Advice for central Iowa

RedLion

RedLion

Member
My son is on leave from the Army the end of December. He is just finishing basic training at Fort Benning. Would like to take him pheasant hunting while he is on leave as I don’t know when we’ll get the opportunity again anytime soon. I was looking at public grounds near Grundy county or just central Iowa in general. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
RedLion said:
My son is on leave from the Army the end of December. He is just finishing basic training at Fort Benning. Would like to take him pheasant hunting while he is on leave as I don’t know when we’ll get the opportunity again anytime soon. I was looking at public grounds near Grundy county or just central Iowa in general. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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My advice is north of 20 and west of 35 not gonna pin point hit spots but that direction is better than what your looking at
 
Make sure to check the IHAP maps, link on teh DNRs site, I think they are by county...these parcels might not be as well know as the state owned public ground. The IHAP is CRP that the land owner allows public hunting, in exchange, I believe the state manages the ground. Not sure if the government has the staff to really do it right, but they can't mess things up too bad. Some of these parcel may have been baled or grazed this fall, so you have been warned....not sure how to know without physically scouting them. Good luck, hope you get plenty of shooting.
 
remy3424 said:
Make sure to check the IHAP maps, link on teh DNRs site, I think they are by county...these parcels might not be as well know as the state owned public ground. The IHAP is CRP that the land owner allows public hunting, in exchange, I believe the state manages the ground. Not sure if the government has the staff to really do it right, but they can't mess things up too bad. Some of these parcel may have been baled or grazed this fall, so you have been warned....not sure how to know without physically scouting them. Good luck, hope you get plenty of shooting.
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Thank you! Will do!
 
The IHAP's I've tried I've never had any luck, but to be honest I've only tried two. They don't seem to have heavy cover on them, and I picture them being good early season, and then kind of hunted out. I mainly hunt the upper part of the pheasant belt, so am used to hunting sloughs and woody cover. I will keep an open mind and not rule them out.
 
Ya, the IHAPs are just someone's CRP. Some have ridiculous tall and thick stands and some have varieties that are thin and wispy, hardly enough cover for birds to hold, and those, if hayed last year, just don't have the understory left to hold birds....I hunted one of these last weekend, there were birds, but wouldn't hold. It will be OK next year...if we get rain and haying is not allowed.
 
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Just sharing an update with everyone. A few guys sent some suggestions my way....thank you very much! We hunted a couple hours on the 26th on our drive in from Indiana, all day the 27th, and a couple hours on our way out on the 28th. My son has a short leave so a little bit of time hunting is better than nothing. My son got two birds. He had a great experience and we had time together...that's what most important.
Tough conditions on the 27th. High wind and ice on the ground. Birds would not hold at all except hens and most of them were flushing wild. Late season, educated birds, public ground,...to be expected but we had a great trip! Lots of fun and learned a lot! Some beautiful country in Iowa!
 
Looks like you found some good cover, too bad the conditions weren't better. Glad you enjoyed your outing in Iowa. When your kids get birds, it is way better than getting your own.
 
remy3424 said:
Looks like you found some good cover, too bad the conditions weren't better. Glad you enjoyed your outing in Iowa. When your kids get birds, it is way better than getting your own.
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I totally agree. I really didn't care if I got a bird or not as long as he did. Seeing him smiling and happy made it worth everything.
 
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