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What's IA hunters feelings?

Hello Bux,
You are right.
I cant believe that a resident has a hard time finding good land to hunt because of the
nonresident hunters.Try finding a good area with 330,000 bow hunters and 750,000 gun hunters as michigan has.
I been doing some after season scouting in a swamp with hip boots and a boat and every place I go I find tree stands.
 
Hey wanab.c.

I really feel for you there in MI. That is the way it has become where I used to hunt in Minnesota. Haven't even hunted my home state in the past three years because of it! I don't blame the Iowa residents for feeling the way they do. Afterall, they have a good thing and just want to keep it that way. If the law ever changes and I get to hunt my own property every year, great. If not I will just continue to hunt my Kansas farm and Iowa every other year or so.
 
Bux,
I been hunting kansas the last 4 years and really like it and theirs a couple guys that stay next to us every year from minnesota that are great guys.Matt &Rusty Schroeder.
I dont blame iowa hunters for being concern about non resident, I would be too.
I hunted iowa this last season and went with a guide because I didnt have time to scout with hunting kansas and nebraska and I ended up wasting 2000.00 .
 
Hey wanab.c.,

I know the Schroeders, my fiance' shot a 3-D tournament with them this past summer. They are great guys! How did you do in Kansas this year? That's a bumber that you spent that much money for nothing. I have a lot of time to scout so fortunately, I have never had to go through an outfitter. I like doing the scouting myself, more rewarding that way!
 
Bux, I empathize...
I have never hunted MN, and have lived here 5 years.
Don't change the IA gig.
I'll take an expensive, every-other year crack at a big one over the alternative every time...even if I own the land.
I admit I would prefer to get a tag every year, but if there is a chance that a change would reduce the quality of the herd...Don't make that change.
As a related aside, I saw a banner on CNN/Headline News last week:
IOWA - Price of timbered land soars as hunters seek prime deer hunting acreage.
Yikes.
 
Committed, you did not entirely answer my question. What I asked is If you can only shoot 1 deer off of your 240 acres every other year, does that mean no-one is going to hunt it the rest of the time???? If that isn't the case who is going to be hunting on it people leasing it or are you going to give a couple locals permission? And...if your only going to shoot 1 buck every 2 years off of it how is that good deer herd management?

I liked your comment, I bought it for me! It sounds like your mad because you are not able to buy everything you want. Oh well, in the end you'll probably win. Like most deer hunting laws, they will open up even more in the future and you'll be able to hunt it as much as you want. Personally I do not think your wish is unreasonable, however you knew the laws ahead of time so I have no pity on your situation.

I will admit that I am a little bitter about things causing hunting land prices to double recently. I almost bought some land 7 years ago but the public hunting ground was not being utilized so I decided to hunt it instead. Now the public ground is getting busy, and the number of private landowners that allow a stranger to hunt are fewer and the hunting land is priced to the point that I'd have to max the morgage on my house to get a down payment on 120 acres.

Hope it works out for you, and if you don't let others hunt your land I hope no one else lets you hunt on theirs.

IaCraig
 
Hey Guys,

I made it back on Sunday.
The land looked great like all the land I passed in the state. No sheds, I kinda figured I was early for sheds but it sure helped explain the trip to my wife. I actually saw 2 bucks and one was missing his left side, I was not close enough to tell if it was broke or shed.
I am going to make an offer on the property and like Commited I will consult with IDNR and IA Farm Bureau to help enhance the property and the deer herd. No IACraig we are not going to only take one deer off our properties every other year. We can actually get doe tags for your state and yes their will be others hunting the property as well. Their will be restrictions on what they can shoot. My chances of getting a permit this year are not very good but I will hunt the property and attempt to take at least one doe off it and try to keep the trespassers away. Hopefully after spending sometime there this year I will get a good feel for what needs to be done on the property.
After walking and studing arial photos the land has plenty of cover but needs a few good food sources. Food Plots and CRP ground will be planted in several locations throughout the property.
IA Craig you sound very bitter and it's to bad you made a bad decision 7 years ago on the land you had an opportunity to buy. I'm sending you a wake up call!!!! Contact a realtor today and buy some land, it wont be getting any cheaper. Take my word for it and I can speak for commited, we will NOT be leasing our land to anyone. We want a piece of good hunting land that our families can hunt. I don't understand whats so hard to figure out, are you just bitter because it's your state we decided to buy in or what?
Nonres
 
You know what they say about opinions!

But I am giving mine anyway. I can understand that many people that live in Iowa don't think someone who lives in another state should get to hunt in Iowa. That is plain WRONG though. A person who owns the required acreage (which in Iowa must be at least 10 acres) should be able to hunt his or her land on a landowners tag! Now a landowners tag is only good for the property that they own, not their neighbors or there cousins land, period. A man has worked his butt off and purchase land in your great state of Iowa, you don't think he should be able to legally harvest deer off of his farm just like a resident!

He owns the land! This may not mean much to you if you don't own any land because you can't relate, but for those of you that do.

How would you like it if you weren't aloud to hunt the land you own, pay taxes on, take care of, invest all of your time and money into! You would be spitting mad!!!! No different if you live in Alaska or just on the other side of the Missi. River, you should be able to hunt the land you own. Iowa is state, but don't forget where that state is located at, IN AMERICA ( THE PLACE OF FREEDOM)! Our freedom is what sets us apart from everywhere else! If you are fortunate enough to own a piece of land in Iowa, it is your right and freedom to be able to hunt or do anything legal on your piece of property! If you don't believe this you need to move to a different country!!! Don't let jealousy blind your vision! If a guy purchases a nice piece of property in Iowa its his right to be able to hunt the land!
 
NonRes and Baby G, I can see my comments were not taken as intended. To clarify, I have nothing against non-residents hunting in Iowa, and I really have nothing against non-resident landowners being able to get a deer tag without applying through the normal process. However you knew the laws ahead of time so take the good with the bad. It is just my guess but I suspect the reasons you have to go through the same non-res lottery process as everyone else is because the Iowa DNR is not staffed to handle exceptions and follow up on the validity of claims of out-of-state land ownership.

My only reason for not siding with you 100% is that I dont like the trend of quality deer hunting in Iowa becoming a privilege reserved for the wealthy, whether it is caused by Urban sprawl or hunting leases or whatever. And in my opinion I think the inconvenience of this law might help slow that down just a little. (even though I doubt that is the laws intention)

Baby G, you are right that if you own land in another state you are free to do anything legal there and I do not think anyone said anything to the contrary. However hunting is actually a privilege and the laws governing it are set by each individual state, and it happens that in Iowa land ownership does not offer you the same set of legal hunting privileges as being a resident. Being a US citizen does not give you any FREEDOM that overrides the game laws of that state. And no I would not be spitting mad if that is how the laws were before I bought the land, but your right that I would be if they became more restrictive later.

This is my last post on this thread, so feel free to bash away at my opinions even though nonres requested them.

IaCraig
 
Wow!!!! you guys have really worked this topic over........

Are there really that many individuals that could or would purchase Iowa hunting land as a nonresident? I would be surprised if we are talking about more than few hundred people if that........ maybe I am clueless
confused.gif
 
Cornfed,
Theres probaly that many and more. That adds up to alot of lost land that could be hunted or purchased by you,me or anyone else. The biggest prob I see with everyone wanting to buy land here in Iowa is that the price of land is going UP!!
madgo_ron.gif
 
Doemaster I understand your point. Maybe my apathy and cliches are in part due to reading and discussing this matter the past two years. Seems like th same old song and dance. Maybe it a clever way to get person's like yourself to help initiate change instead of just complaining about it. The cookie will always crumble if no one does anything about it. You are right I do own some ground. I hope that does not eliminate me from being a average Iowan. Most Iowan's(farmers) own ground. You are right. If we feel strongly about something we do need to unite to change whatever we feel will make things better for us hunters as a whole. I have dealt with the legislature in the past and even though I try to be optomistic, what you suggest will never happen. What we need to do is stand ground with what we have now and maybe try to improve it to the sense that res and nonres alike will be satisfied for the time being. Remeber the legislative body is motivated by party, politics, and money, money, money!!!
They will try to increase the number of nonres licenses this year. They will not decrease them! I hope we can all come to a compromise that creates quality deer hunting, availability to have ground to hunt, and ethical and QDM practices for all those involved in hunting our whitetail deer. I am involved and do talk to my legislatures about concerns I have. I also belong to most of the orginizations is our state the represent me the average Iowan about wildlife issue's. I appreciate your concerns and feedback from my post's whether they be positive or negative.
 
Doemaster, it is obvious you just can't stand the thought of even one non-resident "invader" shooting one of "your deer". Your comments that the DNR needs to cut back on the number of non-resident tags is laughable when there are other threads on this website discussing how the DNR says we don't kill enough deer. Over 136,000 deer were killed by hunters in 2001 (based on statistics released by the DNR) and you are worried about approximately 6000 non-residents decimating the deer herd, shooting all the trophy bucks, buying all the land, and keeping you from having a free place to hunt. Geez, next thing you know you will be blaming West Nile virus on non-resident hunters!
 
It is encouraging that this topic can be discussed in a civil manner so that everyone can see the pros/cons of the debate. With that said I would like to clarify a few points that have been made.

To me at least there is a huge distinction between non-resident hunters and non-resident landowners that hunt. Most non-resident landowners are not asking to be able to draw a resident tag. They are willing to pay full price for a non-resident deer tag. They simply would like to hunt their own place each year. The example used earlier regarding having to buy a Michigan non-resident tag even if you own land there did not focus on the one huge difference. In Michigan anyone can purchase a non-resident tag over the counter at their own will. This can't be done by a non-resident landowner in Iowa.

I fully appreciate the state of Iowa and it's residents wanting to keep a good thing for themselves (that being the quality of hunting). Additionally, I can also appreciate and understand the fears of non-resident/resident outfitters and guides capitalizing on this quality of hunting at the "average" persons expense. After all if the hunting quality were to take a nose dive and go south, the outfitters that are simply leasing up land would be the first to bail out on the state. Most non-resident landowners would continue to try to improve the value of their land as it would be beneficial for their investment.

However, as I stated earlier most non-resident landowners that I know have a real vested interest in the state, it's game and the land itself. They bought land in Iowa for several reasons such as:

1)Great hunting, for not only deer, but turkey and other game.
2)As an investment.
3)Rural Iowa is a beautiful place with beautiful landscapes.
4)Great/friendly people

It keeps getting stated that land prices are going up in Iowa. They are, and will continue to go up even more. In fact they are going up in almost all areas of the country. Controlling access to deer tags may have a small effect on this fact but it won't stop it from happening. They may fall back in the future but not much below what they were purchased for and not for long. Land is the one thing that you can't make more of. One of the reasons many non-residents are buying land in Iowa right now is that IT IS SOME OF THE CHEAPEST LAND IN THE COUNTRY. Add to these relatively low prices the return on investment that much of this land can produce through either row crop rental or the CRP program. Most of these buyers are not rich as they are being characterized as. Some work as custodians, construction workers, school bus drivers, teachers, etc. They simply invested their life savings in their dreams.

In my opinion there is a blessing in disguise with these types of landowners purchasing properties. They are attempting to improve the habitiat for the benifit of wildlife, which benefits all hunters. I am just thankful that they are not interested in developing the land into low cost housing, strip malls, or sub-divisions. When this occurs (as it is on a large scale in many areas of the country) ALL hunters lose.

Sorry to be so long winded.

Rut
 
It has been great to see everyones opinion on this matter, and clearly it has touched a soft spot. As I said in my first posting, I knew about the rules prior to buying property, and it did not discourage me enough not to do it. Alot of the responses refer to keeping the deer herd at its current quality,others, or most are dealing with land prices, and some, as admitted, are for selfish reasons.
The deer hunting in Iowa is awsome,and I want to keep it that way as much as you do. I dont feel like my intrests are that much different from yours. Why cant we all have the same goal? Quality deer, stable land prices, and one heck of a great time.
I cannot speak for all nonres land owners, but the ones I do know are not wealthy. For me it is an investment in my bowhunting future, and a chance to be able to hunt and manage some of the best land in North America.(that includes most of Iowa.) I respect what I have more than you will ever know, and challenge anyone to be as dedicated to the development of habitat and Quality Deer Management as we are.
Doemaster, I fail to see how wanting to hunt my own land makes me pompous and elite.
Thank you for your support BabyG,John V and all others(previous posting, I didnt get you name!)
Captain, call a realtor and buy something! I promise I wont get in the way.
 
I'm afraid of NR's hunting deer because I've got a feeling it won't be good for the ol'fasion idea of inexspesive fun.Deerhunting is headed for tournaments like fishermen do for bass.Or something like it.Fish are different than deer.As for whitetail deer hunting,If all states polarized it would be fine with me. It would stop all,I mean all of this leaseing crap that we all know is going to get bad for 80% of us deer hunters.NR's can hunt anything but our whitetails.Thats my idea for today.
 
Like it or not I stand by it. DNR wants more deer gone? Give residents more tags. Why is that so hard to figure out john? I'd be happy to take a doe or two more than I already do. Problem solved. And just a refresher for ya, the deer are public domain and belong to the "people of the state of Iowa". So I guess they are my deer.
 
I find it interesting that no one responded to my hypothetical question regarding non-resident college tuition being higher than a resident. Could it be that we all understand and accept that it is very commonplace that residents of a given state enjoy some preferences over non-residents, whether they are landowners or not?

If you want the same rights as a resident, whether you are a landowner or not, it's simple, quit griping and join the club and move to that state, problem solved.

The more I read posts like this I think I would rather see a big REDUCTION in the price of a non-resident tag. That's right, move it from $309 back to $100 or so. That way it isn't such a burden for a former Iowan to come back home and hunt with their family/friends, etc.

Also, this would theoretically increase the number of NR applicants and dilute the pool to the point that a NR wouldn't even get a tag every other year, but more like once every 3 to 4 years. ( I have personally heard more than one relatively well off NR Iowa hunter say that they were glad to see the big price increase because it lowered the overall number of people applying, no joke, thereby increasing their chance of being drawn in a given year!) And here we thought it was just the native Iowan deer hunters acting selfishly...

For the record, I do not despise NR's and I don't know anyone personally who does either. I enjoy reading about a NR having deer hunting success in Iowa just as much I do a resident.

What I don't like is seeing a "class system" develop though, the haves and have nots, and that is what is going on. While it is the American way for one to be able to purchase property wherever they wish, there can be little doubt that prime deer habitat is being purchased in Iowa by NR's at disproportionate rates.

If anyone is curious as to the future of hunting if it is controlled by the wealthy, see England fox hunting for reference. I think the future of hunting is best off if it has a broad base of support and participation.
 
I don't think this comes down to letting non resident landowners hunt or not hunt. I think it is a matter of the current laws. If you allow NR land owners a resident tag even if it's only on their land you open up lots of other problems where there are distinctions between residents and nonresidents like school tuitions, state aid, and other things based on state tax proceeds. Much of this NR owned ground is rougher timber ground with little crop value. This land can be, and is, enrolled in a forestry program with the benifit of no property tax. Not only doesn't the NR pay any income tax but now he pays no property tax to help support any thing in the state. No one is saying they can't hunt their own land, they just have to qualify for a NR license.

The other thing I see happening with allowing NR land owners garrentied tags is large farms being divided into smaller plots to just meet the min requirements. If that min were 80 acres what would then stop the owner from dividing the 240 acres into 3 plots of 80 acres and selling or transfering ownership to other family or friends so they could also get a tag. Now instead of one tag there are three, and then what about the wife? Isn't she also deserving of a tag if she wants to hunt? I also doubt that brother Bob would hesitate to hunt on brother Harry's section if there were bigger deer there. Then we can get into business land ownership. If there are 4 or 5 partners in a business that purchases a farm are they all entitled to licenses.

There is one thing for certain, without a pretty clearcut distinction between resident and nonresident landowners there will be people who will find a way to circumvent the rules, and that will hurt us all. The only clear line is do you live in the state or not. If we make the lines fuzzier to accomidate one group then other groups can demand the same concessions on other issues, and there we go. With the sagging economy in SE Iowa there are lots of people willing to move off the land in exchange for cash, and I think that hurts all of us.
 
Committed, non-residents who are committed to quality management like you and your pal are welcome in Iowa any day. I'd rather see the land sold to non-residents who will manage land to the benefit of wildlife than be sold to a resident who wants to take the land out of CRP, mow down the brush, harvest the timber, and put the acreage in row crops. Bottom line is once a landowner decides he wants to sell, someone is going to buy. Let's hope it is someone who care about the land and the wildlife living on it.
 
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