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Okoboji/Spencer Area

Notch

Notch

Member
I'm in need of a little assistance from you guys, if you don't mind. My wife and I are looking at possibly relocating to Dickinson county. I don't know a lot about the area, other than the tourist aspect of the lake.

I just thought you guys might have some good info on the area. Access to decent hunting (deer/turkey), public or private, is important to both of us. But, we have a 10-month old, so we are mainly looking for a place to raise a family.

Sorry to clutter up the forum, but I don't really know anyone from this area, and I figured I could get an honest opinion from some of you. Thanks, in advance for any information.
 
Can't beat the fishing & pheasant hunting any where else in IA up there. Had some friends that lived up there w/ small kids and they enjoyed it.
 
I'm a county to the SW of there (Obrien) but spend a fair amount of time up that way fishing.

Housing might be expensive if you want to be in Spirit Lake or the Okoboji area, although I'm sure there are deals out there. We love the area...great people and that real home town feeling.

Outstanding fishing opportunities in the Lakes area. Pheasant hunting has been excellent, but we were rocked by the last couple of nasty winters (prior to this one), so it is down somewhat, but hopefully on the rebound. Lots of public areas in the Lake Park to Spirit Lake area and beyond, although a limited amount of deer timber. For the best deer hunting opportunities you're going to need to knock on some doors. Good luck...let me know if I can help in any way.

NWBuck
 
I lived up there for 2 months for taxidermy school.. The private ground with timber on it looked pretty scarce to me, and what ground there is, I'm sure is probably already hunted. There is a lot of public ground around the lakes, however, I'm not sure if it can be hunted. Like swoutdoornut said, the fishing and pheasant hunting up there is great, but, I think you may have a tough time finding a quality deer/turkey hunting spot that isn't loaded with other hunters without traveling out of the county.. also, the lake homes up there are super expensive.
 
Go south of Spencer along the Little Sioux river valley. Sioux Rapids, Linn Grove, Peterson .... any of those areas have timber and deer/turkeys. Probably need to knock on some doors but you should be able to secure some decent places to hunt.

Fishin' at the Lakes is great. Lived in Estherville for a couple of years and spent many nights in chest waders catching walleyes out on the Footbridge at the north end of Big Spirit. Canals on SW side of West Okoboji (Crescent Beach area) in spring for big gills. Rock piles along west side of West Lake for smallies.
 
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Thanks for the information guys. I did see that housing near the lake is expensive, but once you get away from there, it seems reasonable. We are definitely going to visit the area soon. Sounds like the deer hunting will definately take some leg work, but it seems like hunting a new area always does.
 
My uncle and aunt live in Everly. He was the head of the utilities in Spencer for years. Spencer, used to, put on the best Ducks Unlimited banquet each year. They were notorious for raffling off approx 40 guns a year. I was lucky enough to turn $100 into a semi-auto 12 gauge in 2000.

those counties up there don't have a lot in the way of deer hunting, but they make up for it with the fishing, pheasants and water fowl.
 
I have alot of family in Emmet county. The bird hunting is the best in the state! There are deer and turkeys up there too but not as thick.
 
Grew up in the area and practically lived at spirit lake on the north shore at a friends cabin during the summer. I still go back all the time for hunting and fishing. Deer hunting will take time to find land available. The fishing is great and the little lake called silver lake by the town lake park is a nice little walleye lake. The pheasant hunting has been down over last few years due to numbers but still a lot of fun to go out and beat the bushes. Good luck with the house hunting.
 
I have a cabin at okoboji that i visit during the summer, by far my favorite place on earth, small town feel with big town opportunity it is in my opinion the best place to raise a family i also have alot of family in sheldon and beleive me that whole area has big deer u just haft to find them. Good luck
 
I was born, raised and have always lived in Spirit Lake. Lakes Area home prices are very high and so are the property taxes. Deer hunting sucks in Dickinson County. As a matter of fact you'll have a hard time finding a deer over 3.5 years old. You'll hunt 20 years before you ever kill a 165" deer. There are some good places along the Little Sioux River between Spencer and Cherokee as was mentioned but you'll be hard pressed to get onto any private property without leasing. Almost all of the prime ground has been bought up or leased. Dickinson County has a lot of public but most is in native grasses and any trees on it are cut down because the ground is designated as waterfowl production areas. Private ground in Dickinson County that has good deer habitat is virtially impossible to get onto and the few public areas with deer habitat gets pounded. Fishing is good and schools in Dickinson and Clay county are very good. If your a die hard deer hunter I would look into the Southern or Eastern parts of Iowa. Not sure what you do for work but the Des Moines area or Cedar Rapids would be good areas for jobs but yet close to lots of big deer habitat. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I'll give you honest info.
 
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