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Military... considering retiring in IA

My next thread....
"Iowa Hunter... considering retiring in WA" - geesh man, incredible.


:D Trying to lower some of that Iowa hunting pressure before I get there. I will just follow in the footsteps of Horace Greeley and say "Go West, young man" .... Honestly if a guy would be happy with spending his days hunting 200 and under whitetail without much potential for killing a 210+ (which I know most of us are never likely to do in our lifetime any way) then I would say you really can't beat WA. However, I want that greater potential for a monster non-typical.... More than any of that... We are looking for a place that has great whitetail hunting combined with a great place to raise our kids... Iowa seems to be a great place in both of those areas.. Eastern Washington/Inland Northwest just doesn't have the same kind of diverse opportunity for young adults. Washington is often ranked amongst the worst states for young adults (though western WA does have some decent/diverse opportunity)... and Boise, ID is a thriving city.
 
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I am simply unable to comprehend why you would want to move, I really am. I cannot imagine moving from where I am because the non typical whitetails don't seem to score as high as in the Midwest.

We all most definitely work in different ways.
 
I am simply unable to comprehend why you would want to move, I really am. I cannot imagine moving from where I am because the non typical whitetails don't seem to score as high as in the Midwest.

We all most definitely work in different ways.

I know what you mean but it kind of goes back to my original post. I don't really have a "home" in the sense that you likely know "home" because I have moved my whole life..even as a kid. The same goes for my wife.

Keep in mind I am in the military and I also moved a lot as a kid. I became a Washington resident during my career. I am still a Washington resident and hunt there but I am currently stationed in Germany. During my 37 years I have lived in Washington 11 of those (but hunted Washington for 18). The rest of my life (even as a kid) I have bounced between Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Kansas, Nevada, Korea, and now Germany. My wife has only lived 4.5 years in Washington and that is the longest she has ever lived anywhere in her 31 years.

The above being said... we are looking for a place to call home. That is where the opportunities for our kids come into play. Des Moines, IA has a thriving economy that is great for young adults. In addition, if my kids want jobs in Major Metro's Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City are not too far away. On the other hand... where we live in WA has a very weak economy that lacks in diversity of industry.

So all the above considered when we get down to the hunting....I'm a whitetail nut. Since I was a kid at the age of 10 years old I have digested everything whitetail. Hunting whitetail is a very consuming passion of mine (and now for my wife too). Of course, as a result of that I have dreamed of living and hunting in places like Iowa since I was a kid (and yes Saskatchewan /Alberta, Canada would even be a dream place to live for us... the low hunting pressure... higher percentage of top end deer, etc.). A 230+ deer is not even realistic to expect in IA or anywhere in the whitetail world (I think there is only a little over 40 that big or bigger from Iowa in the entire B&C record book). However, I like the possibilities. I think there are far more 200+ to be found in Iowa than where I am from...and probably more 180-200.

Iowa, Kansas, Saskatchewan, Alberta... those are the places that people like me who are crazy about hunting big whitetail often move to (or dream about moving to).... Look at the Wensel brothers. They uprooted from Montana where they had roots for 30 years and moved to Iowa... I read an article that "bigger whitetail and little to no winter kill" were big factors in their decision to move. People who know me are shocked that I have not already moved to Iowa or some other big whitetail location because whitetail are my thing.

I actually more or less stumbled upon what Washington has to offer due to my military career... and it has been great. The outdoor recreation opportunities have been amazing. However, just because I move to Iowa doesn't mean I can't go back and hunt WA. Access will never be a problem because I only hunt public land. I have a great network of friends in WA that will support my hunting efforts. I am familiar with the terrain and know where and how to find mature bucks relatively quickly.... and... worst case scenario... If I go to Iowa and find that it's not "the field of dreams" then I can always move back to Washington..... However, if I choose to never move to Iowa and give it a shot, learn the area, etc... Then I will always be wondering what it would be like to live in a (and arguably "the") whitetail state... If it's a bust or not all its cracked up to be its just an extra move in my life.

I can tell you that Canada would be high up on our list.. Living in Saskatchewan or Alberta would be a dream.. We love all of Western Canada. However, I'm not sure that the career transition would be easy for my wife and I....With me coming out of the military with a Bachelor of Science in Management and a Masters of Science in Operations Management (but no direct civilian equivalent to my military job as a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape (SERE) Specialist)... and my wife being a Registered Nurse with a Master in Business Administration (she would probably be more marketable but I'm not sure how a US healthcare business professional would integrate there since your policies, etc. are a lot different than ours)... she could eventually become a Hospital COO/CEO in the US but I am not sure if she could ever achieve that in Canada.

All this being said... If I had roots and a "home" in Saskatchewan like you do then I probably wouldn't dream of moving anywhere else either... but in the case of my wife and I... we don't have roots in any location... we don't have a home.
 
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Hey Daniel, don't forget there's no sasquatch in Iowa. Better in WA state for sure:)

Haha... Another positive about moving to Iowa that I didn't mention in my last post.. My wife loves WA.. but driving high up in those mountains in the middle of winter really freaks her out (as well it should.. it can be dangerous).... She is good with walking to her stand on her own with the bears, wolves, mountain lions and sasquatch... However, I am sure she won't miss any of those predators in Iowa..and she certainly won't miss the wintery mountain roads.
 
Sounds like your mind is made up, do it. Des Moines is a great area for young adults, way more job, entertainment options then the rest of the state. Hope your not disapointed if you never even get a glimpse of a 200+ buck though. I personally have never come even remotely close but live and hunt in Grundy Cnty, check out the DNR site for lowest deer harvest per county. Yup=Grundy
 
I am simply unable to comprehend why you would want to move, I really am. I cannot imagine moving from where I am because the non typical whitetails don't seem to score as high as in the Midwest.

We all most definitely work in different ways.

X2.........After all of these comments I believe you are ready for the big move. I've been hunting for 35 years in Iowa with a bow and am yet to see a 200 inch deer. Best of luck.
 
X2.........After all of these comments I believe you are ready for the big move. I've been hunting for 35 years in Iowa with a bow and am yet to see a 200 inch deer. Best of luck.


Bill,

That is certainly a long time/lot of experience hunting in prime country without seeing a 200 inch deer. I would say most guys in Washington haven't seen the 200 inch deer living there either. I have personally only seen them on my trail cams... If that is the only place I ever see them I would consider it "good enough" that I even had the opportunity to hunt them.
 
Sounds like your mind is made up, do it. Des Moines is a great area for young adults, way more job, entertainment options then the rest of the state. Hope your not disapointed if you never even get a glimpse of a 200+ buck though. I personally have never come even remotely close but live and hunt in Grundy Cnty, check out the DNR site for lowest deer harvest per county. Yup=Grundy

Mike,

That is great to hear. We are excited about the possibilities that Des Moines offers for our kids..... I looked at the aerial of Grundy.. at least you guys have a lot of trees. :D
 
I don't think this thread is long enough yet so I am going to post some more WA pictures. :D Below is one of the more massive deer I posted on the first page.... These are some of his velvet picture from that year and a picture of him from the season prior... as you can see he put on a lot of growth between those two years.. the first year he was a big buck with good mass.. the next year he was a masher.

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This is the freak 200+ buck I posted on the first page... however this is the first year I hunted him.. the pic on the first page was the season after this... the season he was killed by another hunter (now a good friend of mine).... he was killed three miles away from his primary area and the hunter had only seen one pic of him a few days prior and saw him once before a few years prior...he met his demise by following the wrong doe....anyway.. if you guys are like me you probably like to see the growth or shrinkage of bucks from one year to the next.

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Here are a couple of standard respectable mature WA bucks that go in the 140's gross. You can have high success at killing bucks like this.

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Just one of those quick back of the truck shots that someone took of the buck that I hunted three years before killing him....first time I ever saw him in daylight.... I had a few daylight pictures of him but not many and he crossed the road in my headlights one night after I had just finished hunting him...First time I saw him in daylight I was able to connect... it was a happy day.

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I'm such a whitetail nut that I completely ignored hunting this 7x7 bull in favor of hunting a 180 inch whitetail I was after.

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Dang, like many have said it would be tough for me to leave WA considering the variety of game, quality of game and overall beauty.
 
Dang, like many have said it would be tough for me to leave WA considering the variety of game, quality of game and overall beauty.

It really is a beautiful area... NE WA and Northern ID are amazing. The mountains you see in the picture are exactly the type of stuff I am hunting these whitetail in... I guarantee there are big bucks hidden in the mountainside cover of each one of these pictures The thumbnail pictures from left to right are:

1. Colville/Kaniksu National Forest in WA Overlooking the Pend Orielle River
2. Lake Roosevelt in WA overlooking the Colville National Forest
3. Beautiful Priest Lake in ID.. big deer in those mountains.
4. Lake Pend Oriellle/Sandpoint, ID.. I have seen some giant sheds picked up from areas you can see in that pic.
5. Lake Coeur D'alene..yet again.. those hills in the background hold some good whitetail.
6. In this final pic..you are looking at the Colville National Forest again.... as with everywhere in the Colville there are some giant whitetail living in those mountains....and a few nice Mule Deer too

The nice thing is... the majority of what you see in all of these pictures is land that you can hunt because it's public or timber company ground.



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IMO you would be crazy to leave WA to move to IA just for whitetails. Don't let the TV shows fool you. There are not booners walking by every other tree like they depict. Land access is difficult and pressure is high. Not to mention all of the other hunting and fishing opportunities WA offers that IA does not. IMO you would regret the move but to each their own.
 
IMO you would be crazy to leave WA to move to IA just for whitetails. Don't let the TV shows fool you. There are not booners walking by every other tree like they depict. Land access is difficult and pressure is high. Not to mention all of the other hunting and fishing opportunities WA offers that IA does not. IMO you would regret the move but to each their own.

There are factors other than Whitetail that lead me to Iowa:

- Better economy (Des Moines)/opportunities in surrounding states for my kids.
- Family a little closer (South Dakota and Arkansas)

I'm definitely not of the illusion that Booners come easy there and I too believe that the land access and pressure will be discouraging compared to WA. In WA there are times that I am the only person that even knows about an individual bucks existence (more often than not actually)...and even those that saw a buck by chance.. they aren't really "focusing" on that buck... I know those things will be much different in IA. I will certainly miss being able to pull up to a prime piece of public whitetail habitat and spending an entire day on foot without touching a fraction of it and running into no other signs of whitetail hunters.

In regards to other outdoor opportunities... my entire year already revolves around Whitetail so not much would be different.
 
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