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Question from a nonresident

Tomo

Tomo

Member
Hi folks,

I'm a new member but have been lurking around for some time now. I have enjoyed reading the posts and respect the views of most of the members however I have a question.

If the number of non-resident tags is increased where will these people hunt? Don't they have to get permission first then scout the area? Are you worried about the outfitters? Do outfitters have a cap on the number of clients they can run through in a season?

I live 5 miles from the Iowa border in South Dakota, my wife works in Iowa, I buy my groceries and other products in Iowa but I will scrape together the $328 for a non resident tag but only because I have obtained permission to hunt and it is close. I can't imagine trying to get a tag for a unit where I have no idea where I'm going to hunt.

On some of the other posts some people were stating that if you want to hunt Iowa every year then move here. Well I had that opportunity this summer but decided on South Dakota mainly because of the tax break for working there but also because of the hunting and fishing opportunities here in South Dakota. Believe me, I thought long and hard about living in Iowa but it just didnt make sense financially.

I know a lot of people that quit hunting Iowa with their friends and families just because of the price of a non-resident tag so I think member IaCraig said it best when he stated, I dont like the trend of quality deer hunting in Iowa becoming a privilege reserved for the wealthy

Would I like to hunt Iowa with my family every year, you bet. Does it bother me that I cant get a tag every year? Heck no because there is not a giant behind every tree in Iowa and they grow em big here in South Dakota as well!

Thanks,
Tomo

click for picture
 
Great buck with the bow, what did he score? Iowa has some great deer but its evident South Dakota does also. I agree with your choice of staying a resident in SD becasue of all of the fishing and hunting opportunities. Any how nice buck!!
 
Tomo,
Welcome, I have seen your posts on the bowsite and you are a class fellow. You will fit in great here...

I usually let this stuff slide because I like seeing the person I am "talking" to but, I will try to express my concerns.

First we have to agree that most of the people that come to Iowa want to shoot a big buck and your best chance to do that is with a bow.

I think the main concern is the fact that public land is so scarce in this state. So, what does a freelancer do? Hires an outfitter. Increase the number of nonresident bow tags and that in turn increases the demand for outfitters that then have the resources to lease more land... Is this the main concern of residents that are bowhunting? I think so. Is it fear of the unknown? Nope. Look at Illinois. Can we make everyone happy? No. Is there a happy medium? Somewhere.

Some people that are not residents or have just become residents not long ago have a hard time with the hunting with a hanshake concept. To many that have not grown up here it is hard to understand, they think it should be black and white (you pay, you hunt). Well, like many other things it is not black and white. Farming is woven into the fabric of what Iowa is/was about, a friendly community of people that help each other out when it is needed not with money but with time. In turn are at times, not always, rewarded or thanked with some gesture of gratitude. But, Iowa is changing with urban areas getting bigger and fewer farmers the demographic is changing. It is becoming a I have no time for you but can I pay you or buy your land. Is it right? Who is to say? Does it help the farmer? Usually. Does it make the community more friendly? Many times it doesn't. It is becoming this is mine, stay out! I think this is the main problem. It is no longer building a relationship with a person it is making a business deal on paper and protecting it with KEEP OUT signs. It is happening everywhere. It is no longer necessary to know a person it is just necessary to pay the proper amount at the door. It is too bad but it is the way things are going.

People no longer want to be friendly they just want to write a check and be done with it.

I think there could be a lot of progress made through communication through "locals" and "out of town or out of state landowners". No one wants to talk, they just want to bitch about tresspassers or the jerk from the city that bought up all the ground. Instead of stopping to see if the jerk from the city needed some help or asking the local what he wanted to hunt and when we sit at our keyboards and tell each other we are wrong. Would it solve all the problems? No, there are bad eggs in every hatch but, there is also a bunch of good people both from the city and country. It is building relationships and trust that is going to help, not cure.

So, with that said, welcome. I know that SD is going through the same things with pheasant and duck hunting.
 
Tomo,
"How do they hunt Iowa, get permission and then scout?" I would say yes.

Are we worried about outfitters I would say, maybe not worried but intimidated.

Not sure about caps on the outfitters.

The whole outfitter,Non-Res topics continue to lurk over this sight and plague our minds of pay to hunt scenarios. Buying my own land to hunt is a pay to hunt scenario that I wish I could afford.

Here's is what I've learned in my 35 yrs of life growing up in Iowa 20+ of which I've hunted.

Out of staters are welcome in my area, although most are friends or family of the local residents. Hunting still predominately exists on good farmer-hunter relationships (handshake). I hunt a lot with my father-in-law who preaches how they used to walk from home, hunt wherever they wanted and never worry about who's land they were on. LimbChickem basically touched all of the bases on this topic.

In a nutshell, if you are a good person with some ethics and values about yourself, most farmers/landowners in our area will let you in with some leg work. I get the feeling most areas in the state are this way. Most of the "Good" spots are taken by people like myself who have spent years trying to acquire permission in these areas, all for free. I'm their friends, and they are mine. Although no gaurantees that someone won't come along and offer them the almighty $$$. I'm sure they could easily be tempted, until then I will enjoy what I have.

I may have gotten of topic a bit, sorry, but these types of topics all just blend into one big mess.

Nice S.D. buck by the way. Don't show too many people that picture or else the outfitters will start moving in on your area.
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Pupster
 
Very nice buck will it be at Theos for the big buck contest? There was a 200+ non typical shot very near you last year. So you don't need to go looking elsewhere. If you are hunting the area around where you live there is some very good bucks. Everybody seems to forget that the hunt is most important and if you happen to harvest a tropy it is a bonus. Just my opinion!
 
I agree with Limb Chicken that the main objection does have to do with outfitters and leasing hunting ground. The more nonresident hunters the more money goes into the system toward leases and the more inaccesabile hunting ground for us. I don't have a good solution to the problem, but I would like to see some regulation of outfitters.

I also agree about the personal relationships between landowners and hunters. As there become fewer farmers and more hunters these relationships become much more important. I don't think many just want a free ride, but most like myself don't really want to pay to hunt.

My farm borders on a fairly large tract of public ground and some of my experiences with other hunters there have lead me to start to consider relationships with other hunters more. I tend to keep a pretty close watch on that public ground and sort of treat it like my own. If I notice people hunting there I try to talk to them, if possible in parking areas or on the roads, to see who they are and let them know about boundries and such things. I have had conversations with several out of state hunters. Almost all of them are good guys and respect the fact that I like to know who is in the area. Invariably they ask about deer movements, feeding areas, bedding areas, and other things. I'm not the sharpest hunter about some of these things, but if they ask nicely I try to answer honestly. There were even a couple bow hunters from Wisconsin that I offered the use of a building on the farm to so they wouldn't have to camp in a tent.

This started me thinking. What if there were some kind of a list of resident hunters who would be willing to help NR hunters without charging a fee like outfitters. Maybe this could be done thruogh something like the IBA or some similar organization. This may sound goofy at first, but if there were a group of bowhunters who would act as mentors for NR and help them find places to hunt and sort of guide them what would happen to the outfitters and leased hunting rights. With only 5 or 6000 NR hunters we should be able to find that many willing residents. With out clients the outfitters would not survive long and then wouldn't have the money to lease ground. I can't see how this would hurt our hunting, and these relationships could lead to trading hunting experiences in other states.

I don't want Iowa to be shut off to NR hunters, but I don't want those with more money to be able to buy me out either. If we can use this site as a sounding board for ideas soon or later there is bound to be some good ones that most of us can support, so please think positive and post any suggestions. We can either live and hunt together or sink sepperatly.
 
Iowa is a big state. There should be plenty of room for those who get permission to hunt with only a handshake, for those who buy their own property for hunting, and for those who choose to hunt with outfitters. Outfitting will be controlled by the cap on non-resident licenses. We can debate what that number should be, but the bottom line is that there are only so many non-resident licenses allocated per zone and no outfitter is going to pay lots of money to lease up more land than he has hunters. Things will not continue to be the way they were. As Limb Chicken so well stated, things are changing in Iowa and elsewhere. It is obvious many do not like the changes and are concerned what the future will bring. Iowa residents can either confront the issues head on and come up with fair and workable solutions, or continue to draw a line in the sand and let someone else like the legislature make those changes. If someone else has to make those changes, they will most likely be far more disagreeable to us than if we all participate to find solutions.

For many years I was in the position of many of you. I did not own my own land. I had no relatives with land. Knocking on strangers doors, in an attempt to get permission to hunt, was an exercise in humiliation and futiity. For every "yes", there were dozens of "no's". Each year I would return to those few landowners who had given me permission wondering if this was the year they would say, "sorry, but things have changed." I often hunted public game lands where hunters outnumbered the deer. I decided long ago that I did not want to let others detemine my fate in having a qualtiy place to hunt. I made many personal sacrifices so that I could move to Iowa and realize my life long dream of owning and managing my own tract of land in an area with outstanding deer quality. I can only say to those of you who have been contemplating doing the same, to do so now before the price of land goes up even more, as it most surely will. There is no feeling that compares to the pride you feel in walking out on your own piece of ground, unless of course it is the pride of holding the rack of a nice buck or doe you have just harvested on your own place!
 
John V,
You must've been knocking on confinement house doors because ten years ago it was fairly easy to gain permission just about anywhere. You'd be amazed how far friendliness, a few days of hard work, and a firm handshake would get you. Now it depends upon how fat your wallet is. Limb, I applaud you for a short but concise summary of Iowa's rural culture(however "backwards" some people think it is) and how it used to be, it's a shame it has to end.

Are you sure you weren't in Idaho?
 
Texas is a big state also.

Heck Tomo, I think we should move to South Dakota - Nice buck and photo. You have 2 good keepers there.

Good summary Limb Chicken
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KPM...Theo's contest was last weekend. Some real nice bucks taken here in NW IA. Click the link below for a picture of a near 240" buck they had hanging on the wall.

Tomo

click here
 
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