Hello All

C

Chocolab34

New member
From WI and hunt in ND each year. I'm looking at coming to Iowa this fall, probably around season opener. I have a place in Spencer and Armstrong booked, however I'm not sure where I will be spending most of my time hunting. An insight would be great! Thanks everyone and Happy Hunting!!
 
Welcome! If you have some private ground (there should more public there than where I am(an hour south/west)), you will be limited-out and need something to do for the rest of the day. You are close to the Iowa Great Lakes area, so you can find things to do there.

Make sure you post (with pics) as your trip goes. We have folks here from the area that might provide better info.
 
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Be prepared to fight a LOT of pressure if targeting public ground. There are birds, but you will really have to work and put in lots of miles in difficult terrain (think lots of marshes, knee deep water, cattails, etc.). If you have the luxury of hunting private, then sit back, relax, and enjoy as Remy stated.
 
remy3424 said:
Welcome! If you have some private ground (there should more publice there than where I am(an hour south/west)), you will be limited-out and need something to do for the rest of the day. You are close to the Iowa Great Lakes area, so you can find things to do there.

Make sure you post (with pics) as your trip goes. We have folks here from the area that might provide better info.
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I don't have any private to hunt in that area, I'll be hunting public. Thoughts on going later once the crazy season opener has passed for hunting public land, thinking maybe late November? Thanks for the help
 
cyclonenation10 said:
Be prepared to fight a LOT of pressure if targeting public ground. There are birds, but you will really have to work and put in lots of miles in difficult terrain (think lots of marshes, knee deep water, cattails, etc.). If you have the luxury of hunting private, then sit back, relax, and enjoy as Remy stated.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info! I'll be hunting public land and am wondering if there is any benefit (less hunting pressure) to coming in later November?
 
I would wait until mid November and hunt during the week and travel on the weekends. That time frame is when I did my trip last year, still lots of birds, most of the crops are out, and the vast majority of hunters are at work. Make sure to give the local wildlife biologist a call for tips, last year I was given detailed info on areas to avoid due to drought and emergency haying of crp and Ihap, good luck!
 
scott county vizsla said:
I would wait until mid November and hunt during the week and travel on the weekends. That time frame is when I did my trip last year, still lots of birds, most of the crops are out, and the vast majority of hunters are at work. Make sure to give the local wildlife biologist a call for tips, last year I was given detailed info on areas to avoid due to drought and emergency haying of crp and Ihap, good luck!
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Thanks for the information! I’ll be sure to share some pics!
 
I go to the Great Lakes area every year a few times. As stated above, weekends are pretty nuts from opener to close. Even in late December/January the pressure has been pretty high. We get chances at a lot of birds, but like Cyclone said, there are many miles walked. Sometimes walking a half mile to hunt a patch that takes 5 minutes to go through is what it takes. It really sucks when they flush before you get to it lol!
 
As others are saying, the week before Thanksgiving, if the crops are out, might be best for timing. The fair weather guys and one or twice guys are done also. For getting private access, you might have the ones holding the hunting off until after the family comes back for Thanksgiving to hunt. The week after would be better IF shotgun deer season wasn't going on, an different issue. North of Spencer in Dickinson and Emmet counties there is a lot of public areas (comparatively to where I am), these areas look great just driving by them. They have had a bunch more rain than my area, so you might need some of those fancy high water boots I saw in a thread here last week. Good luck!
 
remy3424 said:
As others are saying, the week before Thanksgiving, if the crops are out, might be best for timing. The fair weather guys and one or twice guys are done also. For getting private access, you might have the ones holding the hunting off until after the family comes back for Thanksgiving to hunt. The week after would be better IF shotgun deer season wasn't going on, an different issue. North of Spencer in Dickinson and Emmet counties there is a lot of public areas (comparatively to where I am), these areas look great just driving by them. They have had a bunch more rain than my area, so you might need some of those fancy high water boots I saw in a thread here last week. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info!
 
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