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NR Tag Soup??

J

Jdubs

Well-Known Member
I thought I would follow up the $500+ NR tag thread with this one. Again, to all you NR's out there, who do buy the most expensive whitetail tag in the country, how many of you will consider shooting a lesser buck to avoid tag soup?

I think many of the 6,000 NR's who draw will shoot a smaller deer to avoid leaving Iowa with no venison. There are thresholds and I think the DNR crossed it with this increase. A more affordable tag would cause hunters not to feel as raped and willing to go home deerless.

What say you?
 
I skipped the IA tag this year(price shock) and now have 4 points, but I think what you will see is the exact opposite IMO. Who in their right mind would spend 700$ to shoot a dink? If your hunting whitetails at 700$ a crack your not going there for the meat.
 
I just bought my second preference point.

I think most people are like me. They come for the mature bucks and will take a good buck or nothing. Very few people will go through the trouble to get and Iowa tag and then shoot a small buck.
 
The last night...$700+ Im going home with something. My Im not shooting a dink until Im to the end.
 
I guess to each his own. All I can say is if I set the bar at mature and the chance doesn't arrive I'm going home empty handed. I did so on a Canadian hunt to the tune of $5000 plus dollars and never regreted it!

Chris
 
I don't think it will have much affect at all. Not many guys are going to shoot a 4pt or 6pt just to say hey, look at my Iowa buck. Your more liable to catch more grief from your buddies back home because you just paid $700 to shoot a buck you could of shot in your own state. I know if I go out of state I am not going to fill my tag on a dink just to fill it on purpose. Either way, it is the same amount of tags.
 
I skipped the tag this year also, but went ahead and bought my third PP so I can be ready to go when I can. I could not justify spending that much when I could put that back into my MO farm and get a great return in the long run. I could put in 30 apple trees for that price....and ended up putting in 20. :)
 
I will never travel somewhere to hunt whitetails when the cost of the tag is over $500. That does not mean I would not if I could. If I were in the position to be travelling out of province to hunt whitetails I would absolutely bedoing it for the chance of shooting a great buck from a different part of the world. I think alot of people who drop down that kind of cash on a tag alone, plus all expenses, are not doing it for the chance to ensure a bit more venison in the freezer. If someone feels the need to fill a tag that is without a doubt, bought with the intent of harvesting a trophy, on a buck less than they had hoped for then they are very likely not in the right mindset to be embarking on such an adventure. If you're a non resident hunitng Iowa, or Illinois, or Alberta, or anywhere known for monster whiteys, you're quite likely not doing it for the venison.

I've kind of rambled a bit I guess, but if you're in the gotta kill mindset away from home, maybe that mindset is one of the leading reasons why home is a destination you want to leave during whitetail season.
 
I am not hunting out of state to get venison or save money. I can get plenty of that in my home state (we get 5 tags right now).

I do however hunt out of state for a quality hunting experience. This experience includes low hunting pressure, moderate deer density, non-leased hunting areas and the potential for a nice deer in that order.

In my opinion, several states provide a better quality whitetail hunt than my home state and Iowa happens to be one of those. I usually shoot a nice deer in Iowa but their have been times I have not filled my tag by choice and/or shooting error.

At this time I can afford the tag. So I pay for it.

If it gets to the point I can not afford it or the quality of the hunt goes away, I will go somewhere else.
 
To the contrary.
Most NR's coming to Iowa will consider themselves trophy hunters. They show up with high hopes and great asperations. When no trophy presents itself within a day or two, thier definition of a trophy will go down, it will go down more for each day they hunt without seeing what they really want. And if they can cross-tag or party hunt then you better believe they'll be looking at every 120 class buck that comes by. I've watched the same thing happen every year in Ontario. Yea, the permit is cheaper, but to travel from Michigan, Vermont, Maine, Deleware, add in a motel and meals, you have a guy who will shoot something to justify being there and the $2000.00 expense associated. In five short years I've watched the quality of bucks go down, fewer bucks reaching maturity. I've seen meat-poles filled with toy bucks shot by non-residents because the guys had to shoot a deer. Yea, there are those that will show up and follow through with the trophy or nothing mentality. But they became fewer and farther apart when Iowa raised its price to hunt.
 
Depends what you mean by smaller deer. If it's gets down to the last few days, sure I'll settle for a 150 incher.

Tim
 
If it comes down to it I would shoot 2 doe ! Guess I don't understand why anyone would shoot a dink just because the tag cost you $ 500 ?
 
If the NR is happy with the deer they take home, I don't feel it is any of my business what they (legally) wrap their tag around. There are many ways to have a successful hunt, all of them are in the eye of the beholder.
 
If your happy with coming to one of the best whitetail states in the nation and shooting a buck the size of one you can kill anywhere in the nation, have at it. Or if you don't want to go home empty handed, shoot 2 doe's.

Bet it would be fun showin your buddies that you paid all that money and went to one of the best states to shoot an 85 inch 6 point.
 
Using the word "venison" was my bad. I simply meant will guys lower their standards as the week goes on? I believe they will. Most NR's expect to see a 160" everyday, that's simply not the case. I don't think most NR's will shoot a 115" deer, but they will shoot a 2 1/2 year old 130" buck the last couple of days instead of letting the deer walk.
 
A 2.5 year old 130" buck?

How common is that? Dang I have hunted all over Iowa and several other states and I bet I haven't seen too many of them!

Seriously, I would definiely not shoot an immature buck just to say I got my buck in Iowa. If you have friends that are going to razz you that badly for not getting a buck, they are going to give it to you alot worse if you come home with a 1.5 year old. Either that or you need new friends.

The last day I definitely lower my standards. In fact I shot a 130 in Kansas a couple years ago, a buck that I had passed up earlier. That buck was not a 2.5 by the way. But in Iowa, I would be more likely to shoot the second doe on the last day. This old saying that you shouldn't pass up on the first day what you would shoot on the last day doesn't hold true with me. It may take a coupe days to really get a feel fo what the potential might actually be for that area. There are a lot of variables that go into a decision at any one moment so I would not be inclined to say I would "never" do or not do something. But generally I wouldn't shoot a young buck at the end of the hunt just to be able to have something in the back of the truck on the way home.
 
Hunted Iowa many times over the years, most of the time going home with cold tag soup! A few times with a real stud in back. But, this year I did not apply for a tag on principle (price increase). Not that I can't afford it, just the whole situtation crossed my own line and no one else. Going to a nearby state with very simular trophy potential. As far as shooting does to take home, no thanks! Plenty in my backyard and lots of tags. NRs are not going to control your doe problem, tha's something your DNR and the residents will have to do. If I come back to Iowa again it will be the same as before, to shoot a trophy, only. Your price increase will force many NRs to hold off shooting a doe until Mr. Big comes along, even if it's the last minute of the last day. Not Pi--ed, just a personal choice. Good luck to those who applied.
 
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I don't think the price affects what I have always done and will continue to do. I'm usually up there 2 1/2 -3 weeks. If I don't have something by the last day I shoot the first deer (without spots) that walks by.
 
Iowa1 said:
A 2.5 year old 130" buck?

How common is that? Dang I have hunted all over Iowa and several other states and I bet I haven't seen too many of them!
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They are not very common and exactly why a buck like that should not be shot if you are wanting a giant. Give a buck like that 3 more years and he will probably scare ya. I like to leave the top end 3.5 year olds on my place, but dont' care if a 120 3.5 is taken for example. The people that hunt on me are happy with those bucks and the better bucks get left to mature.
 
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