South Central Iowa - Garden Grove

[Steel City Kid]

Hey Guys,

Great site you have here. I have a few questions about hunting Iowa in general.

I will be hunting at Steel Creek Outfitters from Oct.22 until the end of October. Some say this may actually be better than November. I strongly have my reservations about that. In this pre-rut time frame, are deer coming to the horns hard and heavy in your area?

Is anyone familiar with the Garden Grove area, land characteristics, deer per sq. mile, etc?

I can't wait. This will be the first time I am able to hunt your state. Next Friday can't come soon enough!

Any info would be great. Thanks!

Steel City Kid

 

[Shredder]

Well....that is where the Kisky's are or used to be located...they have killed some tremendous bucks. Pre rut will be kicking in and if the weather is nice and cool, you should see some deer. Statistics???? your outfitter has a better idea about that and if he does not practice strong QDM...you may have more does than you know what to do with

 

[bjkpharmd]

Did Ernie at Steel Creek ever get the charges settled in the poaching case? DNR website states that the hunters were charged and fined and later the outfitter had similar charges filed.

 

[ironwood]

They'll come to the horns. I just listed a house not 7 miles from there. Pretty country but I don't know about your outfitters property. I expect you'll be happy with the hunting.

 

[Steel City Kid]

I know my outfitter has all the info I need. I guess I just wanted to talk to a few locals to get a "feel" for what to expect. I was hoping for a severe cold snap next week, but that doesn't look like it will happen.

As far as Ernie and his past, the guy did make a mistake. He admitted it, paid his dues, and now I beieve it's time to move on. He really seems like a classy guy and there have been several hunters thrilled with their experiences with him.

I'll be on stand all day, every day. Some people I talked with think it may be a bit early to sit all day and feel I may be wasting my time doing so. I want to spend as much time in the woods as possible. Even if it is warm and the deer aren't moving well, you never know when the buck of a lifetime will come by. I surely won't shoot one back at camp, right? Thanks for the responses so far!

 

[Coach]

My mother lives close to their and I've done a lot of hunting in that area. It's about as good as it can get as far as ground and terrain. There are a lot of great bucks in that area. If I were you about the time Oct 24th hits, I would get a decoy out in front of me WIth the rack on. Set that decoy about 20 yards upwind of you with the head facing you. Spray a little dominate buck urine on the ground beneath it, and hit the horns. I've rattled in some giants in that neck of the woods and that's the perfect week to do it with a decoy. Let me know how you do.

 

[Iowa1]

I believe Kisky's land is mostly west of Van Wert. I have hunted this area a lot but not for about five years. This is terrific area, and if the outfitter knows what he is doing you should see some bucks. I would prefer the first weeek in November myself. Please let us know how you do.

 

[Steel City Kid]

If we could have got November booked we would have surely gone for it, but the last week of Oct. just worked out better for all of us.

I have a local scent company 15 minutes from me. They have a 160 class buck that they are collecting urine from tomorrow. Can't get any more fresh than that.

I'm really not a big scrape hunter, but I figure that week I may need to be paying attention a little more than usual to scraping activity since they should be working them still at that time. It's nice to hear some of your input since you guys are familiar with the area.