My wife and I are planning to move to Iowa this spring. We are currently looking at southern Iowa but not sure where. Need some opinions on the best counties (areas) for quality whitetail hunting opportunities. Also, sold my business and I will be looking for a job or a business for sale.
bigbuckhunter88
PMA Member
What kind of business are you in?
JUNIOR
Active Member
Id say your best bet would be close to the Des Moines or within 30 minutes of it. Warren, or Madison would do the trick!
Very nice. My wife and I made the move this past march. Best thing we ever did and it goes beyond just deer hunting. If I could have convinced her it would have been Decatur county but "settled" a little closer to Des Moines.
hoosierhunter
Active Member
Monroe,Appanoose, Davis, Decatur, Wapello, Henry, Clark, Ringold
Basically the bottom two counties on the southern boarder.
Basically the bottom two counties on the southern boarder.
Central Iowa
Life Member
I was in the NE area of the state yesterday it's beautiful and always captures my attention. It also has great deer, stream trout fishing and flat out gorgeous views that compete with anywhere. Also has plenty of thriving industry something lacking in a lot of the southern counties.
dedgeez
death from above
NE Iowa has nothing to offer Travis
If you are looking at for land availability and lower prices, you are going to want to look at the southern counties S of Des Moines. Larger parcels available down there and way easier to manage your farms. NE Iowa is gorgeous no doubt, but it is hard to lock down big chunks of ground here and land is outrageous right now. Anything around Des Moines will give you good business opps as well.
Welcome to Iowa.
Central Iowa
Life Member
NE Iowa has nothing to offer Travis
Better ice-fishing and I hear they have great indoor 3-D shoots in NE IA as well !!!!
All kidding aside and if I was focusing on great whitetail areas Northeast, southern teirs, and the Loess Hills on the Westside would be my focus.
Factor in a retail business and everything gets much more complicated.
gundog870
Premium Platinum Member
Lots of big carp being caught in NEIA this year, and the shoots are not bad if you can avoid the guys running them.
I absolutely love NEIA, but would echo Scott's comments on the land. If you are looking for land, that game is much easier to play in Southern IA. You can find big deer just about anywhere if you are worth your salt.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
All that area is pretty good, and to be so close to a major city is a plus business wise.
ya, I agree with Dedgeez on this one, NE Iowa is the ticket!!!
JUNIOR
Active Member
I agree with North East Iowa. Its beautiful, we go trout fishing up there a couple of times a year. He stated southern Iowa so I just stuck to southern counties and included the business side of things (close to the big city). Iowa is a good choice no matter what!!
In all honesty, for deer quality, I'd avoid the VOID AREAS (deer deserts) of northern Iowa, NW iowa, etc, many areas in northern 2/3rd's of state that are not in major river country (all the ag areas which really do encompass most of iowa). For lower quality & too much pressure (which creates the quality issues IMO), I'd also avoid like Iowa city, Cedar Rapids, etc (I'm not saying it's not good or couldn't find some amazing farms if management & pressure limitations in place, just was way more pressure that way when I saw it on avg).
The SLEEPER of the state (sorry guys, maybe 30 guys see this and most already know this).... I like SW Iowa a lot and then Western Iowa is a little less of a sleeper. Southern Iowa is of course already a well known good area but if I had to choose another spot & it wasn't NE or by me now, I'd go to SW or Western Iowa hands down. If you go to Dedgeez's area - he will set you up on his farms, get you all the permission you need and probably let you hunt out of his own treestands. That's a pretty big bonus right there. I'll send you over aerials of his farm (and dotted locations of his stands) and his phone #.
The SLEEPER of the state (sorry guys, maybe 30 guys see this and most already know this).... I like SW Iowa a lot and then Western Iowa is a little less of a sleeper. Southern Iowa is of course already a well known good area but if I had to choose another spot & it wasn't NE or by me now, I'd go to SW or Western Iowa hands down. If you go to Dedgeez's area - he will set you up on his farms, get you all the permission you need and probably let you hunt out of his own treestands. That's a pretty big bonus right there. I'll send you over aerials of his farm (and dotted locations of his stands) and his phone #.
CurtisWalker
Well-Known Member
If you go to Dedgeez's area - he will set you up on his farms, get you all the permission you need and probably let you hunt out of his own treestands. That's a pretty big bonus right there. I'll send you over aerials of his farm (and dotted locations of his stands) and his phone #.
Hey Dedgeez, can I come hunt with you this fall?
