Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

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

Falldreams

Falldreams

Well-Known Member
I'm curious to hear peoples thoughts, ideas or even experiences on these two prominent deer hunting areas of the state. Unless your a deer hunter who never turns on a tv or a computer or has not opened a deer hunting magazine in the past 10 years or so, then it's common knowledge the kind of quality deer hunting Iowa has had in the past and still offers compared to other areas of our country. My curiosity though is not Iowa compared to the country, but NE Iowa vs. southern IA. Both have a long history of producing lots of deer and lots of quality deer.
 
  • Deleted by Kaleb
Show…
I do know NE Iowa capes are way better than SE capes. Stupid ticks.. and most of the mega giants I’ve mounted have come from S Iowa for sure.
 
Breiner11 where are you located at? Just curious because that could be a skewed way of looking at it if your say in Chariton, the heart of the south vs say being in Waukon whom presumably sees giants from NE IA prominently. I would guess if you went to Big River, Safariland, Muchow they see more deer locally that could make the same claim.

With that being said I do believe personally that southern Iowa tends to have more “super giants”. I also believe the deer are more visible down south vs up in NE because of topography which makes access, huntability, winds, thermals etc a more manageable hunt. Short opinion I think in the NE a deer can conceal themselves from peering eyes better and just from a landowner wanting them to add age. The biggest battle to killing top end deer is locating them and I believe that’s harder to do in the NE but they’re there.

I could be way off here but, that’s my thoughts and experience. Others thought? Am I off my rocker?
 
Sure wish other states with marginal deer hunting had such an awesome website where non residents could create an account and get tons and tons of free information about where they should try to buy ground or which zone to draw for.........


It’s iowa fella. There’s big deer in every county. Come here during your free time and do some leg work. You’ll figure it out
 
Falldreams, did your plan to move to SE Iowa and the NE Iowa both fall through or are you still tryinng to decide which area?
 
Booner said:
Sure wish other states with marginal deer hunting had such an awesome website where non residents could create an account and get tons and tons of free information about where they should try to buy ground or which zone to draw for.........


It’s iowa fella. There’s big deer in every county. Come here during your free time and do some leg work. You’ll figure it out
Click to expand...

I apologize I see why you would be abit upset. I didn’t mention that I live in Iowa. My fiancé and I moved to Iowa this summer. We are in the NE part in Allamakee county. My thread topic was in no way meant to gather free information. It was however meant to be an open debate on the subject out of curiosity of what people feel like and why. The state is so diverse in its surroundings and topography and I find that along with deer herds and hunting them to be very intriguing and I enjoy hearing other fellow hunters thoughts.
 
Rjack said:
Falldreams, did your plan to move to SE Iowa and the NE Iowa both fall through or are you still tryinng to decide which area?
Click to expand...

Nope we got the move accomplished just awhile back and we now live up in Allamakee county. Both work and the beauty of the area along with all the outdoor hunting and fishing opportunities is why we ended up where we did in NE Iowa.
 
I have not done much deer hunting in NE Iowa, although I used to chase turkeys up there back in the day. I did deer hunt around Waukon a few times years ago. I think there are some super areas up there and definitely some big bucks, but I would say that "good stuff" is more widespread in southern Iowa. In NE Iowa you probably have 4 or 5 top end counties...southern Iowa...more like 10-14. That is my final answer. :)
 
Falldreams said:
I apologize I see why you would be abit upset. I didn’t mention that I live in Iowa. My fiancé and I moved to Iowa this summer. We are in the NE part in Allamakee county. My thread topic was in no way meant to gather free information. It was however meant to be an open debate on the subject out of curiosity of what people feel like and why. The state is so diverse in its surroundings and topography and I find that along with deer herds and hunting them to be very intriguing and I enjoy hearing other fellow hunters thoughts.
Click to expand...

I’m not upset at all. Just simply pointing out the facts. It’s crazy, with how competitive this sport has gotten; that people would be so willing to give out information regarding specific locations in the state. There’s people on this site, who have looked at this thread, who have been burnt by the wrong person finding out the wrong information.

Iowa is iowa. There’s no place like it. Every single county has great potential if the deer’s given the chance to reach maturity. I’m not sure why one can’t leave it at that over the public page.......just my opinion I guess.
 
I have to agree with you on the simple fact of how insanely competitive the “sport” of deer hunting has become and likely will continue to become even more so.
This thread on this site is definitely a big reminder of that fact. I was looking at it from the perspective of the curiosity and enjoyment of what other whitetail addicts felt like and opinions. Purely just of fellow hunter comradery huntin chit chat. However at the very same time there’s no doubt that many things are better just left alone. Especially in today’s technology world on the information super highway
 
Falldreams said:
Nope we got the move accomplished just awhile back and we now live up in Allamakee county. Both work and the beauty of the area along with all the outdoor hunting and fishing opportunities is why we ended up where we did in NE Iowa.
Click to expand...

Welcome to Iowa. I've never deer hunted in the NE, so can't contribute to you original question. Good luck with your work and outdoor activities.
 
Rjack said:
Welcome to Iowa. I've never deer hunted in the NE, so can't contribute to you original question. Good luck with your work and outdoor activities.
Click to expand...

Thank you Rjack. We are extremely happy to be here for many many reasons and excited for the changes!
 
Most Whitail hunt sites should have the title Bone Collector. Because that’s what deer hunting has become. Any area where young bucks are left alone will eventually produce big bone. Someone told me. A bone collector. Said they’d rather have a poor piece of land in a good neighborhood, than an excellent piece of ground in a poor neighborhood. I have also been told. For mature animals. I chose one of the poorest neighborhoods in Southern Iowa. Be that as it may. I see way more deer than where I came from. Main reason. Hunting pressure. Hunter numbers and the fact that firearms are kept out of the rut.
 
Booner said:
Sure wish other states with marginal deer hunting had such an awesome website where non residents could create an account and get tons and tons of free information about where they should try to buy ground or which zone to draw for.........


It’s iowa fella. There’s big deer in every county. Come here during your free time and do some leg work. You’ll figure it out
Click to expand...
Do a google search, there is pretty much a website dedicated to hunting in every state, some of them have 2 or 3. Not much of a secret where the hotspots in Iowa are, just think the op was looking for other people’s opinions.
 
I personally think the quality of deer & genetics are similar. Imo- if u can find large landowners who manage right in either of the 2 - that’s more the key. So- if someone said “there’s more large landowners who properly manage in S iowa” - that would be the main reason it would be perceived or actually better. But- u get outside those areas into a block that’s highly pressured & lots of younger bucks get shot- whole different story. I’ve personally seen countless times where hunting is always “very good” at xyz farm & “3 miles away” it’s 180 degrees different & “kinda sucks”.

Imo- the “I need to be in xyz county” is way way over blown. Again, it’s so neighbor dependent.
NE iowa will have bluffs & some very rich farm land. S iowa will have less fertile farmland & lots more brush & cover diversity.
Both have some fantastic potential and genetics. Imo- id take 100 acres in NE in extremely good area over 300 acres in southern iowa that’s in a poorly managed area.
& I can’t stress enough- guys who think “I must be in XYZ county because that’s where biggest bucks are”. Often times writing off certain counties & some others bordering them. The flaws in that thinking are staggering. Get a killer farm in a 15 county radius in S iowa- county will be irrelevant. Same with NE iowa with a 4-5 county area. Heck- I am also thinking of about 15-20 other counties in other areas that have some guys that have great managed stuff that produce amazing deer.
Good & interesting question though. I’d be fine with any and would come down to the exact block I landed in. U would have awesome hunting any part of state if guys do the work to keep the quality up.

*still say the parts of Iowa with most “potential” would be highest quality farm land counties. Such little timber the deer rarely get old but if they magically could get to maturity - highest fertility counties would produce biggest deer.
 
I've hunted both and southern Iowa outweighs ne iowa.
I'm closer to ne Iowa so hunt there most, but southern Iowa has bigger racks.
Lucky enough to have taken 1 over 200" and that was over 15 years ago.
 
Sligh1 said:
I personally think the quality of deer & genetics are similar. Imo- if u can find large landowners who manage right in either of the 2 - that’s more the key. So- if someone said “there’s more large landowners who properly manage in S iowa” - that would be the main reason it would be perceived or actually better. But- u get outside those areas into a block that’s highly pressured & lots of younger bucks get shot- whole different story. I’ve personally seen countless times where hunting is always “very good” at xyz farm & “3 miles away” it’s 180 degrees different & “kinda sucks”.

Imo- the “I need to be in xyz county” is way way over blown. Again, it’s so neighbor dependent.
NE iowa will have bluffs & some very rich farm land. S iowa will have less fertile farmland & lots more brush & cover diversity.
Both have some fantastic potential and genetics. Imo- id take 100 acres in NE in extremely good area over 300 acres in southern iowa that’s in a poorly managed area.
& I can’t stress enough- guys who think “I must be in XYZ county because that’s where biggest bucks are”. Often times writing off certain counties & some others bordering them. The flaws in that thinking are staggering. Get a killer farm in a 15 county radius in S iowa- county will be irrelevant. Same with NE iowa with a 4-5 county area. Heck- I am also thinking of about 15-20 other counties in other areas that have some guys that have great managed stuff that produce amazing deer.
Good & interesting question though. I’d be fine with any and would come down to the exact block I landed in. U would have awesome hunting any part of state if guys do the work to keep the quality up.

*still say the parts of Iowa with most “potential” would be highest quality farm land counties. Such little timber the deer rarely get old but if they magically could get to maturity - highest fertility counties would produce biggest deer.
Click to expand...
Have to agree. It’s crazy how much areas can vary in deer abundance and quality that are just a few miles away. We have a guy that lives 2 miles from our farm that stopped hunting cause he doesn’t think deer numbers are high enough, yet we have lots of deer and usually try to harvest 20 or so does every year. I also lived in one of the easiest to draw worst deer hunting areas in iowa for a few years. Can’t tell you how many 150+ bucks i saw harvested in that time. I was really surprised.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom