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DNR public ICN meetings

Guy with the IW hat was up here in Calmar. I shoot archery league with him and told him about the meeting. He's a science teacher at MFL and brought his whole science class with him. It was great to have all those kids there. When they were appointing a spokesman, he pointed at me in my IBA shirt, and I pointed at him in his IW hat:) A lot of passion at these meetings. The one trend I have noticed is that the DNR is no longer the bad guy in anyone's eyes!!
 
Guy with the IW hat was up here in Calmar. I shoot archery league with him and told him about the meeting. He's a science teacher at MFL and brought his whole science class with him. It was great to have all those kids there. When they were appointing a spokesman, he pointed at me in my IBA shirt, and I pointed at him in his IW hat:) A lot of passion at these meetings. The one trend I have noticed is that the DNR is no longer the bad guy in anyone's eyes!!

Well then, TWO attaboys for him then!! Wearing his IW hat AND bringing the kids in, that was a nice idea.
 
I fully support a pelican season, that would be awesome ;)

Good news!! I am working on the following new products and associated patents today for:

Pelican call (psst, does anyone know what sound a pelican makes?)
Pelican decoys (don't worry that they look A LOT like snow goose decoys, these are the REAL thing, take my word on it.)
A full line of Pelican camo attire (your deer and duck camo WILL NOT, trust me on this, WILL NOT work for pelicans.)


I am also looking for some good looking spokesmen for our new video. Special bonus footage...we will show you how to skin out the 6 foot long pelican beaks and make one-of-a-kind keepsakes for your wife or girlfriend. (I realize this criteria knocks out probably 95% of you, but SOMEBODY out there has to be remotely good looking enough to help me here, right?)

Forgive me here, but I am still laughing this morning about the pelican season recommendation! :D
 
A pelican Euro would look sweet in the man cave. If we could get a season I could quit all my side jobs and start guiding. They are in no short supply I'm already seeing some on the river. While we're at it lets push for a cormorant season to run concurrent with the pelican season.
 
IW rocked the Solon meeting.

Must of been the older IWers. Otherwise back in the day you
still would of been out. :D

Cedar Falls had a great turnout. Lot of young and older hunters attended. Lot of passion but a common theme.
It will be interesting to see what Terry does with these recommendations.

BTW Daver I was the really good looking one up front. Let me know when you need me to be a spokesperson for your new Pelican adventure. :D
 
I thought the meetings were really good. Very impressed. I got there about 20-30 mins late because of family stuff but stayed the whole time. I tried getting in my "top 4 threats to deer hunting in Iowa" but only got 2 of them in :) Great ideas and discussion and the guys there were for sure a top caliber of guys that had some great things to bring to the table & organize.
 
Good news!! I am working on the following new products and associated patents today for:

Pelican call (psst, does anyone know what sound a pelican makes?)
Pelican decoys (don't worry that they look A LOT like snow goose decoys, these are the REAL thing, take my word on it.)
A full line of Pelican camo attire (your deer and duck camo WILL NOT, trust me on this, WILL NOT work for pelicans.)


I am also looking for some good looking spokesmen for our new video. Special bonus footage...we will show you how to skin out the 6 foot long pelican beaks and make one-of-a-kind keepsakes for your wife or girlfriend. (I realize this criteria knocks out probably 95% of you, but SOMEBODY out there has to be remotely good looking enough to help me here, right?)

Forgive me here, but I am still laughing this morning about the pelican season recommendation! :D

Midwest Pelican would be a huge hit!!
Start assembling the pro staff!!
 
One comment that I heard and forgot about is that there is one
organization that does not take donations from a shooting organization
or something along those lines.
I think it had something to do with the Governor's tags and auctioning them off
to specific charities?
Anyone remember that comment?
 
One comment that I heard and forgot about is that there is one
organization that does not take donations from a shooting organization
or something along those lines.
I think it had something to do with the Governor's tags and auctioning them off
to specific charities?
Anyone remember that comment?

Yep, and they have it wrong. The guy in my group that said that very thing - he thinks that's what happens with most or all of the money "a lot of the $ from these tags, like the $9k tag - go to charities". There is ONE tag they do that with (maybe a 2nd if it's part of same program) - the other 99% of the tags are not for that purpose. The purpose of all remaining tags is to give them to celebs or who ever will give the most exposure to Iowa's hunting, period. They pay $550 or whatever standard tag costs are, go to front of line by getting the tag without the draw, expose Iowa to thousands or even millions of viewers and create higher demand for Iowa.
The one tag you are referring to - like half goes to some charity (I forget which one) and half goes to another or some "good fund" of some type. It does not go to people who are required to bring attention to Iowa - it simply goes to the highest bidder. Which I think is cool for one or 2 tags a year to be done that way. As for the rest..... :rolleyes::mad::confused:
 
I was thinking it was "Make a Wish" or "Miracle Network"
that did not take money from a shooting organization.
 
I thought it was in regards to the suggestion(s) to use Governors tags for "Wounded Warriors" or "Make a Wish" type organizations. I thought the comment was that Make a Wish does not fund hunting activities. Hunt of a Lifetime does, but I do not believe Make a Wish honors wishes related to hunting (and therefore get none of my $$$).
 
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I thought it was in regards to the suggestion(s) to use Governors tags for "Wounded Warriors" or "Make a Wish" type organizations. I thought the comment was that Make a Wish does not fund hunting activities. Hunt of a Lifetime does, but I do not believe Make a Wish honors wishes related to hunting (and therefore get none of my $$$).

Thank you HorseDoctor.
If this is true I wanted to know because I like you want to make
sure I give to the right organization.
Thanks for the info.
 
From the info on Wilkipedia: "Make-A-Wish ceased granting wishes involving the gift or use of firearms or other weapons designed to cause injury in 1996, based on concerns over maintaining the well-being of a child in a weakened state handling weapons. In response, three organizations were formed: Hunt of a Lifetime, which arranged hunting trips for terminally ill children,[6][7] Catch-a-Dream,[8] which was conceived by Mississippi outdoorsman Bruce Brady, and formed by his loved ones following Brady's death from cancer, to grant hunting experiences to ill children, and Life Hunts founded by the Buckmasters American Deer Foundation."
 
Turn out for the meetings this year were much better than in the past. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to attend. As sportsmen and women this is another way to get our voices heard.
 
There are 75 "governor" or "celebrity" tags. Anyone can apply through the DNR for them. Now that Gov. Branstad has started the Governor's hunt back up, he takes the majority of them for that. There were only about 10 left for the application process last year. It's a joint DNR, legislative process to determine who gets the tags once the Governor has his fill. There is a small group the makes the decision. Some of the resident celebrity hunters with shows seem to get a small number of tags each year to use as they see fit. Not really how it was meant to work, but that's the way it goes for now.
 
DNR meeting

The comment about the gov. tags came from the meeting I attended in Sgt. Bluff. The intention of the comment was to eliminate the celebrity status and give back to the veterans who have served and were injured or disabled. Everyone already knows that IA is the big buck mecca and the TV hosts can wait their turn in the draw like everyone else.
There was two iowawhitetail members there that I know of.
I missed the pelican comment due to technical problems on our room. They should also include cormorant's in with the pelicans.
 
Now that Gov. Branstad has started the Governor's hunt back up, he takes the majority of them for that. There were only about 10 left for the application process last year. It's a joint DNR, legislative process to determine who gets the tags once the Governor has his fill. .


I have never heard of the "Governor's Hunt Back Up" - what is the deal with this and do you have any more clarification? 75 Governor tags each year, you're saying 65 or so the Governor does something else with them? I just want to make sure I understand this all right and all that is news to me (and very well could be true, not challenging you in the least) & wonder if you could explain a little more.
I had 4 guys I know apply last year for these Celeb Tags - 2 got them and 2 did not. All 4 laugh at how silly the program is while they are applying and taking advantage of it. The 2 that did not get them had gotten them before and they estimated they previously reached and impacted 50,000+ people in their application letters which justify why they did a good job the last time or something like this. Their response to me was that the "decision makers" felt they did not have the reach & impact they would like to see compared with others reaching far more. That part was more feedback and opinion they expressed to me after not being picked.
There was some tags approved for wounded vets last year, I am not sure how that all played out and how many are allocated to what anymore? It's for sure got more hush hush and private as they don't want to share public information on a damaging program that can't justify itself other than buddy-politics. Wish we could get some concrete public updates & information we have the right to on this subject.
 
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I have never heard of the "Governor's Hunt Back Up" - what is the deal with this and do you have any more clarification? 75 Governor tags each year, you're saying 65 or so the Governor does something else with them? I just want to make sure I understand this all right and all that is news to me (and very well could be true, not challenging you in the least) & wonder if you could explain a little more.
I had 4 guys I know apply last year for these Celeb Tags - 2 got them and 2 did not. All 4 laugh at how silly the program is while they are applying and taking advantage of it. The 2 that did not get them had gotten them before and they estimated they previously reached and impacted 50,000 people in their application letters or something like this. Their response to me was that the "decision makers" felt they did not have the reach & impact they would like to see compared with others reaching far more. That part was more feedback and opinion they expressed to me after not being picked.
There was some tags approved for wounded vets last year, I am not sure how that all played out and how many are allocated to what anymore? It's for sure got more hush hush and private as they don't want to share public information on a damaging program that can't justify itself other than buddy-politics. Wish we could get some concrete public updates & information we have the right to on this subject.

The Governor's deer hunt was started when Gov. Branstad was in office the first time I believe. Back in the days of Tony Knight and Knight Rifles in Centerville, Iowa. There was a large banquet every year that the Gov & Tony Knight hosted in Centerville and various landowners would volunteer to take the celebrity guests on a hunt. They used Knight muzzleloaders during shotgun season. After Gov Branstad left office, the hunt ended. When he got back into office, the Governor's hunt was started again. I know guys that have participated and that have guided. It is an annual event and a lot of the 75 tag allotment for "celebrities" goes for this hunt. It is the reason that the tags originally came to be. That is where the phrase "governor tags" and "celebrity tags" came to be. I think it used to be 50 tags. There also used to be a Governor's pheasant hunt each year that moved around the state. Last I knew, I think it had to be held with released birds on preserves and I don't know that it is still being held.
 
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