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Military... considering retiring in IA

I always joke around in saying that ticks keep my standards high.

Every deer I've shot in my best area has been covered in them. So if I am going to bring a deer home and get ticks all over me, my gear, my truck, in my garage, and the occasional biter, then that buck had better be a good one!
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
Not sure what "quality" means but ONE of the reasons we moved here was how genuinly nice the people are. It is incredibly different than most parts of the country. Sure there are a few bad apples no matter where you go but "Iowa nice" is a real thing in my opinion.
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I wasn't referring to the "niceness" of people and I am not trying to offend anyone...but where I work it's an "interesting" place...I do agree that as a whole people here are nice...
 
KnuckleDragr said:
I always joke around in saying that ticks keep my standards high.

Every deer I've shot in my best area has been covered in them. So if I am going to bring a deer home and get ticks all over me, my gear, my truck, in my garage, and the occasional biter, then that buck had better be a good one!
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I was definitely shocked at how thick they were.. I was covered in them when I was there.
 
daniel93077 said:
I was definitely shocked at how thick they were.. I was covered in them when I was there.
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OK guys, get some Permethryn concentrate please!!! mix your own, apply to clothes, no ticks ever again. Don't need a bunch more guys running around with Lyme's disease, most not even knowing it until way down the road. Easy solution.
 
sligh1 said:
ok guys, get some permethryn concentrate please!!! Mix your own, apply to clothes, no ticks ever again. Don't need a bunch more guys running around with lyme's disease, most not even knowing it until way down the road. easy solution.
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1%? ;) :)
 
Sligh1 said:
OK guys, get some Permethryn concentrate please!!! mix your own, apply to clothes, no ticks ever again. Don't need a bunch more guys running around with Lyme's disease, most not even knowing it until way down the road. Easy solution.
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I agree... my trip into the woods was a bit impromptu... and I was not prepared.
 
Daniel, we are all blessed to have folks like you that dedicate their lives to protecting our freedoms, Thank you!

As far as which place to settle it sounds like WA is a could choice looking at all the pros & cons. Not that Iowa or a couple other mid-west states don't have fantastic hunting and genetics but these areas are more at risk for CWD, hope in never happens but it's closing in in some areas in states like Iowa & Illinois. Just something to consider along with the ticks and dang chiggers. Blue tongue is also prevalent in these areas, not sure if that's an issue in WA or not.

I must admit I never hunted Iowa even though I've dreamed about it for 13 years now & have enough preference points to do so, just not the funds right now. I did hunt Illinois for 10 years & was blessed to harvest one buck over 200" but what I noticed over that period of time was the quantity & size of the buck slowly declined. Most likely due to the fame of the mid-west hunting being published everywhere bringing added hunting pressure along with blue tongue and other diseases that have affected the larger deer. A guy would be lucky to get a buck over 140" in Illinois now compared to seeing 160" buck on a regular basis 13 years ago.

Just some food for thought even though I would love to move to Iowa but Washington state sounds more like what would make me happy long term. No pressure, plenty of game & other outdoor opportunities you can't find just anywhere.

Good luck & thanks again!
 
203ntyp said:
Daniel, we are all blessed to have folks like you that dedicate their lives to protecting our freedoms, Thank you!

As far as which place to settle it sounds like WA is a could choice looking at all the pros & cons. Not that Iowa or a couple other mid-west states don't have fantastic hunting and genetics but these areas are more at risk for CWD, hope in never happens but it's closing in in some areas in states like Iowa & Illinois. Just something to consider along with the ticks and dang chiggers. Blue tongue is also prevalent in these areas, not sure if that's an issue in WA or not.

I must admit I never hunted Iowa even though I've dreamed about it for 13 years now & have enough preference points to do so, just not the funds right now. I did hunt Illinois for 10 years & was blessed to harvest one buck over 200" but what I noticed over that period of time was the quantity & size of the buck slowly declined. Most likely due to the fame of the mid-west hunting being published everywhere bringing added hunting pressure along with blue tongue and other diseases that have affected the larger deer. A guy would be lucky to get a buck over 140" in Illinois now compared to seeing 160" buck on a regular basis 13 years ago.

Just some food for thought even though I would love to move to Iowa but Washington state sounds more like what would make me happy long term. No pressure, plenty of game & other outdoor opportunities you can't find just anywhere.

Good luck & thanks again!
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203... Thank you. I have truly enjoyed serving our country. It has been a very rewarding career despite the sacrifices my family has had to make.

We have bad blue tongue kill off a lot of deer in WA over the years but it usually happens in the lower lying areas near the agriculture. The whitetail deer in the mountains where I hunt don't seem to be impacted.

What we do have a problem with is predators and winters.... a lot of those big bucks die natural deaths in those mountains... I know this because I watch them blow up into animals that would not likely go unnoticed if they were killed by a hunter...yet they drop off the map completely never to be seen again.... and sometimes it's areas I never see other hunters in.

Eastern WA/Northern ID is certainly a great place to be if you love the outdoors.
 
I would keep your Washington residency and hunt the big deer there...whitetails, and blacktails. Also have them Roosevelt elk to hunt in the Olympic Mtns and Rocky Mountain Elk in the Cascades.... I would give up whitetail hunting in a heartbeat to be able to have elk to hunt any day of the season.
 
Shredder said:
I would keep your Washington residency and hunt the big deer there...whitetails, and blacktails. Also have them Roosevelt elk to hunt in the Olympic Mtns and Rocky Mountain Elk in the Cascades.... I would give up whitetail hunting in a heartbeat to be able to have elk to hunt any day of the season.
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I'm the opposite... I would gladly pass up a 400 inch elk to get a shot at a 200 inch whitetail. Elk are awesome animals but my focus is so intense on the whitetail that I don't hunt them.
 
Daniel

As a current Air Force member I would also like to thank you for your service as many others on here have already done. I am currently stationed at Offutt but I'm due to PCS this summer so maybe I should consider WA as one of my options. What base are you stationed at?

I do not own land in Iowa but I have been fortunate to be able to hunt there the last 5 years. With the amount of time and effort it sounds like you put in I doubt if you'll have any trouble locating a 160+ class in Iowa although it won't be easy as others have stated. TV does not accurately portray the hunting on your average farms in Iowa as the farms on TV are very large and heavily managed and heavily patrolled for poachers. Unfortunately I haven't had as much time to scout as I'd have liked but I have seen some nice deer on public (I've hunted public in eastern/southeast/southcentral/Northeast and western Iowa). I have yet to be able to harvest a deer over 130 on public despite having seen them. This past year my two brothers and their friend harvested a 167" a 138" and a 142" on public in one weekend while I hunted every weekend and never saw a deer over 120" despite seeing many of them summer scouting. Iowa is full of great people but like any state there are some bad apples. I had my truck window shattered during shotgun season this year on public so you may want to re-consider hunting public during those seasons. Overall, the hunting pressure during archery season is low until November and public land is heavily pressured during shotgun seasons. Additionally it sounds like the archery seasons are a little longer in WA. All in all, Iowa is a great state and I think you and your wife would be happy no matter if you choose IA or WA. Also, if you like being around other whitetail nuts another state full of them is WI (my home state) but they have their own problems. Good luck with your retirement and thanks again for your service.
 
I would have a hard time believing you can top what you have if you can guarantee a 160-200" deer to pursue yearly...I mean seriously! What more could you want!???? Not trying to be a smart guy.
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I was going to not post anything but MN is not from Iowa and he did as so I can too. LOL

NO KIDDING!! And you said yourself not many people care about whitetails in WA. That is good for you, very good. Read the "finding one from the road" thread in the shed hunting forum. In Wa, you will be very less likely to worry about small parcels, guys hunting property lines, and guys worrying about whitetails 24/7 etc. I can't even imagine considering it personally.
 
loewmd said:
Daniel

As a current Air Force member I would also like to thank you for your service as many others on here have already done. I am currently stationed at Offutt but I'm due to PCS this summer so maybe I should consider WA as one of my options. What base are you stationed at?

I do not own land in Iowa but I have been fortunate to be able to hunt there the last 5 years. With the amount of time and effort it sounds like you put in I doubt if you'll have any trouble locating a 160+ class in Iowa although it won't be easy as others have stated. TV does not accurately portray the hunting on your average farms in Iowa as the farms on TV are very large and heavily managed and heavily patrolled for poachers. Unfortunately I haven't had as much time to scout as I'd have liked but I have seen some nice deer on public (I've hunted public in eastern/southeast/southcentral/Northeast and western Iowa). I have yet to be able to harvest a deer over 130 on public despite having seen them. This past year my two brothers and their friend harvested a 167" a 138" and a 142" on public in one weekend while I hunted every weekend and never saw a deer over 120" despite seeing many of them summer scouting. Iowa is full of great people but like any state there are some bad apples. I had my truck window shattered during shotgun season this year on public so you may want to re-consider hunting public during those seasons. Overall, the hunting pressure during archery season is low until November and public land is heavily pressured during shotgun seasons. Additionally it sounds like the archery seasons are a little longer in WA. All in all, Iowa is a great state and I think you and your wife would be happy no matter if you choose IA or WA. Also, if you like being around other whitetail nuts another state full of them is WI (my home state) but they have their own problems. Good luck with your retirement and thanks again for your service.
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Thank you for your service too brother. For Whitetail hunting Fairchild AFB near Spokane, WA is the one you want.

WA bow season is not extremely long. It most of the whitetail areas it runs from 1-25 September and then from 10 Nov or 25 Nov (only opens on the 10th in one unit) to 15 December. In WA you have to choose your season... Archery, primitive weapon or general.... This has downsides because you don't get to hunt as long and it pits each user group of hunters against each other as they compete for their own interest instead of the interests of hunters as a whole (in other words.. it divides hunters)... The positive side of it is that it spreads out the hunting pressure.... It also also makes it where some units have no firearm/muzzleloader hunting outside of two week season in October... This leads to low pressure and a good age class in those units for bowhunters.... The only way you could ever hunt all seasons would be if you drew a multi-season tag... You can only take one deer during the season.

Idaho has a longer rifle season so there is more pressure and you can buy second buck tag after you kill your first but you would have to be non-resident fees to do that even if you were a resident... The hunting is similar to WA but I don't think the overall age class is quite as good....still good hunting though.
 
SaskGuy said:
I was going to not post anything but MN is not from Iowa and he did as so I can too. LOL

NO KIDDING!! And you said yourself not many people care about whitetails in WA. That is good for you, very good. Read the "finding one from the road" thread in the shed hunting forum. In Wa, you will be very less likely to worry about small parcels, guys hunting property lines, and guys worrying about whitetails 24/7 etc. I can't even imagine considering it personally.
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All great points and I will definitely go check out that thread. In WA there is definitely no concern with any of the issues you mentioned. There are a few guys that get after the whitetail fairly serious but not many. The last two weeks of the season I often have thousands of acres all to myself with absolutely zero hunting pressure outside of what I put on the deer.
 
daniel93077 said:
All great points and I will definitely go check out that thread. In WA there is definitely no concern with any of the issues you mentioned. There are a few guys that get after the whitetail fairly serious but not many. The last two weeks of the season I often have thousands of acres all to myself with absolutely zero hunting pressure outside of what I put on the deer.
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Well that right there would sell me on staying in WA.. During bow season alone we have 21 hunters in 3 square miles.. Maybe one square mile of that is timber if you combined all of it.
 
If I could get paid what I do now for what I do for a living, out West, I would have a fire sale of most of my stuff and be heading there n a week. I never have seemed to have luck knocking on doors here, and would love to have thousands of public acres to roam.
 
The tree stand sitting does get tiring but I enjoy every aspect of what leads to me sitting in the tree stand... I like the history I build with the animals I hunt and that's in the realm of possibility with these whitetail. You can hunt familiar mule deer bucks and bull elk year after year but that is rare for most people due to the distances they travel and the lack of any discernible pattern.
 
Daniel, How does your wife feel about a possible move? I know you hinted at it when you quoted and responded to my reply, but is she okay with it for the most part or is there some what of a reservation? Also, Do you have any relatives or family in this region?
 
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