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

NR party hunting to be eliminated

1983. Absolutely. You kidding me. My neighbors son in law hunts every year with his father in law. What’s gonna keep him from buying a doe tag , sitting with dad in law, and shooting a buck?? Really. Dad’s gonna say he shot it. Be real. What needs controlled is all party hunting , not just NRs. Keep in I mind I live in Iowa now. It’s toothless.

Hardwood is right , the rules are the rules. What do you say to Iowans that moved away and come back to hunt with family?? Hunting is supposed to be about friends and family right. Or, is this only about trophy hunting?
Sure that's gonna happen. But like I said I don't seeing that being anywhere close to "what most will do". I have more faith that the majority of our fellow hunters are NOT poachers.

I agree, eliminate party hunting completely. Or at a minimum make it does only.
 
When you were a NR from Michigan did you take advantage of the party hunting regs?? Of course you did. Why should it be different now? This one has a mine mine mine mentality that doesn’t feel right.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OMB
Thought about this for a bit. On this post I’m gonna play the “neutral, no position guy. Someone who is trying to understand how/why happened”… NEUTRAL view where “this is why it happened” without any evidence. I’ll preface it with 2 other examples in government that have happened/happening in history in slightly different proportion & completely unrelated!! ;) ….
1) the Government killed Kennedy. The military industrial complex hated him & he pushed back against the wars & establishment- so they took care of him.
2) same things that killed Kennedy are trying to do the same to Trump.

What likely happened here with Government & this bill (again- I have no clue about this & heard about it yesterday like anyone)….
I believe they looked at: the large migration data of people moving to iowa. It’s staggeringly high. There’s huge pressure for more recreation, access & public land. It’s discussed often. The residents (general public) are blowing up their legilsators & DNR on losing access & no where to hunt. My guess is- many feel like the party hunting tag was a loop hole that created problems. (And with that said- my close friends have party hunted and I’ve transferred tags - again, I’m not voicing opinion for MYSELF)….. I think they weighed out the problem of resident/voter access against pissing off NR’s. I’d suspect they felt things have been going in “wrong direction” on too many issues so found a way to get this changed.
One thing I heard this am …. Not saying correct or not…. The deep dive into the law, apparently there’s some fine print that is was supposed to be for R only. For whatever reason- the regs never spelled that out. According to this source - they cleaned up the language which was actually always on the books. Who knows if thats true or not but possible.

OUTCOME:
Dudes are gonna be pissed. I get it. I really do. I empathize with resident sentiment as well.
The LO laws for land will not get changed because of growing pressure. Won’t happen….
Which leads me to next: ….. some land is gonna get sold. Pressure to buy in KS & few other states is gonna grow big time. Already is for KS. Will get more guys buying there & maybe some in MO, IL, etc. Guys will say “screw it, I’ll go buy in XYZ state”.
Again- just trying to read between the lines & try to understand this. I don’t know if this is actually true or a done deal but if it is…. Above is my best explanation I can think of as of yet.
 
When you were a NR from Michigan did you take advantage of the party hunting regs?? Of course you did. Why should it be different now? This one has a mine mine mine mentality that doesn’t feel right.
First hunted Iowa in 2008. Back then bow tags were about every other year. That's what I did. At at outfitter. As that became longer wait I moved.

I have nothing against NR. I don't like the party hunting rule whether you are a resident or a NR. My dislike for the rule doesn't discriminate.
 
5 years? How's that? Can still doe hunt. Can gun hunt for a buck about every other year. Bow hunting for buck... ya 5 years.
If they want to bow hunt … sit on points and party hunt until you draw. This changes that . It can be a huge deal as a NR.

Like I said before “the you knew the rules before you bought” goes out the window now.

It’s eliminating tag options . Plain and simple. Nonresidents will have to decide if it’s worth the hassle, I think some will just pass.

I understand some residents probably won’t care, depends on if they have kids or good friends that are NR?

If you can’t hunt with your family because someone is from another state, that’s going too far. I’m all for trophy management, but I want people to enjoy hunting too, and I see the deer harvest side of things as well.
 
Why was the “small print” ignored all these years? Why and who decided to dig into it now? More people moving to Iowa isn’t the reason. Regardless of how many people are in the state the dnr controls doe tag allocation.
 
Why was the “small print” ignored all these years? Why and who decided to dig into it now? More people moving to Iowa isn’t the reason. Regardless of how many people are in the state the dnr controls doe tag allocation.
Whats your theory on the motivation? I know as much as anyone & my IQ is less than a squirrel so my thinking is very limited. ;).
“In general” I have heard a lot of folks who hated the party hunting rules. For R & NR both. I have utilized it so I’m really not laying out my own opinion …. I do know a lot of public doesn’t like it. They for sure are very loud about access & the decline in deer hunting. The other thought…. There’s some non-hunting lobbying groups that detest NR’s…. Buying up all the land, driving up prices, not shooting enough does. I’d suspect those groups would side with this change - that’s pure speculation though.
There’s always a reason for changes though - one needs to think & dig deep for the reasons in many cases. I do think there will be some statements from Gov on this if it is going to change. Why they did it, how & details around it. You guys know as much as I do.
 
I don’t know the motivation. I’m clueless. My IQ is worse. My only thought is get rid of party hunting, period. Why single out a group and a tiny group compared to residents. I can tell you the resident groups in my neighborhood wreak havoc. Whack party hunting completely.
 
Last edited:
I don’t know the motivation. I’m clueless. My IQ is worse. My only thought is get rid of party hunting, period. Why single out a group and a tiny group compared to residents. I can tell you the resident groups in my neighborhood wreak havoc. Whack party hunting completely.o
100% agree with you on this.
 
100% agree with you on this.
I know zero about this whole topic until I read this thread. I do know however, a few years ago (and many years prior) my area had a group who put ads in paper looking for non residents with doe tags, basically spelling all the bad on your mind. Then they would drop them off and tell them to walk to the other side of the section and only shoot big bucks in this stretch as it’s “strictly managed”- aka trespassing and didn’t want to mess with little bucks where they shouldnt be (my theory). They pushed a very posted non hunting county park that they had “won” the lottery to hunt it that year. Finally they had gotten brave enough they attempted to push the Conservation Officers ground (he’s a district manager? Something like that), and he was there. Needless to say- the non residents had no idea what was happening. For a few years in a row, you’d find guys just randomly walking down roads because they had no idea where they were, where they got dropped off, etc. it’s amazing how much bad really did happen. Then my area cut doe tags to basically non existent and took care of it.
 
Last edited:
I know zero about this whole topic until I read this thread. I do know however, a few years ago (and many years prior) my area had a group who put ads in paper looking for non residents with doe tags, basically spelling all the bad on your mind. Then they would drop them off and tell them to walk to the other side of the section and only shoot big bucks in this stretch as it’s “strictly managed”- aka trespassing and didn’t want to mess with little bucks where they should be (my theory). They pushed a very posted non hunting county park that they had “won” the lottery to hunt it that year. Finally they had gotten brave enough they attempted to push the Conservation Officers ground (he’s a district manager? Something like that), and he was there. Needless to say- the non residents had no idea what was happening. For a few years in a row, you’d find guys just randomly walking down roads because they had no idea where they were, where they got dropped off, etc. it’s amazing how much bad really did happen. Then my area cut doe tags to basically non existent and took care of it.
People selling their tags to NR is way more common than some might think. I am not speculating about this.
 
Since the 2024 Regs are out for NR Deer applications…

In the NR FAQ, Under IS PARTY HUNTING ALLOWED?…it states that party hunting is NOTallowed

Also in the NR FAQ, under the I WASN’T SUCCESSFUL, WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS NOW?…it states the NR can purchase an anterless tag

And the July 27, 2024, excess doe tag sales date is on/in the regs…

What does not allowing NR Party Hunting prevent exactly?

The NR Doe license holder just can’t shoot a buck while hunting with other NR or Resident hunters that are in possession of a buck tag?

So the NR hunter can purchase the doe tag, but just not shoot a buck with others In the hunting party?

Or does it mean they can’t hunt deer in ANY manner, with an individual who holds a buck tag (NR or Resident)?
 
Since the 2024 Regs are out for NR Deer applications…

In the NR FAQ, Under IS PARTY HUNTING ALLOWED?…it states that party hunting is NOTallowed

Also in the NR FAQ, under the I WASN’T SUCCESSFUL, WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS NOW?…it states the NR can purchase an anterless tag

And the July 27, 2024, excess doe tag sales date is on/in the regs…

What does not allowing NR Party Hunting prevent exactly?

The NR Doe license holder just can’t shoot a buck while hunting with other NR or Resident hunters that are in possession of a buck tag?

So the NR hunter can purchase the doe tag, but just not shoot a buck with others In the hunting party?

Or does it mean they can’t hunt deer in ANY manner, with an individual who holds a buck tag (NR or Resident)?
Well remember, party hunting is only the allowance of others to tag deer for someone. You can group hunt- but if you only have a doe tag, you are only shooting a doe. There are groups here late muzzy that group hunt, perfectly legal. Once they shoot a deer, they are done carrying a gun
 
Not gonna support this one. It’s a tradition every year to bring down a few buddies from Wisconsin to help me thin some does out. We we could care less about the buck tag. I hope there’s more to this than what I’m hearing. Makes absolutely no sense sounds like it’s all about someone not wanting “their” big Buck shot! SMH
 
Not gonna support this one. It’s a tradition every year to bring down a few buddies from Wisconsin to help me thin some does out. We we could care less about the buck tag. I hope there’s more to this than what I’m hearing. Makes absolutely no sense sounds like it’s all about someone not wanting “their” big Buck shot! SMH
You still can from the wording I think? But non residents are limited to just what their tag is. They won’t be able to shoot 10 does in your name- I think is how I read it
 
I texted my CO for confirmation. I’ll fill you in when he responds. He did say he has a meeting this morning and will get info

I think tallwide said this already. A concern is lost harvest and how to make that up. NRs will not buy a doe tag at $300 plus to shoot a doe only. So, Farm Bureau, DNR etc are gonna suggest what…..crossbows, all rifles, more NR tags in draw etc ?? It’s coming. The next legislative season will be a shit show.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom