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Unifying Hunters on a wide front to fight the scum bags…..

NextBuk said:
Great points, Skip. I don't have time to comment on all of them... definitely would be open to a podcast discussion... my quick thoughts on how to quickly make a difference:
- I think you make a great point about taking the heat off Iowa. Everyone wants to come to Iowa...why? Because their own state sucks. Man, what I wouldn't give to be able to hunt mature bucks right by my home. That just can't happen (yet) here in Michigan...so what do I do? I leave...I hunt states all around Michigan because they have better policies, which lead to more mature bucks to hunt. If states can change just a few polices, more will be willing to hunt around home. How? Well, I'll sum up Michigan:
-- make it a 1 buck limit
-- enforce trespassing more, and stiffen fines
-- shorten the gun seasons and move them outside the rut... "oh but not enough deer will get shot...wah wah wah!!" BS... envoke earn a buck...not permanently, even 2-5 years will make a major difference

I'll add... Skip, the more someone like you can get specific for each state and explain to hunters HOW to actually MAKE A DIFFERENCE in their own state, the more us hunters will be hopeful that we can make a difference and improve things. Everyone says, "email your senator... call so & so... oh, you'll never change their minds...oh it doesn't matter, government is gonna do what they're gonna do!" ... but I know you are making a difference here in Iowa.... so maybe we need a "Changing Hunting for the Better, For Dummies" book/video/podcast/whatever that can lay out some practical solutions that can actually lead to positive changes?

Wish I could talk hunting all day, but gotta build some more websites... cheers guys
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Jared for Governor of MI! Haha
Hey I’d vote for and support all 3 of those suggestions.
 
I've been on the site for a while and have learned a lot from this site. This site has always been a strong advocate for not just hunting, but the regulations and how to make things better and improve. Skip's thoughts, ideas, and drive are pure gold. We need someone like skip and need to see the ideas and education that he brings make a bigger footprint, in Iowa and everywhere. To many political people stepping in and controlling the regs that dont know what they are doing or the impact it has. It needs to be the DNR and outdoor orginzations like the IBA, pheasnts forever, turkey federation.

I think what really holds things back in different states and Iowa is that the average hunter out there is not educated or deep thinking into the regs and the impact they have or changes that could be made to improve things. The average hunter out there too probably wants more seasons or wishs they could use a rifle during the rut in IA, but they dont think about how that will decimate the age structure in short order. I have friends like this, and they dont listen to me, they just dismiss it and that is frustrating. I try to get them and others to join the IBA, but they dont want to spend a few dollars a year to protect what they love. I also feel like more dont than do know what the IBA even is or what they do. It needs a bigger voice. All these Iowa facebook pages for example get pretty filled with talk and posts etc about bucks, hunting, and even people giving ideas about reg changes, but the IBA page can post something on their page and there is hardly any interaction or following of it, this needs to change, people need to join and protect and learn about what we have.

As much as we sometimes do not like the 'celeb' hunters or some of the youtube hunters, there quite a few that are based in IA, but I never see any of them promoting the IBA and other organizations or trying to promote ideas that could improve the hunting in regards to regs etc. They have a huge following, wish some of them would start to talk about this.

With the big rise I see in youtube and podcasts the discussions about how to make things better/improve etc are starting to take place more often and is being brought up and discussed more than I think ever before. This is a good thing.
 
Sligh1 said:
K…. There’s a LOT happening folks are working on for offense right now.
I am EXTREMELY aware of every “hunter opinion” this way or that. Or “this won’t work. I don’t agree with _____ “. “I just want things to stay the way they are”. “Don’t tell me what to do. Should be allowed to kill em year round on private land”. “Don’t take my rights”. MOST of it is garbage (with all due respect) & the rest is “easily solved” with FACTS!!! Things change for better if we do have a discussion & get to the FACTS!!!!

NO group of hunters or anyone is going to agree with 100% of anything. Period.

I’ll start this with my list off top of my head. Can we get behind this?? Let’s see if my list below, off the cuff, gets most of u to say “ya, I think we can get behind these things”. It’s NOT perfect & no one is gonna agree with em all or not find some holes here. Here’s a START…

1) can we all agree the direction hunting is going for 20-30 years has some huge downsides? (Not all downside but a host of issues). ACCESS TO GOOD QUALITY LAND is #1 issue hunters face. PERIOD. This is also data & feedback from countless other states in Midwest. I can explain why the access is going away & how to fix it. We cannot keep this pace up or new hunters will be done before they start & IMO - we will be more like Europe or Africa in 20-30 more years. DIRECTION NEEDS MAJOR CHANGE OVERALL!

2) the changes have come from special interests, politicians, $, greed & has resulted in sell out regulations that have ruined states. Some long ago- some recently. EXAMPLE: crossbow companies pay for lobbyists & donate while vast majority of hunters oppose & they get their way (MO is case example of this). Iowa is in the crosshairs & res hunters don’t want them in archery! Million examples like this. Created states with 4+ months of season- countless weapons & seasons & liberal bag limits. Hunters have been on defense for 20-30 years and receded ground every time. It’s never been offense (that’s changing).

3) we don’t need any more weapons or seasons in iowa. 4.5 months, 7 seasons, 6+ weapon choices: NO MORE!!!!!! The pockets above I-80 are way too low for deer populations. There’s a few pockets of high #’s & solutions in place for that. Most areas it’s low. Needs relief.

4) I’ll be working for “IOWA” (free of course, my duty to “pay back what I’ve been blessed with & what I want future to be able to enjoy like I did). BUT- working very hard for other states to make 1-2 SIMPLE regulation changes so they can finally have a bit of a balanced age structure & rebound from being a “disaster”. IOWA, KS, OH & few others can’t take on all of the other failed states. These failed states have armies fleeing them. (MI, MN, WI, PA, etc). The pressure to over-run iowa is GROWING. 6 year wait by me. These states - some of them- have to change. Or they will collapse states like iowa & kansas. It’s already “pretty bad”. Example of that is again: iowa residents having no where to go. It’s becoming all locked up. Other states must change!!!! Plans on that in place.

5) media/celeb tags have to go!!!!!! The views on these tags are in the 8 digits…. As in, >10,000,000 views per year “look at this guy hunting 1000 acres of deer Mecca shooting a giant & then bringing attention & discussing how great iowa is!!!” This is still a HUUUUGGGGEEEEE problem. The program has zero merit. It’s gotta go. Way past time. It’s building pressure. Needs eliminated immediately!

6) awareness of solutions for high deer #’s (the loud angry farmers)….. very few know: we have depredation tags available. Second: each dnr officer has a list of hunters wanting to come shoot as many does as possible on that land. Third: farmers can be paid or subsidized to allow walk-in hunting which folks would pummel the deer. We don’t need to rid the rest of the state for a few dozen complainers (farm bureau told me it was single digit complainers they hear from!!!) when solutions are in place.

7) If we lose resident hunters- that’s each states true hunting economy. ANY STATE…. Say I go to KS as a NR…. I bought my bow or gun & all my gear here in iowa. Bought equipment in iowa. I go there for a couple weeks a year but most my dollars stay in iowa. U allow me, as a NR, to over-run kansas - the residents lose, quit & their hunting economics tank. Fact.

8) residents of any state need to be the priority. TO THE POINT: that they have reasonable access to quality land!!!! That’s the threshold!!!! I want this threshold & mindset to really sink in!!! Every state needs to carefully evaluate this!!! When that’s achieved- let additional NR’s in XYZ state. KS, MO, IL & OH are 4 prime examples where they need to fix this badly!!!!!! They are killing their resident hunters. & when residents quit - deer #’s will explode along with so many other problems. States with horrible access for residents like the above 4 need to put a tighter NR quota on guys like me so their residents are prioritized. REMEMBER: it’s a luxury for me to go to KS to shoot a deer. It’s a necessity for the residents. HUUGGGEEE DIFFERENCE!!!!!! Most the states with NR pressure are getting that from people in states with MORE DEER & MORE HABITAT!! A NR who is 40 with a decent job can spend $2500 on a lease & win against the 18 year old new hunter who can’t hardly come up with $500. That’s who is losing every time.

9) a BALANCED AGE STRUCTURE needs to be achieved. Stabilized or enhanced in IA. BUT- this is more meant towards OTHER STATES!!! “Giants everywhere”?!?!? NO!!!!! But- regulations that let a few slip by. Change the regs that gun down every young buck on the landscape. MOST STATES!!!!…. GET GUN SEASON OUT OF RUT!!!! 14 day difference for most states!!! SIMPLE: it’s not balanced at all in most states. Theres a few simple things that need to take place to make it “more balanced”. Biology & science win this debate. The dudes that wanna shoot “whatever” can always do that. The harder we make it for the guys that want to have a balanced age structure: the more land will be locked up…. The wealthy or highly motivated will always find a way to insulate themselves from regulation madness!!

10) bad regs do result in: more guys locking up land to “self regulate”. Leasing, limiting hunters, etc. The more “opportunities” GOVERNMENT & POLITICIANS regulate - the worse the whole landscape will get & the more resident hunters & new hunters will quit. Side note: our lands are packed. Many on here probably want “less hunters” as it’s a $hit show right now. But.. I assure you- we don’t want to reduce it by losing generations of resident hunters. This will collapse the system & that’s the direction we are headed.


Sorry on long ramble. I’ll stop at 10 points. This is loose talk typed up on my phone. Clearly a concise plan is being worked on. We are working on: funding, growing movement, IBA involvement, LOBBYING in a variety of ways. The good guys have to win this. The Scum bag special interests have to lose. & yes, we need to debate in our own hunting community the “status quo”, the “YOU CANT CHANGE ANYTHING”, the “it’s always sucked so it always has to suck!” “Won’t work. Blah blah blah”. Can’t listen to them anymore. If we do- we are driving over a cliff.
We are gonna save it. We are gonna KEEP IOWA GREAT & we are gonna “Make the Midwest Great”. We must fix a broken system. We owe it to the next generations.

Thoughts? What else should we add here ?
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Thank you for standing up for common sense deer management. Due to your involvement at the capital & you being a farmer, u known farm bureau & republican reps openly support these bills that are beneficial to nonresidents. These representatives are also to our benefit, strongly representing the rural community. So the challenge is to communicate that nonresident friendly deer hunt bills do not help farmers or control the deer population.

I believe that is where the strongest push should be made. Nonresident ownership means uncontrollable deer herds & less land for farmers or unaffordable land for beginning farmers.

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unfortunately for most of the population it not about deer management so we need to stress our common interests
 
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fields said:
Thank you for standing up for common sense deer management. Due to your involvement at the capital & you being a farmer, u known farm bureau & republican reps openly support these bills that are beneficial to nonresidents. These representatives are also to our benefit, strongly representing the rural community. So the challenge is to communicate that nonresident friendly deer hunt bills do not help farmers or control the deer population.

I believe that is where the strongest push should be made. Nonresident ownership means uncontrollable deer herds & less land for farmers or unaffordable land for beginning farmers.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
unfortunately for most of the population it not about deer management so we need to stress our common interests
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Thanks!!! Im very much in favor & friends with our NR’s. MOST of them want iowa to stay great - vast majority. Most of them understand WHY they come here!!!!! Because their states have been ruined!!! I used to be that guy too 20-some years ago!!
Residents in all states have largely been secondary for priority in many ways (secondary to: special interests, $, anti Deer or poor thought out regs). Or the regs have been changed to offer them “kill everything with every weapon during all these different seasons”. “Creating opportunities” has ruined these places & destroyed opportunities for many hunters.
I want to see the pressure for drawing a tag decrease: less publicity on iowa & then…. Some other states getting FIXED & managed right with common sense regs (like we have). If some states like: MO, MN, WI, etc can be lifted up- EVERYONE WINS.
 
I’m a nrlo turned RLo. I had a decent job but had to sacrifice a ton to own Iowa land. I lived in my bubble believing most were like me, budgeting to own. Through age, growth, being a part of a business I now realize the money out there. There’s enough people with expendable income that would gobble up southern Iowa for rec and investment should NRLOs be given guaranteed tags. No doubt. I feel like a hypocrite but I’ve seen the light. Keep things as is!! Like skip is doing we need to be offensive. I’m in. Whatever is needed.
 
I love it @Sligh1

I spent close to a decade on the road for work and focused primarily on western hunting until moving back home to MN a few years ago. As I started to look around for places to get involved I've found the hunting advocacy in our state is atrocious. The only org that seems to have any traction is MDHA and I cant help but feel like they fight against hunter's best interests. They seem to be of the mindset that we should make killing deer as easy as possible yet call themselves a conservation org.

We definitely need some lobbying interests that actually represent quality hunting rather than degrading it further.
 
tall@wide said:
What about bow companies that don't have any financial interest in crossbows to help in the fight to keep crossbows out of Iowa? They help lobby and financially, and we show which companies are supporting legislation to keep Iowa great. I think Mathews has Mission, but what about Elite, Bowtech, Hoyt, etc?
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Had a great meeting today!!! This is EXACT topic was brought up. We will be in touch with above. They don’t want what the Ravin scumbags have cooking & in their sites. Ravin will need to be beaten badly this year. On it. I’ll touch base with Boyd & a few other archery shops as well. Be in contact with some archery manufacturers & I think this can get done. Think it will get done.
What’s crazy…. I have annual dollar figures on what it will cost to “KEEP IOWA GREAT!” & fix a list of bad regs, improve access, improve age structure, eliminate media tags, improve revenue, etc etc …. We are talking in the tens of thousands of dollars. To keep a whole state great. & make it better. It’s certainly not nothing but it’s incredibly doable. We’ve got the plan, the figures & structure to execute!!!!!
 
Sligh1 said:
Had a great meeting today!!! This is EXACT topic was brought up. We will be in touch with above. They don’t want what the Ravin scumbags have cooking & in their sites. Ravin will need to be beaten badly this year. On it. I’ll touch base with Boyd & a few other archery shops as well. Be in contact with some archery manufacturers & I think this can get done. Think it will get done.
What’s crazy…. I have annual dollar figures on what it will cost to “KEEP IOWA GREAT!” & fix a list of bad regs, improve access, improve age structure, eliminate media tags, improve revenue, etc etc …. We are talking in the tens of thousands of dollars. To keep a whole state great. & make it better. It’s certainly not nothing but it’s incredibly doable. We’ve got the plan, the figures & structure to execute!!!!!
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Outstanding!
 
SOON…. I will lay the plan & options out here. The costs involved.
I’ll spell out MOST of details on what the special interests are going to be pushing. I don’t know all of them but I know most. Glad to make public what should be made public. For example: I know what Ravin crossbows has planned to exploit our state. They do think we are for sale & the politicians will sell us out. They have a rude awaking coming. Few other things like that. I’ll lay out the bullet pointed list we can accomplish for offense as well. Have broad support from all elected officials I’ve spoken with. Things the vast majority will get behind.
The plan, process, costs to a T, agenda & who we up against- all coming. :)
Some of the costs …. I’m gonna do part of it for free & save some major coin (which again, I will NEVER take a dollar…. I’ll SPEND $ on this - never take a dollar and my time & effort will be free & that will save us $!!!).
Got some other guys involved that are gonna help for free too. & all of us probably will add to the funds so things that do cost things- we chip in. Gonna save a pile of $ on guys who want to defend iowa that will help. Even a few hours a year - those things go a long ways.
The actual $ cost in the end- it’s so doable. Again, it’s not nothing but it’s very doable. It’s honestly so “minor” in big picture- we can’t not do it!!!
 
Sligh1 said:
SOON…. I will lay the plan & options out here. The costs involved.
I’ll spell out MOST of details on what the special interests are going to be pushing. I don’t know all of them but I know most. Glad to make public what should be made public. For example: I know what Ravin crossbows has planned to exploit our state. They do think we are for sale & the politicians will sell us out. They have a rude awaking coming. Few other things like that. I’ll lay out the bullet pointed list we can accomplish for offense as well. Have broad support from all elected officials I’ve spoken with. Things the vast majority will get behind.
The plan, process, costs to a T, agenda & who we up against- all coming. :)
Some of the costs …. I’m gonna do part of it for free & save some major coin (which again, I will NEVER take a dollar…. I’ll SPEND $ on this - never take a dollar and my time & effort will be free & that will save us $!!!).
Got some other guys involved that are gonna help for free too. & all of us probably will add to the funds so things that do cost things- we chip in. Gonna save a pile of $ on guys who want to defend iowa that will help. Even a few hours a year - those things go a long ways.
The actual $ cost in the end- it’s so doable. Again, it’s not nothing but it’s very doable. It’s honestly so “minor” in big picture- we can’t not do it!!!
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I think you would qualify for the second debate. Just saying…


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I'm posting THE ACTION PLAN OF WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR & the PLAN IN PLACE... PMA Section. So we can review & discuss.... Refine it and Post it all in new thread on main forum soon. Look at PMA area, fire me any questions as well if any issue accessing it. Be done in about 15-30 mins
 
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