. Of the two which would you choose? I'm leaning towards shimek just cause of its location. Closest for me and furthest from the cities. Good or bad? I'm off from like the middle of October thru all of November so time is on my side. Wishing I would have put in for the turkey draw and made a trip this spring to scout and whack a bird.


I think talking to the district forester would be the first thing you should do. That said some of these Forester guys are really good and some are just not so good. The right forester can be very helpful. Then expand from there on his resources/recommendations.

The NR guys that do the best are those that put in the time and effort. If you plan on scouting once and hunting it could be a tough hunt. The last couple of guys I talked to that went to Stephens state forest were hugely disappointed. One guy scouted Stephens got discouraged and didn't even hunt at all.

I hope you don't have the mindset you are going to scout once and kill a 170 inch buck. Just being honest with you. Don't gauge your expectations on what Bill Winke and some of the other big names have killed. I think opportunities are there if you are up to putting the work in.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby muddy » Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:03 am

I have friends that hunt both, they do very well, but they scout the heck out of it.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Feb 06, 2017 10:47 am

Stanley wrote:
elknturkey wrote:I despise doing this but I've researched till my eyes bleed. I've got 3 points and am deciding to cash them in this upcoming fall. The 2 I've researched the most is shimek and stephens state forest. Zones 5 and 6. Of the two which would you choose? I'm leaning towards shimek just cause of its location. Closest for me and furthest from the cities. Good or bad? I'm off from like the middle of October thru all of November so time is on my side. Wishing I would have put in for the turkey draw and made a trip this spring to scout and whack a bird.


I think talking to the district forester would be the first thing you should do. That said some of these Forester guys are really good and some are just not so good. The right forester can be very helpful. Then expand from there on his resources/recommendations.

The NR guys that do the best are those that put in the time and effort. If you plan on scouting once and hunting it could be a tough hunt. The last couple of guys I talked to that went to Stephens state forest were hugely disappointed. One guy scouted Stephens got discouraged and didn't even hunt at all.

I hope you don't have the mindset you are going to scout once and kill a 170 inch buck. Just being honest with you. Don't gauge your expectations on what Bill Winke and some of the other big names have killed. I think opportunities are there if you are up to putting the work in.

I agree with Stanley. Very wise advice.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:38 am

Winke hunts all season on winkeland doesn't consistently kill boone. Boone is rare. Plain and simple. It isn't consistent. Just like anywhere in the lower Midwest, 140+ is realistic with enough time. Mature buck structure is strong in IA but it doesn't create miracles. Although every hardcore sconnie hunter that travels there has the best hunt of his life. You will see the dream in southern IA if you know what you are doing.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby Aaron1987 » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:13 pm

We've hunted both areas and see lots of non-resident pressure on both. A nice 3 1/2 year old buck is a realistic expectation on those spots. There are older bucks there but hard to get within bow range with limited scouting time.

P.m. me if you'd like more info on them. Dan is correct with his advice.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby iowa whitetail » Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:40 pm

You might not draw it h 3 points. I would wait anyway deer numbers are bad and are coming back slowly.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby iowa whitetail » Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:41 pm

iowa whitetail wrote:You might not draw with 3 points. I would wait anyway deer numbers are bad and are coming back slowly.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby elknturkey » Tue Feb 07, 2017 5:08 am

Thanks for replying guys :clap: I understand sharing info on an open forum and honestly I don't expect it, especially specific locations and it's totally understandable. 170" is a pipe dream for me. I'm a realist. 140" and I'm happy. Anything less and I will eat a tag. Doesn't bother me in the least bit and I'm not shooting something I can shoot at home. Time is what I'm relying on
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby Octoberjohn » Tue Feb 07, 2017 5:41 am

I just went thru the same scenario as the OP this past fall with trying to decide where to go in Iowa. We decided on Zone 5 as is seemed to have to most public land options available. We had 3 points banked and drew in our 4th year. I went into it with realistic expectations. My goal was to bring home a good buck. I never really set a standard but since I haven't ever gotten a P&Y buck before that was kind of what I was looking for. I hunted for 9 days in early November. We didn't have the best weather, mornings were cool, afternoons were warm into the 60's. There was also quite a bit more pressure than I was expecting. Despite the weather and the pressure I saw probably 40 different bucks from the stand. Of the 40 probably 15 were P&Y class and a few of those were 140"'s plus. I only saw one buck that was a true giant and I don't even want to guess what it might have scored, he was scary big! I am not sure what the deer numbers used to be but this was easily the best week of deer hunting I have ever had. I can't even imagine what it would have been like when everyone says how good it used to be.

When you decide to go, do your research. There are plenty of great resources available online as I'm sure you know. If you can get out to scout ahead of time, great. If not then just focus on what you already know. Have 10 or 15 spots picked out that want to try out and hunt the pressure. If one of your spots you picked has hunters in the area then move on to the next. If you put your time in it will only be a matter of time until an opportunity presents itself. Maybe I just got lucky with the success I had on my trip, but I tend to lean on the fact that I went into the trip well prepared and with a plan of attack already in place. Nothing that I did on my trip was overly extreme or unheard of, anyone could do it.
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Re: Iowa question

Unread postby muddy » Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:52 am

Don't rule out Federal and County wildlife areas. The DNR has a pile of areas but each county conservation board will as well. Often times the county guys are way easier to talk to and get information out of. The Iowa Sportsmans Atlas is the way to find these litte parks. Around big areas of water you'll also find Federal USGS, USFWS, etc management areas.... these places are sometimes immense along the Mississippi River or the bigger lakes. If you have access to a boat I will readily recommend the areas around Lake Odessa down by Wapello. A boat around Rathbun Lake would also dramatically help your odds. If you can make a trip down to scout this spring you may also find a person that could point you in the right direction. Good luck.
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