Non Resident Landowner Rant

[ironwood]

I just want to add here that I really never want my argument supporting Iowa regulations and hunters to be anti NR. I have plenty of friends and relatives that are NR hunters/landowners. If it could some how be a positive for the resident rather than a negative I would simply be quiet. With all of the gray areas it still appears very black and white from my perspective.

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[Diggdug]

I just bought a small piece of hunting land in S/E Iowa and have a few comments. First of all, not all NR land owners are rich! I sold a bunch of stuff and worked a bunch of OT to save up the down payment for my land, and I will likely be making monthly payments on it for the next 20 years. I knew going in that I would not get to hunt it every year and that is part of what makes Iowa the best Sate to hunt IMHO. I owned some hunting land in Michigan and have pretty much given up on it after managing it for the last 8 years. I now realize that I will never be able to afford enough land to save bucks from the neighbors so I took my money to Iowa. I would like to see non-res land owners get more doe tags so it is easier to manage property but I don’t think that we should get preference to buy “any-deer” tags. It is worth the wait and if they start tweaking the laws too much it could easily end up like Missouri. If God willing I can ever afford to retire then I will definitely pick up and move to Iowa and spend all my money in Iowa till the day I die. But until then, I will hunt in years that I draw, and work on habitat and shed hunt In between.

 

[Hardwood11]

I just bought a small piece of hunting land in S/E Iowa and have a few comments. First of all, not all NR land owners are rich! I sold a bunch of stuff and worked a bunch of OT to save up the down payment for my land, and I will likely be making monthly payments on it for the next 20 years. I knew going in that I would not get to hunt it every year and that is part of what makes Iowa the best Sate to hunt IMHO. I owned some hunting land in Michigan and have pretty much given up on it after managing it for the last 8 years. I now realize that I will never be able to afford enough land to save bucks from the neighbors so I took my money to Iowa. I would like to see non-res land owners get more doe tags so it is easier to manage property but I don’t think that we should get preference to buy “any-deer” tags. It is worth the wait and if they start tweaking the laws too much it could easily end up like Missouri. If God willing I can ever afford to retire then I will definitely pick up and move to Iowa and spend all my money in Iowa till the day I die. But until then, I will hunt in years that I draw, and work on habitat and shed hunt In between.

You can also turkey hunt! I agree with you on the doe tags. I don't think anyone would really be opposed to a landowner managing his farm to keep doe numbers down!!! Good point.

 

[travis bishop]

Obviously late coming to this one. But I was looking into this subject for a couple of reasons. I own 573 acres in Iowa. I bought it back in 1980 with the intention of settling there after discharging from the Army. Being from Texas, that would have been quite a change. Problem is, I kept re-upping. I enlisted in 1979 at 17 years old. Finally faced mandatory retirement in 2013 at 51 years old. In that time, I wound up buying land in Texas and Idaho. I purchased a lifetime hunting and fishing license in Idaho. That allows me to buy non resident elk and deer tags over the counter without doing the lottery thing. Still costs me nonresident prices. I have a lifetime Texas hunting and fishing license as well.

I wound up renting my Iowa land for corn production. I never hunted it, but did allow resident hunters access free of charge. Problems started cropping up when gates were left open. Buildings were vandalized. So forth... The farming tenant informed me that people were running rampant during deer season. 4 wheeling through the fields. Shooting anything and everything in sight, including his tractors and irrigation equipment. So, I visited and looked it over in 2016. Did repairs. Spent quite a bit of money fixing the damage. I wound up posting the land. Talked to an Army buddy needing a place to settle. Moved him in as a full time caretaker. Free rent for watching the place. Last year, I wanted to go hunt with him. Found out all about the hoops I had to jump through. I was considering allowing hunting on a day hunt basis. Pay a $20 trespass fee and have access to the big corn field bucks, using the fees to maintain roads and deer stands. But when I found out I didn't have the same access to the deer on my property that I've owned for over 30 years that the people I let hunt free of charge had, I shut down all access to it altogether.

I understand how deer management works. In Texas, deer hunting is a huge industry. It's not like I wanted to hunt public land. I just wanted to be able to hunt a deer on my own ground every once in a while. Willing to pay the nonresident tag fees, all that. But no go. So, if I cant, I'm shutting it down. I'll keep share cropping it, pay my property taxes, and let the deer do their thing and I'll hunt White Tails at home in Texas and elk and mule deer in Idaho every year.

 

[Muskrat24]

Obviously a touchy subject in which I see both sides. No I am not moving back to Iowa anytime soon, but have lots of family still there, its just I love all outdoor activities and the fishing in Southern Missouri is killer. I am a common man, not rich at all and yes there is income off the farm; however, I pay $10,000 a year in taxes and I also cash rent the farm out...BUT it is MY land, not the government's PERIOD. I am responsible for the taxes, liability insurance, fences, easements, right of ways, but when it comes to the wildlife which I have hunted most my life, then move across imaginary state borders the government says I have to pay over $500 for an any deer tag and only be eligible every 3 years is crap. Simply put, it is all about money, either in state revenue or trying to keep prices down so out of stater's wont buy up land, but honestly that argument doesn't hold much water with me in that prices per acre are already over $5000 for crop ground and that is fed by the advent of ethanol subsidies, not by deer hunters.

Heck, they law could state that in order to qualify for a NR landowner tag you have to own the land for 30 years, just make it make sense to so many of us that would like to come back to our boyhood home, take advantage of the land we own and stay at hotels in small towns, buy food, beer, gas, etc.. and boost the local economy when its needed most. I am not asking for sympathy, only asking that we NR land owners get a fair shake when we ARE paying our "fair share" in Iowa with taxes and providing jobs to thousands that make a living on our land in the form of cash-rent, share cropping or renting pasture.

Ok, rant over...carry on.

$5000/a.c. for cropland, open the tags up and all land is way more than that! Just asking but since you should have a right to hunt in Iowa whenever, would you also set your own bag limits? Yes, the tags are a revenue source but there are also other reasons for the way the game laws are written. I would assume even a shotgun or late muzzy tag would not take three years to draw, bow probably, but you do have options to hunt more than every three years.

 

[Muskrat24]

There must be some decent improvements on the farm or Monroe County taxes are high @ $33/a.c.X300=$9999?????

 

[Hardwood11]

Obviously late coming to this one. But I was looking into this subject for a couple of reasons. I own 573 acres in Iowa. I bought it back in 1980 with the intention of settling there after discharging from the Army. Being from Texas, that would have been quite a change. Problem is, I kept re-upping. I enlisted in 1979 at 17 years old. Finally faced mandatory retirement in 2013 at 51 years old. In that time, I wound up buying land in Texas and Idaho. I purchased a lifetime hunting and fishing license in Idaho. That allows me to buy non resident elk and deer tags over the counter without doing the lottery thing. Still costs me nonresident prices. I have a lifetime Texas hunting and fishing license as well.

I wound up renting my Iowa land for corn production. I never hunted it, but did allow resident hunters access free of charge. Problems started cropping up when gates were left open. Buildings were vandalized. So forth... The farming tenant informed me that people were running rampant during deer season. 4 wheeling through the fields. Shooting anything and everything in sight, including his tractors and irrigation equipment. So, I visited and looked it over in 2016. Did repairs. Spent quite a bit of money fixing the damage. I wound up posting the land. Talked to an Army buddy needing a place to settle. Moved him in as a full time caretaker. Free rent for watching the place. Last year, I wanted to go hunt with him. Found out all about the hoops I had to jump through. I was considering allowing hunting on a day hunt basis. Pay a $20 trespass fee and have access to the big corn field bucks, using the fees to maintain roads and deer stands. But when I found out I didn't have the same access to the deer on my property that I've owned for over 30 years that the people I let hunt free of charge had, I shut down all access to it altogether.

I understand how deer management works. In Texas, deer hunting is a huge industry. It's not like I wanted to hunt public land. I just wanted to be able to hunt a deer on my own ground every once in a while. Willing to pay the nonresident tag fees, all that. But no go. So, if I cant, I'm shutting it down. I'll keep share cropping it, pay my property taxes, and let the deer do their thing and I'll hunt White Tails at home in Texas and elk and mule deer in Idaho every year.

Wow good buys!! Thinking ahead!!

 

[hans1]

This debate has been going on for at least the last 20 years I have been here. With as many NR landowner friends as I have one part of me would like to see them have more opportunity for all the effort they put into managing there land. Another part of me the capitalist knows my net worth would increase 7 figures with land owner tags. But the conservationist,hunter knows this would be bad for Iowa in the long run so my vote is to keep things the same.
The system in Iowa works it isn’t perfect but it does work.

 

[IowaBowHunter1983]

Perfectly stated hans1.

 

[travis bishop]

Wow good buys!! Thinking ahead!!

I bought it there originally because i have, or had... they're all passed on now... some kinfolks on my mother's side that lived and farmed there. We used to go up there and visit them back when I was a kid. We are ranchers and grow hay and some feed stock grains here in Texas. I loved it up there. Still do. But, since I retired from the military, I've more or less taken over the family Angus herd. I have my own private land, 205 acres with a 60 acre lake on it. I got it from a neighboring rancher I used to help out and work for during my school years. He and his wife never had children, so when she passed on, he decided to sell out and retire. I'll probably wind up selling my Iowa property to the corn farmer that rents the tillable land from me. He expressed interest. I gave him a price well below market value because he respects the land. To me, that is all important. If you don't respect the land and the life it provides you, you don't deserve it. In my 34 year career, I spent about half of it on combat deployments. I saw too much crap with too many people abusing the land, and eachother in foreign lands to have to come back home, thankful to be alive, to witness the same thing here.

 

[Sligh1]

Travis - I hear u on the problems - even an “involved” NR can be targeted because folks know they are not there. I have dealt with “idiots” when I’ve had my house on the land & I live there. Been many years ago but if I wasn’t there- it would be hard.
Ok- a few things or ideas/realitities...
1) There are trustworthy folks out there who live by u that could help on this. Sky is the limit & u would just need to know the persons or People helping are trustworthy. Trust & honest people - that’s in any area of life: owning a business, neighbors, land, friends - whatever. U need honest & ambitious folks around ur farm. A lease to a small group might be an option. Having outfitting on land or different guys every year that won’t care about ur farm is a recipe for disaster.
2) u can hunt it every year. Doe tags & u can do party hunting for a buck. U also can small game & turkey hunt yearly.
3) I have many friends who are NR’s. So- I say this understanding all sides. I have a farm where I am totally surrounded by NR’s. I’d say my area NOW is 50% NR owned or higher. Here’s the REALITY (not opinion, just FACTS)..... U open up flood gates to NR tags every year - every last drop of land will be bought up by NR’s. Or the price goes up 100% in 2-3 years and property is divided & segmented into smaller parcels. Access would be non-existent. Here’s why..... Iowa, unlike IL, MO, WI, etc is only 6% timber!!!!! U add a few thousand more buyers overnight- it’s all gone. I know literally hundreds of guys who would buy here in 24 hours if law changed. Millions of hunters from WI, MN, MI, PA, NC, SC, IN, IL - there’s armies of hunters in those states who would love to own land here but don’t because regulations are conservative. ACCESS RIGHT NOW with our conservative laws (which still let anyone hunt every year)..... is still incredibly hard!!!! I know tons of R’s who struggle to find decent land to hunt. Land is tied up, leased out or bought up for hunting by R’s & NR’s. This is every county with big timber. It’s already tied up hard. NR’s control more & more each year. 6% timber with most counties having little or no timber in the state - it’s easy to see how this state could be absolutely turned upside down in a snap of the fingers. I love my NR buddies but almost all “get it”. Iowa stays good for a reason and if u change it- game over. We live in a VERY FRAGILE management system & do not have the resources & habitat like other states do.
The best answer or solution!!!!!..... make the surrounding states more like Iowa to take the pressure off this state & let all the states that destroy their resources & potential actually become states that can compete with Iowa’s quality. No reason MO, MN, etc shouldn’t be turning out 10x the amount of mature bucks and giants Iowa does. Protect our fragile resource and fix all these other disastrous states that ruin their hunting & make the serious hunters leave!!!! GROW THE PIE OF GREAT HUNTING!!! Don’t destroy the little sliver of the pie that Iowa is. Protect Iowa and fix the millions of acres that do have potential across the borders!!!

 

[MarkF]

As a NR landowner I can’t for the life of me understand why other NR landowners would want more tags opened up. Most of us bought the land because of the quality of whitetails in Iowa and giving out more tags would destroy that. It’s like when people migrate from shit hole countries and then want America to change and be more like the shit hole they just left. Iowa’s regs are fine, leave them alone or stay where your at and keep hunting your crummy states.

 

[Hardwood11]

As a NR landowner I can’t for the life of me understand why other NR landowners would want more tags opened up. Most of us bought the land because of the quality of whitetails in Iowa and giving out more tags would destroy that. It’s like when people migrate from shit hole countries and then want America to change and be more like the shit hole they just left. Iowa’s regs are fine, leave them alone or stay where your at and keep hunting your crummy states.

I don’t think it’s that simple. The best feature of Iowa is “no guns during the rut”.... I for one would not want more overall buck tags allotments, but better options for management of the farm you own. Doe tags, more options based on sound whitetail management-not political decisions.

Rather than relying on party hunting to obtain tags.

Either way, it is what it is. We play the game and can get buck tags, kids both draw this year. We will contribute to the madness

 

[MarkF]

I don’t think it’s that simple. The best feature of Iowa is “no guns during the rut”.... I for one would not want more overall buck tags allotments, but better options for management of the farm you own. Doe tags, more options based on sound whitetail management-not political decisions.

Rather than relying on party hunting to obtain tags.

Either way, it is what it is. We play the game and can get buck tags, kids both draw this year. We will contribute to the madness

I think it is that simple, we all knew the rules before we bought land. I think non resident tags make a bigger difference in quality than when gun season is. Look at Kansas, 1 buck limit for residents and no rifles during the rut and it still can’t hold a candle to Iowa , but it sure did when non residents weren’t allowed to hunt at all and when it was a very low chance of drawing a tag. As for proper management, I don’t buy it for a bit because if someone was that concerned about it they’d make friends with a couple residents and that would take care of the does.

 

[Hardwood11]

I think it is that simple, we all knew the rules before we bought land. I think non resident tags make a bigger difference in quality than when gun season is. Look at Kansas, 1 buck limit for residents and no rifles during the rut and it still can’t hold a candle to Iowa , but it sure did when non residents weren’t allowed to hunt at all and when it was a very low chance of drawing a tag. As for proper management, I don’t buy it for a bit because if someone was that concerned about it they’d make friends with a couple residents and that would take care of the does.

So you have to have someone else manage your farm that you own.. that’s my point. We do that, but also got burnt once (bigly)

It’s not management ... it’s game/Wildlife decisions based on what’s best for local access.

As stated before... that’s fine. We will deal with it. We made necessary steps to hunt every year now.

 

[MN Hunter]

Travis - I hear u on the problems - even an “involved” NR can be targeted because folks know they are not there. I have dealt with “idiots” when I’ve had my house on the land & I live there. Been many years ago but if I wasn’t there- it would be hard.
Ok- a few things or ideas/realitities...
1) There are trustworthy folks out there who live by u that could help on this. Sky is the limit & u would just need to know the persons or People helping are trustworthy. Trust & honest people - that’s in any area of life: owning a business, neighbors, land, friends - whatever. U need honest & ambitious folks around ur farm. A lease to a small group might be an option. Having outfitting on land or different guys every year that won’t care about ur farm is a recipe for disaster.
2) u can hunt it every year. Doe tags & u can do party hunting for a buck. U also can small game & turkey hunt yearly.
3) I have many friends who are NR’s. So- I say this understanding all sides. I have a farm where I am totally surrounded by NR’s. I’d say my area NOW is 50% NR owned or higher. Here’s the REALITY (not opinion, just FACTS)..... U open up flood gates to NR tags every year - every last drop of land will be bought up by NR’s. Or the price goes up 100% in 2-3 years and property is divided & segmented into smaller parcels. Access would be non-existent. Here’s why..... Iowa, unlike IL, MO, WI, etc is only 6% timber!!!!! U add a few thousand more buyers overnight- it’s all gone. I know literally hundreds of guys who would buy here in 24 hours if law changed. Millions of hunters from WI, MN, MI, PA, NC, SC, IN, IL - there’s armies of hunters in those states who would love to own land here but don’t because regulations are conservative. ACCESS RIGHT NOW with our conservative laws (which still let anyone hunt every year)..... is still incredibly hard!!!! I know tons of R’s who struggle to find decent land to hunt. Land is tied up, leased out or bought up for hunting by R’s & NR’s. This is every county with big timber. It’s already tied up hard. NR’s control more & more each year. 6% timber with most counties having little or no timber in the state - it’s easy to see how this state could be absolutely turned upside down in a snap of the fingers. I love my NR buddies but almost all “get it”. Iowa stays good for a reason and if u change it- game over. We live in a VERY FRAGILE management system & do not have the resources & habitat like other states do.
The best answer or solution!!!!!..... make the surrounding states more like Iowa to take the pressure off this state & let all the states that destroy their resources & potential actually become states that can compete with Iowa’s quality. No reason MO, MN, etc shouldn’t be turning out 10x the amount of mature bucks and giants Iowa does. Protect our fragile resource and fix all these other disastrous states that ruin their hunting & make the serious hunters leave!!!! GROW THE PIE OF GREAT HUNTING!!! Don’t destroy the little sliver of the pie that Iowa is. Protect Iowa and fix the millions of acres that do have potential across the borders!!!

I agree with this. If you feel like beating your head into a wall. You should listen to what the big game coordinators in MN have to say about deer management. Throw in CWD and bad management turns into a whole new level of bad management. If Iowa increases NR tags in CWD zones it’s gonna get ugly and won’t be good for anyone except the pocket book of the DNR.

 

[Tmayer13]

Obviously late coming to this one. But I was looking into this subject for a couple of reasons. I own 573 acres in Iowa. I bought it back in 1980 with the intention of settling there after discharging from the Army. Being from Texas, that would have been quite a change. Problem is, I kept re-upping. I enlisted in 1979 at 17 years old. Finally faced mandatory retirement in 2013 at 51 years old. In that time, I wound up buying land in Texas and Idaho. I purchased a lifetime hunting and fishing license in Idaho. That allows me to buy non resident elk and deer tags over the counter without doing the lottery thing. Still costs me nonresident prices. I have a lifetime Texas hunting and fishing license as well.

I wound up renting my Iowa land for corn production. I never hunted it, but did allow resident hunters access free of charge. Problems started cropping up when gates were left open. Buildings were vandalized. So forth... The farming tenant informed me that people were running rampant during deer season. 4 wheeling through the fields. Shooting anything and everything in sight, including his tractors and irrigation equipment. So, I visited and looked it over in 2016. Did repairs. Spent quite a bit of money fixing the damage. I wound up posting the land. Talked to an Army buddy needing a place to settle. Moved him in as a full time caretaker. Free rent for watching the place. Last year, I wanted to go hunt with him. Found out all about the hoops I had to jump through. I was considering allowing hunting on a day hunt basis. Pay a $20 trespass fee and have access to the big corn field bucks, using the fees to maintain roads and deer stands. But when I found out I didn't have the same access to the deer on my property that I've owned for over 30 years that the people I let hunt free of charge had, I shut down all access to it altogether.

I understand how deer management works. In Texas, deer hunting is a huge industry. It's not like I wanted to hunt public land. I just wanted to be able to hunt a deer on my own ground every once in a while. Willing to pay the nonresident tag fees, all that. But no go. So, if I cant, I'm shutting it down. I'll keep share cropping it, pay my property taxes, and let the deer do their thing and I'll hunt White Tails at home in Texas and elk and mule deer in Idaho every year.

I can solve this issue. You can lease it to me. I pay you, I take care of the land and make it all the more better. Win win situation here!!!

 

[deep woods goat hunter]

As great as it is to be a resident hunter in IA for whitetails, it is that bad to be a resident hunter in MO, LOL
Wish I could get a new job and up and leave MO for IA. Unfortunately I am in a generational family business that has 2 centuries of roots in NCMO. I will just settle for being a MO resident and working my tail of on habitat improvements to make my 125 acres as good as it can possibly be.

 

[Kaleb]

As great as it is to be a resident hunter in IA for whitetails, it is that bad to be a resident hunter in MO, LOL
Wish I could get a new job and up and leave MO for IA. Unfortunately I am in a generational family business that has 2 centuries of roots in NCMO. I will just settle for being a MO resident and working my tail of on habitat improvements to make my 125 acres as good as it can possibly be.

There are plenty of big deer in MO


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[deep woods goat hunter]

There are plenty of big deer in MO


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Nothing like what it could be.