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Northeast Iowa vs. Southern Iowa deer hunting.....thoughts, ideas and experiences?

I live and hunt in Allamakee. Never personally hunted southern IA but here's my thoughts.

Southern Iowa is leaps and strides ahead of us in management, timber stand improvement, and food plotting. We are getting better as more and more farms are being sold as rec. farms.

The winters are considerably less harsh in the south and more importantly spring green up is easily 3 weeks ahead of us. I believe this is crucial.

I believe our quality of deer is very similar but southern iowa has more big deer. I see maybe one 160+ on a big food source late. And have buddies down south that have several of that caliber on a plot. We have a lot of big open timber that may contribute to that.

As of late on the several farms I hunt it seems we have been bitten by the 140 class 8pt bug. I see 5 of them to one 150 class 10pt.

Anyway you dice it. I wouldnt change much. Love chasing mature deer and hope Iowa laws continue to let us keep doing so.
 
It will be interesting if portions of southern Iowa continue to experience EHD outbreaks every few years. Nock on wood, I have not experienced one in NE Iowa or across the river in WI. This may be a consideration when comparing the two.

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I can only speak to Southern Iowa but I will echo the same thing as others...it's all about the neighbors. Looking at my farm from the air it looks perfect but the reality is tremendous hunting pressure, brought on by having everything easily accessible, has drawbacks. We have good deer but the pressure, yearly EHD toll, and last but not least...open fields with legal rifles makes it tough. The solid deer are here but they are well educated.
 
The east half of Iowa seems to be 10,000x better than the west half! I hunt the west side and I have only seen one buck on camera...nothing... doesn't seem to be deer on this side. Not a good idea to buy there or put in for a NR point!!##!!Buck young --Ranum.jpg you guys have it made over there!
 
I've hunted Iowa twice in the last 8 years as a NR. 2011 down in Van Buren county on 60 private acres. Seen a lot of 2yr olds and two 3yr old bucks that week. Brought home a 130" 9pt. 2016 hunted up near Decorah and Waukon on public land. Found a few good spots but nothing bigger than a 2yr old. My buddy saw a 130 and a 150ish during week trip but no shots. We both brought home 2yr olds taken on 2nd to last day. We left on Nov 13th and things seem to be ramping up. I'm planing on going back next year to same public land. Now that I put in some time and found some good spots I think I can pull out a good buck. We hunt hill country in Vernon county Wisconsin and feel at home in N/E Iowa.
 
I have bow hunted public ground on the Allamakee/Winneshek county line area three years and shot a decent buck each time. I have since bought my own ground in VanBuren county and bow hunted it one season and although I saw some nice bucks I did not close the deal. NE Iowa is much more scenic and hilly, (and pricey). But both areas seem to have great hunting!
 
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Have Hunted NEIA all my life. And this is just my view point, Those Upper NEIA counties get an immense amount of hunting pressure.(Those areas are notorious for big bucks) They have the Terrain, Cover, Etc etc etc. But they have waaaayyyyy more hunters than the lesser known counties.
I've hunted those Notorious counties before, Seen a few decent bucks but nothing Big big.

Private land in a neighborhood, where they dont shoot everything that moves is your best bet no matter which county your in.
 
Again I will say this. Wherever you hunt in Iowa. Whatever State. The thing that makes hunting and seeing mature animals, if that is your goal,is your neighborhood. If your neighbors hold back on young deer you’ll see older animals. If they shoot anything you’re gonna see young . Simple! Your neighbors are more important than your farm, food plots, etc.
 
Jesus, a guy can’t even move to Iowa and ask a question. Lol. It’s not like he asked for a specific county and farm with accompanying trail cam pics. He asked about geographic locations. I’ve been in southern Iowa for 18 years. PM me.
 
Just applied for my single doe tag for $423.86. Lol. The does are huuuge in southern Iowa too.
Oops it’s 423.33. Sorry about that.
 
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