Moving to Cedar Rapids

[Bowhunt]

I am currently going to Iowa State, but it looks as if I could end up in the Cedar Rapids area when I am done with school. I was wondering where are some areas that are a good place for a die hard deer hunter to start looking to hunt within a hour or so drive?

 

[BigGuy]

I moved to the Cedar Rapids area 2 years ago and have found it very hard to get on good private ground within 30 minutes of town. My brother has lived in the area for 3 years and hasn't had much luck either. We drive an hour and 15 minutes to our hunting areas. Good luck.

 

[Cornfed]

If you are willing to drive an hour or so.... then you can get in on some of the best whitetail hunting in the country! I would suggest that you do a lot of homework in the winter and early spring to narrow down some areas. There are still a number of private properties that have access...... you just have to get out and ask. Near town will be more difficult though...... there are a number of good areas (public as well as private) within 1 hour of Cedar Rapids...... trust me, I have spent hundreds of hours researching good spots.

 

[Limb Chicken]

Don't count out public ground.

There are some great places that are overlooked because everyone is looking for private.

By the way you will be in Hawk country. Buy some black and gold!

 

[Bowhunt]

Thanks for the tips guys! I may go to Iowa State, but I still bleed black and gold!!

I am going up there this weekend to look around, I am going to head out of town on 151 towards monticello, looks to be a river up there and then might head to the mississippi, there's going to be some good hunting in those areas! One thing I also noticed there are alot of resident geese around IC and CR. Love to get in to those!

 

[bowmaker]

The deer population arround the Coralville Res is huge also Johnson County Park has lots of deer and a special season. Neither of these should be far from CR.

 

[Fletch]

To save time (and frustration) I would recommend you swing by the library and pick up plat maps for the areas you're interested in. For a few years I enjoyed hunting some private land within 30 minutes of CR, but between leasing and overcrowding I have finally been squeezed out. In the last 2 years I have put over a 1000 miles on the family car looking for new land with only marginal success. This year I have armed myself with a binder full of aerial photos, topos and plat maps so I can focus on the right doors to knock on.

One last suggestion - don't focus simply on the river bottoms and big timber - some of the biggest deer I've seen in the surrounding counties have been in small woodlots and fence rows.

Good luck

 

[Ollie]

The Hawkeye management area along the Iowa River between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City has about 13,000 acres with lots of deer and turkey. I did a lot of scouting there when I first moved to Iowa and typically saw 20+ deer each day I walked around. Saw signs of some mature deer and saw some big ones driving by crop fields in late summer. I imagine the area gets hunted hard on weekends but you may do well hunting on weekdays or searching out those areas that others are not hunting.