24-25 Season Recap

C

cyclonenation10

Well-known member
Didn't have the chance to post on here as much as I'd have liked throughout the season, but needless to say it was another good one.

The Highlights
  1. Flushed ~2,600 birds
  2. Harvested 345 Iowa roosters - a new best for me - yes this includes ALL roosters harvested on hunts I was on.
  3. Harvested birds in 14 different Iowa counties
  4. Best single day - 6 man limit in 2 hours. Early season, nice spot next to some of the last corn in the county to get picked.
  5. 14 lost birds/cripples. My dogs are not perfect, but they do not lose many downed birds. That is my retrievers strongest attribute. Virtually all birds lost were early season when I was hunting with 4-5 guys, and blockers or someone without a dog quite a ways from me shot multiple birds at once but didn't kill them or have a very good mark. I don't recall ever losing a downed bird on a solo hunt.
  6. More hunters that ever in the fields - hard to find much private ground that wasn't being hunted at-least every weekend.
  7. Bird numbers probably down 15-20% from the past few years in Iowa. Still good hunting in areas, but definitely fewer birds.
Overall, it was another very good season. The bird numbers are solid in Iowa, but they do not come easy (outside of a few "honey hole" spots). The hunting pressure is pretty tough, and access to private land is becoming much more difficult. Seeing more hunting leases every year. I am fortunate to have built up a long list of places to hunt, but usually have to travel an hour or more, and cover lots and lots of ground. I've also got another friend I hunt with alot who has access to quite a bit of ground, so we are usually able to find some pretty good areas to hunt.

It is looking like it should be another mild winter (based on the weather so far), so fingers crossed for a better Spring this year than last. Lots of work to do this offseason on our farm with cutting trees, clearing certain areas, planting food plots, etc.

How was everyone else's year?
 
Bob Peters said:
A majority of private land seems to now be owned by absentees, trusts, corporations etc. Not easy to find the right door to knock on.
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100%. This will only continue to get worse.

The other thing I've struggled with is deer hunting leases. Some of the best pheasant habitat in Eastern Iowa is also prime deer country, and many of those properties are being leased for deer hunting. There are a lot of birds out there that never get hunted because the CRP acres are locked in by deer hunters.
 
cyclonenation10 said:
The other thing I've struggled with is deer hunting leases. Some of the best pheasant habitat in Eastern Iowa is also prime deer country, and many of those properties are being leased for deer hunting. There are a lot of birds out there that never get hunted because the CRP acres are locked in by deer hunters.
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Permission on private land to hunt deer here in MN (especially during gun season) is nearly impossible now. Everyone and their cousin hunts deer during that time period.

That's primarily why I'm only able to gain permission to pheasant hunt after that season is over in mid November. Virtually every spot I hunt roosters gets hunted for deer.
 
gimruis said:
Permission on private land to hunt deer here in MN (especially during gun season) is nearly impossible now. Everyone and their cousin hunts deer during that time period.

That's primarily why I'm only able to gain permission to pheasant hunt after that season is over in mid November. Virtually every spot I hunt roosters gets hunted for deer.
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I think the part you missed is cyclone mentioned "leases." These are very bad for trying to door knock, even after season. Here's what happens.

A guy pays big bucks to lease 110 acres of private land. The owner agrees. Every year the lease is in place he will tell anyone that wants to bird hunt "no", regardless of before or after deer season. This is what happened worse in Kansas than anywhere from what I've read.
 
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