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Fair enough. I appreciate you being respectful even though we disagree. Bottom line for me I guess is that it’s not a hunting issue at its core and for you it is and we can agree to disagree. I’d also add that you are implying that if NR landowners were allowed to hunt their own land the way every other resident landowner does that that would result in some measurably negative impact on the quality of deer there and end up “like other states that are half as good”. Why? How can that conclusion be drawn? Isn’t it just as possible that the hunting would get better? I mean it all depends on the management goals of a buyer/owner of land as to whether or not the hunting/habitat gets improved or not regardless of where that person is from. I believe Skip, Winke, Lakosky, Drury, along w some friends of mine here in MI that have bought out there have absolutely been a net positive for the quality of the herd and would be regardless of where they choose to live. Whether they live there or not isn’t going to change the fact they’re letting young deer walk and targeting mature animals. I’m sure you’re in the same mold and prove my point. Very few hunters that are willing to invest the time, money and resources to buy land in IA and drive clear out there from whatever state they live in are doing that to kill 125” bucks, many of them, including me, could do that wherever they live. If you want to say that it will drive land prices up or some other points that have been made that’s one thing, but I’m not at all convinced that it would be bad for the quality of deer. It might even be the opposite.
Look at Pike county Illinois if you want to know what would happen if non resident were allowed to hunt every year, they’re would be an outfitter in every section and quality would plummet. Everybody has a different idea of what big is, one guy might only shoot mature bucks, the next might think that 125 3 year old is a giant. The truth is most serious “deer managers” don’t have a clue and the more land being bought by us generally leads to worse hunting for truly top end bucks. Only in very few places in Iowa or anywhere else is there spots where everyone is on the same page.
 
Look at Pike county Illinois if you want to know what would happen if non resident were allowed to hunt every year, they’re would be an outfitter in every section and quality would plummet. Everybody has a different idea of what big is, one guy might only shoot mature bucks, the next might think that 125 3 year old is a giant. The truth is most serious “deer managers” don’t have a clue and the more land being bought by us generally leads to worse hunting for truly top end bucks. Only in very few places in Iowa or anywhere else is there spots where everyone is on the same page.

I’m not advocating for NR’s to be able to hunt every year like they can in Pike Cty IL. I’m advocating for landowners to have that right. HUGE difference.

And understand that the IL DNR back in the late 2000s and again in 14 flat out came out and stated that they wanted to significantly reduce the herd and have managed accordingly (extended seasons, liberal doe tags, essentially unlimited NR tags, etc). They have also flat out said that they don’t care if there are old big bucks in the herd, that that is not even on their radar when determining their management practices. THIS is the biggest reason Pike and the rest of IL counties have gone down so much.
If the DNR in IA had the same philosophy’s (thank goodness they don’t and hopefully they don’t eventually cave to the auto insurance lobby) than I assure u the quality in IA would suffer similarly regardless/unrelated to our resident non resident discussion.
 
Heres a little something to think about ! Do you think a NR. who would spend thousands if not hundreds if thousands to millions to own a nice chunk if hunting ground in another state ( iowa or other) is going to decimate the resource????(deer pheasants ducks ect. ) ?? Really ? Its the people (resident or non residents) that have no "skin" in the game that i feel decimate populations !!!! The weekend warriors that hunt or thinks about the resource for 1 month a yr! I personally love neighbors (res or non res) that take it seriously and continually improve the land and animals!! Just my 2 cents

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I’m not advocating for NR’s to be able to hunt every year like they can in Pike Cty IL. I’m advocating for landowners to have that right. HUGE difference.

And understand that the IL DNR back in the late 2000s and again in 14 flat out came out and stated that they wanted to significantly reduce the herd and have managed accordingly (extended seasons, liberal doe tags, essentially unlimited NR tags, etc). They have also flat out said that they don’t care if there are old big bucks in the herd, that that is not even on their radar when determining their management practices. THIS is the biggest reason Pike and the rest of IL counties have gone down so much.
If the DNR in IA had the same philosophy’s (thank goodness they don’t and hopefully they don’t eventually cave to the auto insurance lobby) than I assure u the quality in IA would suffer similarly regardless/unrelated to our resident non resident discussion.
Ok take away the tags for all NR and say it’s just for NRLO, I’ll use my neighborhood for example. My farm is bordered by 3 other farms that are 720,850 and over 1000 acres in size and have limited hunting pressure, if NRLO could get a tag every year there’s a chance those farms could be sold off into smaller parcels since the land prices would certainly rise.So do you think quality would be effected when an area goes from 4 landowners to say 25? I sure do
 
Ok take away the tags for all NR and say it’s just for NRLO, I’ll use my neighborhood for example. My farm is bordered by 3 other farms that are 720,850 and over 1000 acres in size and have limited hunting pressure, if NRLO could get a tag every year there’s a chance those farms could be sold off into smaller parcels since the land prices would certainly rise.So do you think quality would be effected when an area goes from 4 landowners to say 25? I sure do

You are 1000% correct. Farms would be chopped up into whatever the minimum acreage required to get a tag. I personally really like my “resident” neighbors also. I’m using that word very loosely. They put the money in and manage their ground very well.
 
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Since Kansas was brought up I will address how it is done there. The poster was correct that Kansas has an 80 acre minimum to get a NRLO tag. Same goes for a RLO. It is one buck tag per 80 acres. In fact Kansas is 1 buck tag per person period, regardless of residence. We have plenty of Non Residents who own property in Kansas but the majority of land is bought by current state residents (mostly farmers and ranchers). No one has the incentive to buy 5,000 acres so they can get one tag, just as we have not seen parcesl split into 80 acre tracts as one of the other posters suggested would happen. In order for that to occur you would need roads along every piece to give access to all of these new 80 acre tracts. Can't happen because there aren't enough roads to give access and people don't want to give easements for access.

Bottom line is the reason for not giving NR landowners in Iowa a tag every year in is because the residents don't want to give up the ability to shoot 2-3 bucks each per year themselves. Even though most don't do it, they want the ability too and if it effects NRLO's, too bad. That's the attitude, plain and simple. Whats good for me is good for me and the hell with anybody else. I am not saying it is right or wrong but that is what is happening.

Unfortunately big whitetails bring out the worst in people. Greed, jealousy, anger etc. It's a deer people. If a guy in the Loess Hills kills a big buck there is no reason for a guy in Iowa City to be jealous but they are. Everyone wants to kill a big deer but doesn't want to see anyone else have success. There are more big deer now than ever before thanks to management and no matter how many NR's own property that won't change as long as people continue to manage. I am sure if a NR bought property and didn't do anything to help the herd other than let their ground sit idol for 4-5 years at a time, many on here would be good with that. Why, because maybe they can get some of the deer on that NR's place to wander across the fence so they can fill their multiple tags.

I have never hunted Iowa, I just like to hunt big deer and I like to see other people kill big deer. Do I get upset if someone else kills my target buck? Sure, but I still congratulate them as I don't know what they were doing on their side of the fence to help grow that deer. It's not worth getting worked up over. Again, it's a deer. We got bigger problems out there than that! I'm sure some NRLO has challenged the law preventing them from getting a buck tag yearly and if it hasn't been done, it will be. I wouldn't want to own land I couldn't hunt every year and neither would the majority of the people wanting to keep it the way it is.

Again, I don't have a dog in this fight but I hate to see people get worked up about stuff that won't ever happen. Life is too short, just go out and have fun and try to keep the important stuff in perspective!!
 
Comparing access and tract sizes from Kansas to Iowa is not that relative in my opinion. You could pretty easily cut up small tracts across southern Iowa in most sections with the the amount of gravel and level B roads. And this is just my opinion but I think guys have a lot better chance of buying a smaller tract such as 80 acres in southern Iowa and having
success with the terrain, timber, and crop land rather than Kansas where I think it takes a lot bigger acreages to duplicate the success rate year after year. I also know there are always exceptions to the rule.
 
Comparing access and tract sizes from Kansas to Iowa is not that relative in my opinion. You could pretty easily cut up small tracts across southern Iowa in most sections with the the amount of gravel and level B roads. And this is just my opinion but I think guys have a lot better chance of buying a smaller tract such as 80 acres in southern Iowa and having
success with the terrain, timber, and crop land rather than Kansas where I think it takes a lot bigger acreages to duplicate the success rate year after year. I also know there are always exceptions to the rule.
You may also think Kansas is flat with nothing but cottonwoods like you see the hunting show guys hunting out of! Nothing could be further from the truth. Where I live, We have really big hills with hard wood draws and big creek valleys with gravel roads everywhere. What we don’t have in my area are 1 mile section roads. We are under attack in Kansas, by people breaking ground into 40-80 acre parcels but it is because of city people wanting to have a place to build a house. I’d take the NRLO wanting to hunt deer before the folks we have. The other group that is attacking us are the big money Kansas City people who are buying big blocks and taking them out of production. They are then donating them to the Nature Conservancy so that they can be preserved forever.

Be happy with what you have but always remember, “New neighbors have New ideas”
 
I like that Kansas has a one buck per person tag. I’d love to see that in every state. One buck tag... that’s it. Wow ... Iowa would be even better!!
 
Is there another state that allows a resident, with 2 acres or more, to harvest 3 bucks if they choose in one season? In most states it’s one buck, period. Curious.

Gotta say don’t get the 2 acre thing. What is the reasoning behind 2 acres if anyone knows. Seems like too little to matter.
 
Is there another state that allows a resident, with 2 acres or more, to harvest 3 bucks if they choose in one season? In most states it’s one buck, period. Curious.

Gotta say don’t get the 2 acre thing. What is the reasoning behind 2 acres if anyone knows. Seems like too little to matter.
Dont know where 2 acres came from but in iowa u must own 40 acres or more.

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Is there another state that allows a resident, with 2 acres or more, to harvest 3 bucks if they choose in one season? In most states it’s one buck, period. Curious.

Gotta say don’t get the 2 acre thing. What is the reasoning behind 2 acres if anyone knows. Seems like too little to matter.
I’m my home state you can kill 6 bucks a year and don’t need to own any land.
 
What state. South Carolina, Alabama etc. 40 acres?? Is that right. Always heard it was 2. Been in Iowa as a nrlo and never heard 40 acres.
 
Thanks Bronc. News to me. Learn something everyday. What’s the 2 acre designation mean. I know there is one
 
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