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Public Land Deer Hunting?

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meatcleaver

meatcleaver
Hello, im a Georgia resident and i want to come to iowa to hunt deer in a few years. I dont have much to spend so Im looking for some public hunting lands to hunt. I just want to kill a nice deer. It doesnt have to be a monster by Iowa standards. A 130 class would make my day. We dont have many big deer options in Georgia. Does anyone know of any good public hunting grounds? Im willing to hunt during any of the deer seasons. If someone could point me in the right direction I sure would appreciate it. Is it even worth me driving 11 hours to Iowa to hunt public land? Like I said, I just want to kill a nice one.Thanks Everyone
 
What would make it not worth it? Just because you come to IA does not mean you are going to get one.
 
Most of our public lands have great habitat, good deer numbers, and nice bucks. Depending on which zone you draw, you could have lots of options.
 
There are a lot of great public areas, how much do you hunt public down there? Do you plan to do a scouting trip to get the lay of the land(s)?
 
meatcleaver said:
Hello, im a Georgia resident and i want to come to iowa to hunt deer in a few years. I dont have much to spend so Im looking for some public hunting lands to hunt. I just want to kill a nice deer. It doesnt have to be a monster by Iowa standards. A 130 class would make my day. We dont have many big deer options in Georgia. Does anyone know of any good public hunting grounds? Im willing to hunt during any of the deer seasons. If someone could point me in the right direction I sure would appreciate it. Is it even worth me driving 11 hours to Iowa to hunt public land? Like I said, I just want to kill a nice one.Thanks Everyone
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Very good public areas in Iowa...study the counties drive up in spring...mark some spots

Get your points in
 
Lots of good public areas in Iowa. I would recommend buying a iowa sportsman atlas or going online and start researching which counties / zones have a high amount of public land. All of them you have an easy chance at a 130+ if you put in your time and work for it.
 
public land

What I meant by not being worth it is, here in North Georgia where I live I hunt a lot of public hunting lands and on the firearm hunts its so crowded sometimes that you cant even find a place to park just so you can hunt and when you do get out there, you end up walking in on people and they walk in on you. Ive literally walked all morning just to find a spot where I cant see an orange vest in the distance. This is why I usually hunt archery season the hardest because the hunting pressure here is considerably less. Or I hunt the larger mountain wma's where I can walk to get away from the crowd. I know just showing up in Iowa doesnt mean Ill even see a nice buck but what I meant was if the firearms hunts are as crowded as they are here then maybe I should have a different plan. Im not even sure yet which weapon I want to use. Thankyou to everyone that has given me advice. Ill take all that your willing to give. Thanks again.
 
meatcleaver said:
What I meant by not being worth it is, here in North Georgia where I live I hunt a lot of public hunting lands and on the firearm hunts its so crowded sometimes that you cant even find a place to park just so you can hunt and when you do get out there, you end up walking in on people and they walk in on you. Ive literally walked all morning just to find a spot where I cant see an orange vest in the distance. This is why I usually hunt archery season the hardest because the hunting pressure here is considerably less. Or I hunt the larger mountain wma's where I can walk to get away from the crowd. I know just showing up in Iowa doesnt mean Ill even see a nice buck but what I meant was if the firearms hunts are as crowded as they are here then maybe I should have a different plan. Im not even sure yet which weapon I want to use. Thankyou to everyone that has given me advice. Ill take all that your willing to give. Thanks again.
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I've never really observed what public is like during our gun seasons, but the hunting pressure is relatively small during bow season, and nothing like what you described as to what you have in Georgia. If you want a really special experience you need to come here with a bow. The public areas that I'm familiar with are pretty rugged, so you'll definitely need to make a trip here in the spring or summer to scout the areas you want to hunt.
 
During gun season, Big Creek State Park is rediculous. It gets pressure from ISU students (Ames folks), Ankeny residents as well as everyone from Des Moines and the surrounding communities. Years back I drove around the entire lake looking for somewhere to even park. That was the last time I bought a shotgun tag. I can't speak for areas outside of Polk county though.
 
I have actually been contemplating hunting in Iowa as well. I live in GA and have made several trips to KS, but since KS turned hunting into a major source of revenue by increasing the number of NR permits, the hunting quality has gone down considerably. I would rather wait 3 years and get drawn for a good quality in hunt in Iowa. Are there any areas in the state that would be better than others as far as pressure, amount of public land, etc? I am a bowhunter, so I like to plan my trips for the first week of Nov.
 
If your going to come up here to hunt public I would only do it during bow season. Especially if you want to have some peace. Lots of public pieces get pushed during shotgun.
 
I hunted Shimek State Forest in the SE corner of Iowa during the gun season a couple of years in the mid '80's. It was a war zone, slugs hitting branches above your head, deer running with their tongues hanging out because every where they ran they got shot at. The deer trails were painted red with blood. Shots at quality deer were rare.

With Stephens State Forest being right there as well, might be worth your time to bow hunt the area.

Like said, get the Iowa Sportsman's Atlas.
 
Being this is your first post, I don't think you'll see a lot of responses. There's a lot of information on the net about public hunting areas and how much pressure some of these see. Iowa is not known to be a state that's liberal with the amount of public land that's available. Like anywhere, some of it 'can' be good hunting.
 
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Where was I during this entire post? Looks like I missed the fun. To answer your question I would say its definitely worth it, but I would put in some homework before you even apply. Come up here over the winter and visit some of the public areas so you have an idea of what zone you want to apply for. I would recommend archery if you want a fair shot at hunting a nice buck. I also would get the Iowa Sportsmens Atlas to just look at some of the larger pieces of public to get figured out what zone you want to apply for.
Also if you check in the harvest section I believe there was just a fellow up here from Georgia who had a successful hunt. Maybe he could shorten your learning curve a little bit as well.
 
Here is a buck my Geogia buddies shot last night on a piece of public I hunted a lot in college. You just got to know where to go and you will be in great ground with little to no pressure. This one grossed 165. The other one they shot was 130 which was the biggest that guy ever shot. They also saw quite a few 140-155s during their week trip just didn't connect.
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i say start looking for friendly people here, iowa is full of them, i bet you could trade a guided fishing trip for a guided hunting trip, non pro im talking.i know of people who have done it and it was great for everyone. it might get you some private to hunt also.
 
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