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What's the biggest threat to the future of deer hunting in Iowa?

bloodhoundhandler, you make a great point. I ate a lot of tags the last few years, and stressed myself out a whole bunch, always waiting for a bigger deer to come along. I wanted to be one of that elite crowd that always got the big one. This year I turned 55, got my AARP card and started thinking about the number of seasons I have left. It was a sobering thought, and it started a change in my shooting standards. Young bucks will still get a pass from me, but when those heavier racked, 125 inch,8 pointers come out and scatter the field, giving me that sought after adrenaline rush, I'm drawing back with no apologies. Deer hunting should be about appreciating the outdoors in every aspect, not just the number of inches a buck has grown. To those of you who won't settle for anything less than a buck you can bring to the the Deer Classic, more power to you, and I'm a little jealous of you, but I'm not competing anymore. I sent pics of my buck to Bonker with a note saying in effect, I was a little ashamed he wasn't bigger. Bonker, bless his heart, sent a short reply. "It ain't about the size, it's about the memories!" There are many threats to Iowa's hunting and they are all related. Teaching the next generation that there's more to it than the size of the antlers would solve many of them. Wouldn't it be great if kids were more excited about the number of inches their oak tree plantings grew than the number of inches that buck grew? Wouldn't that be a brighter future?
 
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Turkeyriver, you can hunt with me any day.

I was up hunting Allamakee/Winneshiek last week. Met two guys (staying at the motel I was in) who flew in from out of State to hunt. They were hunting a large property they bought, payed someone to manage it, build their blinds, plant food plots and run cameras for them. One guy shot a huge non typical while we were there. He told us how 50 - 100 deer would come marching like ants into their food plot each night, "just like you see on TV" he said.
Met another guy from out of State who was here from Wisconsin hunting his lease, which he mentioned cost him $5000 (500acres) for bow only rights this season.
Drove past a farm that was for sale while we were out and about. Out of curiosity I checked the price when I got home. It is listed on a hunting land reality site for 1.2 million, for 350ish acres.
The few days I was there, I think I seen more leased and no tresspass signs than deer. I seen more vehicles with NR plates using the State lands than there were residents.
We hunted State grounds, it was important to get there early if we wanted a decent place.

I've been hunting that area for around 25 years, times sure have changed.
 
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turkeyriver said:
Teaching the next generation that there's more to it than the size of the antlers would solve many of them. Wouldn't it be great if kids were more excited about the number of inches their oak tree plantings grew than the number of inches that buck grew? Wouldn't that be a brighter future?
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Exactly my thoughts, the habitat is a distant memory as long as someone is seeing 50 deer a night...that comes at a cost to oak regeneration and other desirable that deer seek to browse. Horns trump everything for some tho which is not a sustainable process.

I sure hope my boy is out helping me improve the habitat on my farm and is just as thoughtful about it as he may be hunting mature bucks so we can leave it better than we found it. :way:
 
POACHING!
That's the one that's illegal and all should fight against. Every state has experienced the other 2 types of things for years....
Whether it's Iowa 20 years ago with pheasant hunting. Elk hunting in New Mexico. Lake front property in any state. Pheasant hunting in SD & ND. Vacation property in Florida. Mountain property in Colorado. Trout fishing in Montana. Antelope hunting in Wyoming. Gold mining in California. The list never ends- this stuff has gone on forever on any level you want to take it.
It also runs cycles- my family owned a cabin in UP of MI for 90 years. Back then, that was the HOT place to deer hunt. To this day- all the land up there is owned mainly by hunters and have hunting cabins- it's now no good vs many places BUT surely didn't do horrible damage. At least the areas in UP weren't permanently destroyed like habitat turning into malls or subdivisions. These are all tiny fractions of examples and a tiny fraction of a discussion anyone could have. This whole situation has its ups & downs and understand the +'s & -'s, it's not the end of hunting though- BY FAR.
 
If people don't have opportunities / places to hunt, why would they even care about some deer getting poached?
 
gundog870 said:
We are the biggest threat.
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Agreed. "A chickens brain is the size of pea, but they still know when to come in out of the rain" Point being that resident hunters have been warned about declining deer numbers, but yet we continue to shoot does during archery and shotgun season and partake in the MEANINGLESS doe seasons. The sad truth is that there are hunters out there that don't care if there was 1 deer left in the whole state, if they had a tag, they would shoot it. Our actions will lead to our own demise!
 
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The biggest threat to my own personal deer hunting is most definitely poaching and tresspassing (I think the two go hand in hand) I've seen the effects of this first hand and deal with it every year multiple times - seems to be growing in our area. I see the other areas as being problems also but they don't effect me as much.
 
gunrunr said:
The biggest threat to my own personal deer hunting is most definitely poaching and tresspassing (I think the two go hand in hand) I've seen the effects of this first hand and deal with it every year multiple times - seems to be growing in our area. I see the other areas as being problems also but they don't effect me as much.
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I agree whole heartly! I'm still dealing with tresspassers, and thieves after 15 years of fighting them. And i know first hand of poachers in my county. I have used the TIP program, but i've never been notified of an arrest. Maybe i wouldn't be notified if i deny the reward.
 
River1 said:
If people don't have opportunities / places to hunt, why would they even care about some deer getting poached?
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I would say that most people still have somewhere to hunt, and most are very discouraged by poaching.
 
THA4 said:
we are our own worst enemies...
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Please explain that one to me. If it wasn't for the deer hunters dollars, and contributions to the sport; i don't think Iowa deer hunting would be anywhere near what it is today. Don't tell me the foodplots and sanctuaries people have started is for raising does.
 
Money is the root of all Evil!! That basically leads to Greed! The almighty dollar will eventually rule out the everyday local hunter of his hunting lands and opportunities.

I am a NR from Wisconsin and I have to admit, Iowa has some of the best Public lands anywhere. They rival some of the best Private lands in WI and MN!! But in the 20 years that I have been visiting Iowa I have see it turn into a richmans sport! Leasing of Land where you use to be able to go down the road and get permission from just about any land owner. Not knocking the land owners but there is greed there, but then way cant they take $1000-$5000 for 300 acres of land. Helps with taxes right! So I can't blame them, but then it is the greed of you and I, or us as hunters. Wanting to out do the next guy!

I am one that has steered clear of leasing and guides and will say, I will never use a guide or lease so long as I can do it on my own!! IMO, I can not fathom someone paying someone else to do their homework for them and pay $3500 for a whitetail. that is ludicrist!! Especially when all they are after is HORN. I have eatn my share of tags, I should not say that, I have shot does as Iowa needs that done but I would rather have a doe and watch some smaller bucks than shoot a small buck becuase I paid $3500 for a hunt. Hell you can go to the public lands in Iowa and shoot your 130 class buck if you put your time into it.

I truely hate what is happening in Iowa, all over for that matter cause it is happening here in WI as well. I hate Leasing and Guiding, it is all about the $$ and it does not teach any ethics about how to truely hunt.

MPO! Sorry for babbling.

You know, if it were not for the commercialization of the sport, we would still be where we were back in the early 80 and 90s with bow hunting. But with Commercialization comes the $$ and Greed, and with that come the Guides and Leasing.

Only one way to stop that, Do away with Guiding and Leasing, it will only get worse and like I said before, turn it into a RICH MANS SPORT. Sorry to say...
 
Hunting in Iowa is in no danger. The deer numbers are difinately down this year though. I've heard everything from liver worms, to foot rott, to cwd, to goat respitory disease. I personally think that the late high power season is the hardest on the buck population, at least in my area. As far as poaching, I would guess that less than 5% of deer killed in iowa are from poaching. There are plenty of good places to hunt without having to treaspass. Beat feet and ask and ask till you find a place. Seen alot of monsters killed on public land as well. As far as going from 6000 to 12000, 6000 extra tags should hardly dent the population. just my opinion.
 
Though our deer biologists' have been solid and fighting for a common sense approach in the last years, the Iowa DNR bosses seem to be a puppet of political pressure IMO. Farm Bureau is a major pain in our ASS! Along with all their anti deer lobby, FB are the only entity that placed a negative campaign against the IWILL.
 
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