K…. There’s a LOT happening folks are working on for offense right now.
I am EXTREMELY aware of every “hunter opinion” this way or that. Or “this won’t work. I don’t agree with _____ “. “I just want things to stay the way they are”. “Don’t tell me what to do. Should be allowed to kill em year round on private land”. “Don’t take my rights”. MOST of it is garbage (with all due respect) & the rest is “easily solved” with FACTS!!! Things change for better if we do have a discussion & get to the FACTS!!!!
NO group of hunters or anyone is going to agree with 100% of anything. Period.
I’ll start this with my list off top of my head. Can we get behind this?? Let’s see if my list below, off the cuff, gets most of u to say “ya, I think we can get behind these things”. It’s NOT perfect & no one is gonna agree with em all or not find some holes here. Here’s a START…
1) can we all agree the direction hunting is going for 20-30 years has some huge downsides? (Not all downside but a host of issues). ACCESS TO GOOD QUALITY LAND is #1 issue hunters face. PERIOD. This is also data & feedback from countless other states in Midwest. I can explain why the access is going away & how to fix it. We cannot keep this pace up or new hunters will be done before they start & IMO - we will be more like Europe or Africa in 20-30 more years. DIRECTION NEEDS MAJOR CHANGE OVERALL!
2) the changes have come from special interests, politicians, $, greed & has resulted in sell out regulations that have ruined states. Some long ago- some recently. EXAMPLE: crossbow companies pay for lobbyists & donate while vast majority of hunters oppose & they get their way (MO is case example of this). Iowa is in the crosshairs & res hunters don’t want them in archery! Million examples like this. Created states with 4+ months of season- countless weapons & seasons & liberal bag limits. Hunters have been on defense for 20-30 years and receded ground every time. It’s never been offense (that’s changing).
3) we don’t need any more weapons or seasons in iowa. 4.5 months, 7 seasons, 6+ weapon choices: NO MORE!!!!!! The pockets above I-80 are way too low for deer populations. There’s a few pockets of high #’s & solutions in place for that. Most areas it’s low. Needs relief.
4) I’ll be working for “IOWA” (free of course, my duty to “pay back what I’ve been blessed with & what I want future to be able to enjoy like I did). BUT- working very hard for other states to make 1-2 SIMPLE regulation changes so they can finally have a bit of a balanced age structure & rebound from being a “disaster”. IOWA, KS, OH & few others can’t take on all of the other failed states. These failed states have armies fleeing them. (MI, MN, WI, PA, etc). The pressure to over-run iowa is GROWING. 6 year wait by me. These states - some of them- have to change. Or they will collapse states like iowa & kansas. It’s already “pretty bad”. Example of that is again: iowa residents having no where to go. It’s becoming all locked up. Other states must change!!!! Plans on that in place.
5) media/celeb tags have to go!!!!!! The views on these tags are in the 8 digits…. As in, >10,000,000 views per year “look at this guy hunting 1000 acres of deer Mecca shooting a giant & then bringing attention & discussing how great iowa is!!!” This is still a HUUUUGGGGEEEEE problem. The program has zero merit. It’s gotta go. Way past time. It’s building pressure. Needs eliminated immediately!
6) awareness of solutions for high deer #’s (the loud angry farmers)….. very few know: we have depredation tags available. Second: each dnr officer has a list of hunters wanting to come shoot as many does as possible on that land. Third: farmers can be paid or subsidized to allow walk-in hunting which folks would pummel the deer. We don’t need to rid the rest of the state for a few dozen complainers (farm bureau told me it was single digit complainers they hear from!!!) when solutions are in place.
7) If we lose resident hunters- that’s each states true hunting economy. ANY STATE…. Say I go to KS as a NR…. I bought my bow or gun & all my gear here in iowa. Bought equipment in iowa. I go there for a couple weeks a year but most my dollars stay in iowa. U allow me, as a NR, to over-run kansas - the residents lose, quit & their hunting economics tank. Fact.
8) residents of any state need to be the priority. TO THE POINT: that they have reasonable access to quality land!!!! That’s the threshold!!!! I want this threshold & mindset to really sink in!!! Every state needs to carefully evaluate this!!! When that’s achieved- let additional NR’s in XYZ state. KS, MO, IL & OH are 4 prime examples where they need to fix this badly!!!!!! They are killing their resident hunters. & when residents quit - deer #’s will explode along with so many other problems. States with horrible access for residents like the above 4 need to put a tighter NR quota on guys like me so their residents are prioritized. REMEMBER: it’s a luxury for me to go to KS to shoot a deer. It’s a necessity for the residents. HUUGGGEEE DIFFERENCE!!!!!! Most the states with NR pressure are getting that from people in states with MORE DEER & MORE HABITAT!! A NR who is 40 with a decent job can spend $2500 on a lease & win against the 18 year old new hunter who can’t hardly come up with $500. That’s who is losing every time.
9) a BALANCED AGE STRUCTURE needs to be achieved. Stabilized or enhanced in IA. BUT- this is more meant towards OTHER STATES!!! “Giants everywhere”?!?!? NO!!!!! But- regulations that let a few slip by. Change the regs that gun down every young buck on the landscape. MOST STATES!!!!…. GET GUN SEASON OUT OF RUT!!!! 14 day difference for most states!!! SIMPLE: it’s not balanced at all in most states. Theres a few simple things that need to take place to make it “more balanced”. Biology & science win this debate. The dudes that wanna shoot “whatever” can always do that. The harder we make it for the guys that want to have a balanced age structure: the more land will be locked up…. The wealthy or highly motivated will always find a way to insulate themselves from regulation madness!!
10) bad regs do result in: more guys locking up land to “self regulate”. Leasing, limiting hunters, etc. The more “opportunities” GOVERNMENT & POLITICIANS regulate - the worse the whole landscape will get & the more resident hunters & new hunters will quit. Side note: our lands are packed. Many on here probably want “less hunters” as it’s a $hit show right now. But.. I assure you- we don’t want to reduce it by losing generations of resident hunters. This will collapse the system & that’s the direction we are headed.
Sorry on long ramble. I’ll stop at 10 points. This is loose talk typed up on my phone. Clearly a concise plan is being worked on. We are working on: funding, growing movement, IBA involvement, LOBBYING in a variety of ways. The good guys have to win this. The Scum bag special interests have to lose. & yes, we need to debate in our own hunting community the “status quo”, the “YOU CANT CHANGE ANYTHING”, the “it’s always sucked so it always has to suck!” “Won’t work. Blah blah blah”. Can’t listen to them anymore. If we do- we are driving over a cliff.
We are gonna save it. We are gonna KEEP IOWA GREAT & we are gonna “Make the Midwest Great”. We must fix a broken system. We owe it to the next generations.
Thoughts? What else should we add here ?
