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4 Point Disappointment

Here’s the bottom line. This isn’t about Iowa deer hunting. It’s about Iowa trophy hunting with a bow. Period. The residents who claim allowing more nrlo tags will increase nr landownership are being disingenuous. You already own land. The limited tags give the perception that Iowa is the place to go and its causing increased real estate prices. You guys are pricing out yourselves. Again most already own and it’s the annual nrlo talking points crap. I don’t have a coon problem either. Lol.
Respectfully disagree on this.

You are saying you think giving annual tags to NRLOs would decrease recreational land values and NR landownership in the state? Please expand on that.
 
Muddy. Do you own land or work for a landowner. Wondering.

Nope I do not own any land yet. I’m a day late and dollar short to the 2500$ or less per acre Rec values.

And my career entails working side by side with 100s of farmers and land owners across 3 states and 10s of 1000s of acres of land.
 
I’m very rational. I see what it’s about. Trophy bow hunting for residents. You are are selling residents out who want to own land one day. You don’t care about your own. Selfish. Some of you should run for office they way you spin things. But you’ve all made me a wealthy guy, and my kids. Thank you.
Somehow over the last 10 years the term "trophy hunting" has gained a negative connotation. (very intentional by the animal rights groups btw, but that's an unrelated subject)

Do I want to trophy hunt? You bet. What that means to me is QUALITY. Iowa's rules promotes the best quality of any state. The continuance of THAT is what I am interested in protecting. For myself and more importantly for my kids. That's it. I don't have to guess what changes in rules have done to quality. I can look at a number of states as examples. Heck, I moved one of the worst states there is for management.
 
Somehow over the last 10 years the term "trophy hunting" has gained a negative connotation. (very intentional by the animal rights groups btw, but that's an unrelated subject)

Do I want to trophy hunt? You bet. What that means to me is QUALITY. Iowa's rules promotes the best quality of any state. The continuance of THAT is what I am interested in protecting. For myself and more importantly for my kids. That's it. I don't have to guess what changes in rules have done to quality. I can look at a number of states as examples. Heck, I moved one of the worst states there is for management.
And from a state with 1000 times better habitat but far less quality of deer......hmmm wonder why
 
Raccoon damage on farms yes I’ve seen it in some of our farms. But comparing that to what the deer do to our crops down in Davis and Van Buren is truly laughable. Give me a break
 
Deer are harder on soybeans. IMHO- when I watch my fields- on my farm- coons are harder on corn. Deer hit them yes. But coons are harder on them. This has changed in last 5+ Years since trapping has almost stopped. On my OWN FARM- deer #’s healthy & steady for 10 years. Coons have exponentially exploded in population.

I posted below on multiple guys getting coon depredation access. Dude I know did 3 replants on a BIG area. He lives there so took the time to solve this. He killed over 500 coons off one tract. No joke. This is what happens when almost no one traps for 5+ years. This problem is repeated across countless farmers - informed ones know the truth. Uninformed blame deer. This photo is “herd of raccoons” digging seed out (they went out with guns & waited & got 1st pile).

we all can agree NR’s should be able to coon hunt & trap yearly!!! ;).

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And from a state with 1000 times better habitat but far less quality of deer......hmmm wonder why
The southern half of lower peninsula of MI looks almost identical to say S iowa. Maybe better. & upper half is pretty sweet too. The whole state is timber with crops or timber in N part. & lower half…. it’s like “40 counties” like that…. 50% timber mixed with crops: corn, beans, alfalfa, etc. It’s PERFECT!!! That’s just S half of MI. & it sucks!!!!!! I’d confidently say this…. One good county in iowa puts out more giant bucks than the whole bottom half of MI. Probably not even close. & almost identical habitat & food. Thick timber & even some nasty thick swamps next to big ag fields ……. Looks as good, likely better and this sucks in MI: Access for hunting - horrible! Seeing a mature buck- many folks have gone a lifetime without seeing one. If u see a 3 year old- it’s a big deal. Management, balance, age class, etc - it all SUCKS!!!! BAD!!!! Like- u have no idea!!!!!!! THIS is what I don’t want to happen to iowa!!!!!! MI would blow iowa out of the water if they mimicked our regulations.
 
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Interesting data from the state. This is from
2008 - 13 years ago. Still very similar discussion. One thing that’s interesting…. Dnr & state has known we’ve had problem with too many folks wanting to come here & access issues for 13+ years and we still have the celebrity tag program that promotes iowa as deer hunting to MILLIONS.
Second- in 32 years- we went from “more NR tags available than folks to put in for them” to “4 points didn’t draw”.
3rd: As of 2008- Van Buren co had the most NR pressure & % of deer kills
link is here:
https://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/Hunting/deerstudyreport.pdf


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Definitely a stray from the original poster’s point but……

Point systems and the resulting point creep are a broken system in my opinion. They help only those that got in early, in most states anyway. How do I tell my 15 year old son to start spending money to buy points, in Colorado for instance, when top point holders are sitting on 30 points or so( 30 years), and still are not able to draw a top tier tag which will result in next year a ton of people going into the draw with 31 points (point creep). Mathematically if he lived to 100 years old he would never draw. So who did it benefit? Only those that got in the first year or two……maybe.

Iowa may not be that bad now but it could get that way with demand.

I have given it a ton of thought and I believe a total lottery system or a point bonus (name goes in the hat as many times as points you have since your last draw) is the fairest system. At least then you have an equal chance. Sure maybe one guy will hunt 4 times due to lucky draw and another never will but at least we all have the same odds.

And celebrity tags? Get rid of this Rich man / Popular man system! We need no promotion for Iowa hunting, the deman already surpasses the work load, and how unfair is it that the rich and famous get preferential treatment? What a dumb concept!

I have watched hunting become more and more of a rich man’s sport and it saddens me for my soon to be born grandson. Will he be able to knock a door, throw some hay or mend a fence in exchange for hunting rights? It is looking doubtful. Whether it be rich residents or non-residents buying up and locking down that land, or leasing, or outfitters, or ______ (fill in the blank), the averageresident is the one who suffers in the long run.

I think every state should take care of their own residents. I have no problem with a state that reserves a max of 10% of all tags to NR hunters. If I want to hunt there bad enough I’ll take my chances or move there to improve my chances.

My rant is over. I’m headed to do a workout in preparation for my NR elk hunt this fall in one of the few states with over the counter opportunities. I’m sure that too will soon end. The glory days of hunting in the US might just be in the rear view mirror.
 
i have been on both sides of this issue as a Non resident landowner for a time so I understand it pretty well. I always try to look at what is best for the resource. There is more serious pressure on mature bucks in Iowa than ever before not many big deer exist that aren’t on someone’s radar. I would not support Non Resident landowner tags unless they were granted on ones 5th year of ownership or some other clause that would make it less likely to spike the Realestate market. As to the above post on the western draw odds I would encourage you to get your son in at an early age. One stat the isn’t listed is the age of some of these Max point holders many may be out of the game in 5-10 years.
 
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