Honest question!!!!

Hoping I don’t get destroyed for this question…how do you get access to the ihap properties? Can you walk up do you need a permit? Thank you
 
Just park and walk-in. They originally had a designated parking area and a box with cards to complete on what you harvested I thought, but I haven't heard about that lately, maybe it is still part of it. Have a habitat stamp and smalll game hunting license. IHAP (IOWA Habitat and Access Program) is ground enrolled in a CRP program and the landowner has agreed to allow public HUNTING, not other activities, on their ground. In exchange, the government "manages" the property. The link below will tell more about it.


Look for the signs...they will be around the perimeter of the parcel.
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I lived in Iowa for over 20 years fresh out of college. Every year I waited for those 'roadside counts' to come out. They can paint a picture but only part of it. I killed a lot of birds in areas that the 'counts' pretty much proclaimed the ringneck to be extinct. That was fine with me. If I got my three birds having only seen 5-6 for the day...I'm still eating pheasant. I found it best to make it numbers game. Hit the best looking pockets and strips and hit as many as you can. I had very little competition for a lot of years. Truth be told I miss that about Iowa.

I moved back home to South Dakota in 2016...about the time birds were starting to come back in Iowa. This year the pressure from OOS'ers in SD was ENORMOUS. The weather stayed too nice for too long and I saw more large groups than I've ever seen. The fair weather guys were still there for weeks past their normal historical endurance.
 
nastymcnarf said:
I lived in Iowa for over 20 years fresh out of college. Every year I waited for those 'roadside counts' to come out. They can paint a picture but only part of it. I killed a lot of birds in areas that the 'counts' pretty much proclaimed the ringneck to be extinct. That was fine with me. If I got my three birds having only seen 5-6 for the day...I'm still eating pheasant. I found it best to make it numbers game. Hit the best looking pockets and strips and hit as many as you can. I had very little competition for a lot of years. Truth be told I miss that about Iowa.

I moved back home to South Dakota in 2016...about the time birds were starting to come back in Iowa. This year the pressure from OOS'ers in SD was ENORMOUS. The weather stayed too nice for too long and I saw more large groups than I've ever seen. The fair weather guys were still there for weeks past their normal historical endurance.
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And they are still here. I don't blame them , the weather is great.
 
Buster24 said:
I get reports from IDNR and you can pretty much find them on the internet…..do you feel they are factual or possibly inflated….always hear about great pheasant hunting in Iowa, but it seems bird numbers do not coincide with what IDNR posts…your thoughts…..
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Its impossible for the DNR to get an accurate count. They do a roadside count which is dnr officers, biologists, mailmen, etc driving gravel roads and reporting how many pheasants they see. They then use math to try and determine pheasants per mile. They also walk fields on dnr land to count, but who knows if they are wild or left from dog training in the late summer.

I think the numbers are bogus and meaningless. One farm might be low numbers because predators push them out, when the neighbors farm has hundreds because thats where they are safe. If that neighbors farm isnt surveyed, then dnr thinks the numbers are down. Same with public areas, if there's a ton of dog traininers or hunters pushing the birds out near season opening, the hunting isnt going to be good there.. but a mile away may be fantastic.

I quit worrying about them years ago and just go hunting. I do not think iowa is deserving of a destination declaration, overall our habitat is dwindling, public land is piss pounded, and birds are pushed too much. Anyone making a long drive to iowa to hunt, just go another 5hrs to SD where there is 5 million acres of public hunting.
 
KEOutdoors said:
Anyone making a long drive to iowa to hunt, just go another 5hrs to SD where there is 5 million acres of public hunting.
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The problem with SD is that they limit you to 10 days of hunting per season, and they have to all be at once or split up into two periods. If you buy a license in Iowa, you can hunt as much as you want. One day here, two days there, during the ENTIRE season. That is a major selling point to some people, me included. A lot MN hunters can make it to Iowa quicker than they can to SD too. They don't have to worry about lodging and they can be back home sleeping in their own beds the same night. I personally have zero interest to hunt 4 or 5 days in a row. I like going once or twice a week when I want to and when I get good conditions.

While I do agree that SD generally has more birds and more public land, the opportunity in Iowa based on cost per hunt and distance travelled (based on where you're coming from) often favors Iowa, as long as you go enough of course.
 
I was speaking more about the guys traveling for a week of pheasant hunting than guys hopping borders for a day or two. Generally speaking youll see more birds the first day in SD than you will all week in Iowa. Obviously there are exceptions, hidden public areas in iowa with fantastic hunting and areas in SD that are bare.
 
Iowa doesn't have but a fraction of the habitat of SD. Most of our land is growing corn or soybeans, we only have a few untiled creeks, the road ditches and a few patches of CRP to go with a little bit of public ground, just no habitat to hunt in most areas. I am not sure, but I thought I read that they "try" to do the road counts on "dewy" mornings....well that wouldn't have worked this pass year, we didn't have many dewy morning until well into the fall. Few birds on the roads if the cover is dry.

Edit: I will be surprised if the harvest total for Iowa isn't WAY big this past season, I didn't shoot a huge total, but my outings were shorter and a missed a few days. Lots of birds and weather that allowed the cities kids to get out a lot.
 
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SD limits you to 10 days of hunting per license, not 10 days of hunting per season. I do not need to see lots of birds, only three roosters within range. I have hunted all midwestern states except Nebraska. The best "cost per hunt" was Kansas. Almost three months of hunting and liberal
limits on phez and quail. Unfortunately the birds numbers have declined. It was the best in the day, bar none.
 
Wind River said:
I do not need to see lots of birds, only three roosters within range.
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That's kind of what I was getting at too. How many birds does one need to see during a few hours of hunting to call it a "success?" I guess for some people that means 100's of birds, which may or may not include flare nares. Not everyone wants to hunt for 5 days on end, drive 5 hours one way, and sleep in a hotel.
 
Overall, I think Iowa has some great opportunities for the upland bird hunter to fill his / her daily bag limit of pheasants. It is like any sport the more effort you put into it the more you gain. I have been hunting Iowa for many years and have good success on most of our hunts. Yes, you are not going to see the bird numbers that you will see in South Dakota but you find birds if you know where to look. Thank you Brown Dog for some great photos of your successful hunts!
 
gimruis said:
That's kind of what I was getting at too. How many birds does one need to see during a few hours of hunting to call it a "success?" I guess for some people that means 100's of birds, which may or may not include flare nares. Not everyone wants to hunt for 5 days on end, drive 5 hours one way, and sleep in a hotel.
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For me, my dogs getting birdy is the thrill, ideally with some birds flushing…several times per hour or more would be great…
 
Bob Peters said:
I agree. Iowa doesn't hold a candle, especially in terms of numers... of incubators, coops, pens, blinders, lodges with guaranteed success, and birds with large nostrils.
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You trying to get me and A5 all fired up?!?!? :)

I've got a spreadsheet with all the licensed preserves and their locations. I should make a flare nare free zone map and sell it to the masses.
 
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