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Party hunting regs- clarification

booneriverbucks

booneriverbucks

PMA Member
I’ve been a proponent of party hunting if you haven’t noticed.. not that I like the idea of one guy slaying 2 or 3 small bucks but mainly because banning party hunting is a quasi ban of deer drives in areas where anterless tags are not plentiful.. On paper eliminating party hunting may not be a ban on deer drives but if followed to the letter of the law in practice it is in many areas of the state. With only one tag available to each guy in the group the guys in the group goes away in a hurry. Anterless tags are not available or plentiful in large parts of the state. I’m not one for screwing up the traditions of some just cuz it’s not my preferred way of hunting. At some point we all got to choose what was best for us whether it was trophy quality or whatever. We all made the choice to be happy with hunting with others that might fill our tag or going out on our own and having complete control over our tag.

On the other hand one thing that is not talked about often enough is people party hunting during the shotgun seasons while only buying a countywide anterless tag for those seasons. Like the elimination of non-resident party hunting I do think this is something that could be looked at in the future that would not change the traditions of many and may pay off for many.

I personally do not like when people take advantage of the party hunting laws during the shotgun seasons while only buying an anterless tag to participate in those seasons. I think it’s something that could be looked at. Not saying i’m going to donate to a rep or senator to push that yet but it is something I’m not a huge fan of. I think if you are going to participate in party hunting you should be all in and offer up your anysex tag to take part in that.

I think it’s awesome non residents can no longer party hunt while only having an anterless tag. It would be a win if we applied that to residents too. In general, our complaints about hunting here are small when compared to other states. Hopefully each small victory helps!!
 
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IMO party hunting is suffering because “deer managers” are locking up land; requiring travel to push the next piece. Pushing the block days are done.

I grew up in PA many moons ago. In those days rabbit hunting was as big, or bigger, than deer hunting. A group could walk hundreds of acres crossing property lines with nothing more than a wave from the landowner.

The trophy deer hunting craze ended it. No longer could a group walk. It now requires small walks, getting in the truck and traveling for another short walk. This is what’s happening in Iowa. Never mind the rules and regs, the Iowa video stars have changed it for us.
 
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You bet!! All very true!! I totally think party hunting and deer drives in general will eventually die a natural death. At least with the large groups in some areas now. I think they all got bigger problems that are not easily controlled by legislation. I personally see no reason to add a few more but do think a few things could be cleaned up!
 
I know people don't like party hunting, but I don't see it going away either. I see lot bigger problems in Iowa when it comes to maintaining a quality deer herd,which is not the same and maintaining a trophy buck herd. Yet the party hunting topic seems to divide more hunters versus bringing them together on other issues that need addressed because you don't like the it.
 
The Iowa deer herd was in the best shape when more guys were party hunting and doing deer drives through entire sections of ground.

Just like you guys, I want to kill big mature whitetails, but how about we stop getting in our own way and let people enjoy deer hunting how they like it (within the law). Land in Iowa has become so fragmented that you see less and less of this type of hunting anyway. Which I could go on a HUGE tangent on how many rich folks buy 80s and split them into 40s just to make some extra cash when they already own hundreds/thousands of acres and "preach" deer hunting in Iowa. There was a thread during/right after shotgun season saying how few shots people were hearing and overall lower number of hunters out there.

If I choose to buy a buck tag and party hunt in a group that shares tags, I fully understand that I may not be the one filling my tag. And that is my choice. If there are 4 guys hunting, three with buck tags and one with a doe tag, and the guy with the doe tag shoots 3 bucks and 1 doe, that's the same number of deer killed regardless of who used the tag.

Growing up I mainly sat in a stand during shotgun season and hunted like I was bow hunting them. But my Dad and I did party hunt with a nice sized group one time and it was so much fun. There was a team aspect that was enjoyable and if you're with a good group, you want your "teammates" to do well and be successful. In a time where hunting seems so competitive, I miss that.

Now if Joe and Bob are party hunting and they both purchase either sex tags for their wives/kids and they go out and fill those tags with their wives/kids at home, I have a big issue with that. Which I imagine does happen fairly often but I have no first hand experience of that.
 
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I hear you and would agree in general!! The scenario you laid out is way more legitimate than guys having their wives get tags etc.. I should say that enforcement of current laws would be best but a minor change of current laws would be ok. My main point is there are several things that could be looked at within the general party hunting laws that are better than getting rid of the whole thing all together. Lots of minor things that could be clarified/enforced before we shit in the apple pie or whatever you want to say! Definitely a few worse things than participating in a party hunting while only buying an anterless tag!!

That being said, all of our regulations are nearly impossible to enforce. If people continue to complain I’d much rather have everyone start with an anysex tag than eliminate party hunting altogether
 
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Nrharris said:
Agree 100%. I have no problems with party hunting and drives if they follow the rules. Unfortunately a couple groups by me are habitual violators but they never seem to get caught.
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That’s unfortunate!! Keep crying! Do it to the DNR! If we’d all continue to report clear violations of our current game laws we won’t be ignored!! It’ll take all of us to make real change!
 
iowavf said:
I know people don't like party hunting, but I don't see it going away either. I see lot bigger problems in Iowa when it comes to maintaining a quality deer herd,which is not the same and maintaining a trophy buck herd. Yet the party hunting topic seems to divide more hunters versus bringing them together on other issues that need addressed because you don't like the it.
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The problem and the reason it divides- my opinion- most people only see the 1% of bad apples when it’s gun season because they are condensed to “a weekend”. But I’ve said it on countless posts- I think all “pushing/group” hunting should be banned in all other seasons except the 2 gun seasons. It opens the grey areas in other seasons to party hunting- the local CO checks the late muzzy groups here (at least 4 groups now) and even if 1 person shoots one- they still hunt for “coyotes”. You know how hard that is to control?
I used to party hunt and honestly did love it- but as I grew older it lost a lot of desire for me (personal opinion is all) but I do not fault the guys who do it. It’s always the bad apples you hear of they ruin things- and unfortunately that’s in everything.
 
newfarmer said:
The problem and the reason it divides- my opinion- most people only see the 1% of bad apples when it’s gun season because they are condensed to “a weekend”. But I’ve said it on countless posts- I think all “pushing/group” hunting should be banned in all other seasons except the 2 gun seasons. It opens the grey areas in other seasons to party hunting- the local CO checks the late muzzy groups here (at least 4 groups now) and even if 1 person shoots one- they still hunt for “coyotes”. You know how hard that is to control?
I used to party hunt and honestly did love it- but as I grew older it lost a lot of desire for me (personal opinion is all) but I do not fault the guys who do it. It’s always the bad apples you hear of they ruin things- and unfortunately that’s in everything.
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Yep!! So many regulations that are totally unenforceable!! Might be easier if we all just consider ourselves lucky to be in this state vs worse regulation somewhere else!! We’d all go crazy if we all were stuck on the “what ifs”. That crap never ends!!!
 
I hope we realize all the “grey” areas are mostly on purpose. The DNR and the officers could give a rats ass about who, what , and where just so there’s a valid tag on the deer. The primary goal in gun seasons is dead deer. If the violation isn’t glaring they’re are moving on. With one and sometimes no officer per county these guys make their citations through tips and calls. They don’t have the manpower to be proactive. Shame.
 
I was literally written out a ticket once because I was sitting with a guy during gun season and the black lettering and pockets on my blaze orange vest did not qualify as having on a %100 blaze orange article of clothing in the wardens mind. Ripped it up in front of him and reminded him that he already determined I was not hunting so the blaze orange laws were irrelevant. Stuff like that gets enforced and other stuff doesn’t. It will never end no matter what is passed. It is nearly impossible for them to be right all the time on every little issue. If it’s a clear violation it should be reported and sometimes people will be punished! Gotta report everything that is clearly wrong and let the wardens/laws/judges sort it out. In this case the warden was wrong. Maybe next time he is right. We all have to do our best to follow the regs and report people that aren’t.
 
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Windlooker said:
I hope we realize all the “grey” areas are mostly on purpose. The DNR and the officers could give a rats ass about who, what , and where just so there’s a valid tag on the deer. The primary goal in gun seasons is dead deer. If the violation isn’t glaring they’re are moving on. With one and sometimes no officer per county these guys make their citations through tips and calls. They don’t have the manpower to be proactive. Shame.
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Yep!!!! But it’s so much easier for someone to go complain on the internet/facebook!! If you see a crime report it!!! If the warden thinks its worth his time great! If not move on with your life! The constant complaining has never solved a thing!
 
Spent the first 20 years party hunting in Mn (deer drives).
Would hate to not have those memories.
Up untill bout 20 years ago, we really did not need permission, nobody cared. We'd walk miles n miles of riverbottoms n crp fields.
The " Big Buck" craze changed that. I'm actually sad that tradition has faded.
It bonded people. I was always a good shot so, last few hours of season and we had open tags it was usually, OK Dave, your posting :p , was fun to fill a truck bed full of venison with time ticking down. I think one time I ran out of slugs lol.
 
Bucksnbears said:
Spent the first 20 years party hunting in Mn (deer drives).
Would hate to not have those memories.
Up untill bout 20 years ago, we really did not need permission, nobody cared. We'd walk miles n miles of riverbottoms n crp fields.
The " Big Buck" craze changed that. I'm actually sad that tradition has faded.
It bonded people. I was always a good shot so, last few hours of season and we had open tags it was usually, OK Dave, your posting :p , was fun to fill a truck bed full of venison with time ticking down. I think one time I ran out of slugs lol.
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Awesome!! Thousands and thousands of stories like that here!!!!
 
Party hunting really isn't the reason for less deer in Iowa. EHD and CWD have killed a lot more deer in Iowa than I think has been reported. It's not picky on the age or gender of deer it kills, but you do see a lot of mature bucks reported being found dead. Look around where you hunt and look at the amount of habitat that's no longer there. The ground is being cleared and yes there's plenty to eat for the deer, just not much cover left for them to live there. The deer in those areas moved to where habitat is and a lot of it is private and they hunt it themselves or lease it out. I party hunted for years with the same group and had a ball, but we slowly started losing the property we had permission to hunt. One was leased out, the bigger property was bought and leased out and the other property, the younger family members and friends wanted to be the ones hunting it. I don't blame any of the property owners for their decision, it's their land.
 
iowavf said:
Party hunting really isn't the reason for less deer in Iowa. EHD and CWD have killed a lot more deer in Iowa than I think has been reported. It's not picky on the age or gender of deer it kills, but you do see a lot of mature bucks reported being found dead. Look around where you hunt and look at the amount of habitat that's no longer there. The ground is being cleared and yes there's plenty to eat for the deer, just not much cover left for them to live there. The deer in those areas moved to where habitat is and a lot of it is private and they hunt it themselves or lease it out. I party hunted for years with the same group and had a ball, but we slowly started losing the property we had permission to hunt. One was leased out, the bigger property was bought and leased out and the other property, the younger family members and friends wanted to be the ones hunting it. I don't blame any of the property owners for their decision, it's their land.
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Yep!!! Party hunting was here long before a lot of the stuff we have going on now!!! Be careful who you point that out to tho!! Everybody loves to have a bogeyman!
 
Nrharris said:
Agree 100%. I have no problems with party hunting and drives if they follow the rules. Unfortunately a couple groups by me are habitual violators but they never seem to get caught.
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This is what I hear a lot of from people who own land or just live in the country even. "We never have problems with hunters, besides the two gun seasons" and so those seasons get associated with the bad apples. I have that problem on a handful of parcels I have permission on. I'll mention it to the landowner or show trail cam pics and he kinda just shrugs, chalks it up to shit people and he doesn't want to make a stink, and we move on. I think that negative perception is a big problem.

Then you add that management wise, it's just not necessary at the current herd levels. Especially in western IA. Once upon a time, it was a way for DNR to have a ton of deer killed quickly and efficiently when the state NEEDED to kill 200k++ deer for carrying capacity and social acceptance. Now only 100k deer are killed per year, populations are still struggling to rebound from disease, and people are still saying that they aren't seeing any deer and that party hunters are trespassing to kill indiscriminately... bye bye
 
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