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And so it begins......again

Fishbonker

Fishbonker

Life Member
The 2022 Session of the of the 89th General Assembly convened today. As was commented in another thread regarding adding another deer season, that is just one of the continuing litany of proposals we expect to be filed, refiled and brought back to life.

Thanks to everybody who took the time to contact their legislators last year, you made a difference and hopefully you will all make the contacts again this year.

So buckle up and ride it to the end.

Oh yeah, if you are an IBA member thanks and if not join here: <Join the Iowa Bowhunters Association> we are the only group actively fighting for science-based regulations and conservation of our wildlife. Our pockets aren't nearly as deep as the large corporations and personal interest groups that would have every deer dead, every wood plot bulldozed, any method of take legalized and make the ability for the common man to own their own hunting ground out of economic reach. Make your voice heard, join the IBA.
 
If theres such a thing as “the most important issue” or post that a guy could read & put some thought into…. It’s this!! Many folks have no clue how much better iowa is than surrounding states & why. Or what could cause iowa to be like its neighbors. I wish folks could spend one season in MI, WI, PA, MN, etc etc. It’s like having to live in communist China for a year & then coming back to the US ;).
Please folks- take the time to send in an email to reps. It’s critical. Just like we wait for the “once a year rut hunting” - it’s as critical to spend 10-20 mins of the year writing in!! Anyone need a list of legislatures?
 
Thanks Skip! I’ve got my reps info, but I would suggest you post the list for easy access for everyone.


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Iowa is a true gem for whitetail hunting, especially for residents. IMO the #1 reason for this is the small # of WT tags given to nonresidents. To my knowledge, we are unique among all states E of the Rockies in that nonresident landowners are required to draw a tag, and the only state E of the Great Plains that has a draw.

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In talking with realtors, nonresident purchases of recreational land in IA are way up. Contributions to state Republican legislators follow, as this is the key to opening the doors to more NR tags.

If NR landowners no longer had to draw it would spike recreational land values higher, and reduce resident access. If NR quota goes up, lease prices go way up, and residents lose access. When access is lost, public land gets more crowded.

IA is a unique midwest WT state with limited habitat, a relatively low deer population, and very little public land. It is a delicate balance to preserve the high quality of hunting we enjoy. We’ll really feel how good we had it AFTER we lose it, and once we lose it we’ll never get it back.

I talked to my state legislators regarding terrible deer legislation last year and will continue to do the same this year as long as the train of crappy sponsored bills keeps rumbling along.

Make sure to tell your fellow hunters about what is at stake and what can be done to protect it.
 
I would disagree that limiting NR is the #1 factor in Iowa good deer hunting. If Iowa moved their gun season to November 6-13 as an example. Most of your “giant” big buck hunting would be over in 2 years.

You would see all the NR sell and go elsewhere if this happened. Prices would really drop.

Therefore the #1 reason is the December gun season. I don’t think you guys realize the importance of having a gun season after the rut.. it’s the factor.

Limiting NR has an impact yes, but not even in same ballpark as the December gun season. That’s the key.
 
Limiting NR is a mute point since I’d say 70% of them are “residents” and get tags every year. They aren’t spending millions to come hunt every 4-5 years.
 
I’ve written legislators in the recent past and had one reply they had no clue what NR or NRLO meant, and that rec/hunting issues were a low priority. Lol. I have little faith in anything politics.
 
Windlooker said:
I’ve written legislators in the recent past and had one reply they had no clue what NR or NRLO meant, and that rec/hunting issues were a low priority. Lol. I have little faith in anything politics.
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I also have little faith but if we all stop then I guarantee it'll get worse and worse each year. And why would any of them know what NR or NRLO means?
 
Completely agree that #1 reason, by far, that we have great buck age class is the absence of a rut gun season. I was speaking more about access. You can knock on doors and get access to areas with good age class. Good luck trying that in NR lease-heavy states like KS, IL, etc. It can be done, just a lot harder though.
 
chipterp said:
Limiting NR is a mute point since I’d say 70% of them are “residents” and get tags every year. They aren’t spending millions to come hunt every 4-5 years.
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If you spent $300,00 on a tract of land,wouldn't you want to hunt it EVERY YEAR?For a state to tell you you can't hunt your own land is BULLSH☆They sure do want that TAX money though.If you pay taxes on it,you should be able to hunt if you live on it or not.That should sure you a place to hunt since you bought it to keep outfitters from leasing it up.Quit complaining and buy your own land and you wouldn't lose that FREE land you been hunting for 30 yrs,times have changed.
 
z71bowhunter1965 said:
If you spent $300,00 on a tract of land,wouldn't you want to hunt it EVERY YEAR?For a state to tell you you can't hunt your own land is BULLSH☆They sure do want that TAX money though.If you pay taxes on it,you should be able to hunt if you live on it or not.That should sure you a place to hunt since you bought it to keep outfitters from leasing it up.Quit complaining and buy your own land and you wouldn't lose that FREE land you been hunting for 30 yrs,times have changed.
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I was just making a point that most of our neighbors are already NR. We are good in the owning our ground dept lol . We would possibly buy ground in states out west if we could get Immediately get resident privileges for tags and not live there but you can’t in most states out there either. What’s the difference why don’t you want to change let’s say Montana’s laws too?
 
z71bowhunter1965 said:
If you spent $300,00 on a tract of land,wouldn't you want to hunt it EVERY YEAR?For a state to tell you you can't hunt your own land is BULLSH☆They sure do want that TAX money though.If you pay taxes on it,you should be able to hunt if you live on it or not.That should sure you a place to hunt since you bought it to keep outfitters from leasing it up.Quit complaining and buy your own land and you wouldn't lose that FREE land you been hunting for 30 yrs,times have changed.
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I sure would like to hunt it every year but if I spend 300k on land out of state I will know before buying what that state's rules and regulations say. If I don't like it, I would look elsewhere. No one is making people buy in Iowa. Non-residents know what they are getting into when they buy here. Me personally, I'm not spending 300k to hunt every few years but that doesn't stop a lot of other folks from doing it.

"Quit complaining and buy your own land" is quite the take on it. Right now 300k will get you about 50-60 acres of non-tillable ground in Iowa, pretty crazy to go after a goat with antlers.

I get more and more excited for turkey season every year because deer hunting is getting a little ridiculous.
 
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Yes, but I would not buy land in a state where I could not hunt every year. Others, obviously choose differently.

Edit: Looks like I forgot to "reload". Was answering Z71, but chip and dh93 did a better job.
 
z71bowhunter1965 said:
If you spent $300,00 on a tract of land,wouldn't you want to hunt it EVERY YEAR?For a state to tell you you can't hunt your own land is BULLSH☆They sure do want that TAX money though.If you pay taxes on it,you should be able to hunt if you live on it or not.That should sure you a place to hunt since you bought it to keep outfitters from leasing it up.Quit complaining and buy your own land and you wouldn't lose that FREE land you been hunting for 30 yrs,times have changed.
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Iowa doesn’t say you can’t hunt your own land every year, just doesn’t allow you to get a buck tag every year. Plenty of other game you can hunt every year, like pretty much every other game species in Iowa, including whitetail does. If you only hunt to kill giant bucks then your probably hunting for the wrong reasons, chasing giant bucks is only one of the reasons owning land is enjoyable for me. Watching the deer grow and the land management part of it is what I enjoy the most.
 
I don’t have a dog in this fight but isn’t it ironic that a non-resident landowner in Iowa can not get a buck tag every year on his own land but can lease his ground to an outfitter, who can have multiple non-residents pay to hunt and shoot bucks on the same ground that the owner can’t shoot a buck on. How is anyone properly served in this scenario? Just curious of the thought process that came up with this rule?
 
z71bowhunter1965 said:
If you spent $300,00 on a tract of land,wouldn't you want to hunt it EVERY YEAR?For a state to tell you you can't hunt your own land is BULLSH☆They sure do want that TAX money though.If you pay taxes on it,you should be able to hunt if you live on it or not.That should sure you a place to hunt since you bought it to keep outfitters from leasing it up.Quit complaining and buy your own land and you wouldn't lose that FREE land you been hunting for 30 yrs,times have changed.
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You can hunt it every year, the state has never said you couldn’t. If you want to hunt antlered deer you just have to play by the rules. If you didn’t draw for archery, hunt shotgun. Either way, you’re hunting your ground.

The bottom line is that you knew the rules when you bought. They aren’t a lot different than many other states. I cant buy a mountain out west and hunt elk, sheep or whatever every year just because I own the ground. The rules are in place and it’s your choice on whether or not to play.
 
Great conversation above!!!!
Why does a guy from MI, PA, WI or down south buy in Iowa where they can’t get a buck tag every year? when they could go to any bordering states & get yearly buck tags. & buy the land CHEAPER in most cases. Southern iowa, minutes from the MO border has hoards of NR’s buying it up. Why aren’t those same folks just crossing the border, avoiding the hassle & hunting BUCKS every year for less $?!?! It’s CLEARLY because the quality of hunting & management of the resource is vastly superior in iowa.

No doubt outfitting in most scenarios is one of the worst management practices a guy could encounter. What it does to access for residents is destructive!…
What’s awesome about IA- because of the draw- it’s far harder for outfitters to exist & churn folks through. Go experience 1st hand & look at how many outfitters are in MO, IL, NE, WI, etc. It’s insane. Exponentially more outfitters in all these places. Heck, one of the main reasons my IL buddies have saw the state go downhill is outfitting!!!! It grew like a cancer in 90’s & 2000’s & darn near every drop of good IL land is completely locked up. Outfitting there is EVERYWHERE. Iowa has a speck of outfitting vs IL.
 
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