Late December Trip

M

mod71

New member
Thinking about making a trip to NW part if the state sometime the week of December 19 for a few days. Just one guy and two dogs, planning on hunting public land.
1. Looks like there is a muzzleloader season open that week. Does that bring a lot of deer hunters out to share the land with, or is it pretty minor?
2. Opinions on trying to chase public land birds late in the season?
This would be my first trip to Iowa, so not sure what to expect. Obviously weather is a wildcard this time of year as well, but I have time off work and wasn’t able to make some other trips I usually take this year so figure I’ll try something new.
thanks in advance.
 
I say you don’t know if you don’t go !!! I wish their pheasant season extended to the end of January, interesting that their Quail season does but pheasant doesn’t.

I may try a trip up that way before the end of the season , let us know about your success!!!
 
I have (usually do) muzzle-loader deer hunt. I hunt blocks of trees or from my tower blind. I have to imagine the deer hunters will not be much of a concern then, but as required, wear orange and maybe put orange on the dog too, if you hunt near trees and especially if your dog resembles a deer (a fur coat and 4 legs), just to be sure.

I would normally say Dickinson and Emmet counties, but it sounds like MN hunters get after those pretty good, so maybe venture south to the next tier of counties. Check the maps for all the public hunting areas and get after them! Where are you from or maybe just, which direction are you coming from...to keep things anonymous?

As far as conditions, those wetlands could be wet, they had much more rain there that 60 miles south. I think Bob (an active poster here) sneaks in Iowa a few times a year in that general area, maybe he will chime-in and give you a better idea on the conditions.

KSB, not sure either on the length of the Iowa quail season or bag limits, I don't think we (north of Hwy 20 anyway) have enough quail to harvest any of them. I haven't seen 10 quail north of Hwy 20 in the last decade, maybe the last 2 decades combined. I would try south of Interstate 80 if I were to look for them.
 
I don't know how far you are coming from that is something to take into account. I usually get an Iowa license every year and head there when MN has deer season going on. Muzzleloader deer I never worry about in any state, not many people out. I would say that by this time of year most Iowa public land has gotten pounded HARD. The birds are smart(or dead), they run a lot, and really you better make the most out of the golden hour, because it's your best odds far and away. All this being said, when given the chance I've always decided to hunt when I can versus staying at home. Iowa has a good number of birds this year(although I think MN was better comparing to the average for both states). I talked to a buddy who has hunted NW Iowa a LONG time, all public land. His last report was, birds are starting to bunch, so it's easy to hunt a few spots and see nothing, and then hit a spot and see a lot, but if you don't approach it right they might all flush out of range. The pheasant picture is the last rooster I bagged for the season 2 years ago. I drove to Iowa on a whim, hunted all new spots. The first WMA I tried I was lucky to harvest this nice rooster. A few days before in MN I caught this nice brown trout, which I released very healthy and happy. Good Luck if you go.
 

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YEP, I wouldn't worry about muzzleloader season. But as you probably know, don't go during gun season. They take it very seriously out there!!
 
Thanks for all the replies. I’d be heading from southern Wisconsin, so the drive isn’t too far. (5-6 hrs). Considering there are basically 0 birds where I am, IA provides a much better chance of some action for the dogs. I’ll be happy to report back if I end up making the trip. I have the public land atlas so we’ll just start driving and see what we can see!
 
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Use that link above to find the IHAP parcels (private owned CRP that the state manages and hunting is allowed). I am not sure if the emergency grazing & haying that was allowed again this year was allowed on the IHAP acres or not, or if the emergency program extended that far north in Iowa, so these areas might not be a "sure thing". There is also a link for the Wildlife Management areas which are open to public hunting. If you get over here and need some new scenery Christmas Eve morning, reach out...but I am guessing you might be heading home by then.
 
I have seen IHAP that was mowed this year. I have not seen entire fields of IHAP mowed, though. I hunt public land 95% of the time I hunt in Iowa. I hear a lot of good things about the Fort Dodge area, but I have no personal experience that far east. There is a lot of public land west of Spirit Lake that holds birds. I am roughly 90 minutes southwest of Spirit Lake, and we have a fair amount of birds. Monday through Friday it is rare for me to encounter another hunter. If you run into trouble finding birds, shoot me a message and I will help you out however I can.
 
Thanks again for all the info, guys. One last question/opinion…
Thoughts on staying in Storm Lake or Spencer? Looks like lots more public land near Spencer, but as someone posted, is this area going to have been much harder hit being closer to MN?
Also, looks like the weather gets nice and balmy towards the middle of next week when I’m planning on being there! My lab loves the cold stuff, but the GSP isn’t a fan once the single digits roll around 😂🥶
 
birddude said:
I wouldn't worry about muzzleloader season
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I can't comment on Iowa's rules, but in MN if there is a firearms or muzzle loader deer season open, there are added blaze orange requirements. Your standard vest with orange shoulder patches is not legal. At least 50% of your body above the waist needs to be orange, AND you have to wear an orange hat. Just something to be aware of, its probably worth checking on the rules in IA associated with this too.
 
Mod71, I'm from central WI and make 4 to 6 trips to that area a year for several years now.. No worries about deer hunters at all. As said, it gets pounded hard as the public land is so concentrated. I just got back from my last trip last Friday and it was challenging because of the noise the snow made. Longe shots should be expected. Managed 6 in three days so ok but as you and I know, that's a lifetime in WI. Snow conditions make a world of difference as you know. I had to leave before the last snow storm unfortunately. Hope for some fresh soft snow.
I stay in Spirit Lake. Spencer is less expensive but there is less public around there. Spirit Lake gets HAMMERED the first two weeks BECAUSE the land is so concentrated. Feel free to start a conversation with me on here or we could exchange emails, etc. Happy to help.
 
remy3424 said:
So M71, did you go? Hope you postponed for at least a week, or left after hunting yesterday.
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Hey all. I made the trip Monday morning and headed back yesterday afternoon. Overall was a good trip. Weather certainly left something to be desired, but we can't control Mother Nature. We stayed in Spencer and hunting within an hour of town all days.
Hunted Monday late morning through early afternoon Wednesday.
Monday checked out two public spots a bit west of Ft. Dodge. Poor shooting and overexcited dogs cost us two birds at our first stop, but there was opportunity, which is all you can ask for. Also saw a rooster flush from 30' up in a tree which was a first for me. Second stop we put up a ton of birds in short order, but nothing but hens which was disappointing, but the dogs enjoyed the work.
Tuesday morning was cold. 6 below at 8am. Tried a decent looking IHAP parcel, but found a nice icy layer of snow below the new inch of fluff that fell the night before, and before long the dogs' paws were tore up. We headed south to work on getting out of the deeper snow cover and ended up checking out some additional public properties for the afternoon. Managed to pop one rooster in some heavy cover from under a snow drift at one location. Ended up north of Cherokee to look at some land there, which had spots that had good cover, but it seems like the overall population in that area (more in the hills and valley of the river bottom) just wasn't there, as we didn't see anything in the spots we tried, but I'll admit between the cold and their paws, the dogs were not covering the ground they usually do. I think I saw it get to 2 degrees at one point for the day was it.
Wednesday morning we headed towards home, hitting a few spots as we went. Knocked down one rooster in the cattails and even though it went down what I thought was hard, couldn't find it after 20 min of looking. I'm thinking it buried itself under the cattails. Flushed a few more hens but no more shots at roosters. One last stop before we headed east resulted in more hens, and a big flush of roosters well out of range at the edge of a field. Snow was starting to come down pretty good by mid morning. Again, the dogs were struggling with the temps and did not hunt to their usual level.

Overall I was impressed with the numbers of birds. Driving around there were countless fields with 20+ birds feeding in. Also noticed several wooded parcels (like the abandoned farmsteads that are an acre of wooded brush in the middle of a barren field) that had birds just wandering around in them. I'll be the first to admit I don't have a ton of experience hunting wild birds in late season in weather like we had. The quality of the public land was also impressive. Needless to say I plan to be back next season.
Oh, and I didn't see a single other hunter any day (but given the time of the week and weather, this didn't surprise me).
All the advice was much appreciated!
 
Glad you made it out and got back again before things got sporty. Sucks you didn't get into a pile of them. I am about 30 miles south of Cherokee. If you are out this way again, over a weekend, (not this up coming one) give me a shout.
 
Happy to hear you did make the trip and did see birds. Unfortunate they didn't sit tighter on the big flush. I am headed down to Forest City later this week. Fingers crossed the snow isn't super deep, website says between 6-8".
 
Was at the in-laws this weekend in NW IA and hit fil’s small piece of crp in the middle of a section. Dog got a little far on me as I was struggling through some deep snow. 3 roosters blew at 40 plus and then the whole piece (8-10 acres maybe) erupted. 30-40 birds, never pulled the trigger. Good to see the numbers, I’ll hit it again before the end of the year probably. Coyotes are thick as hell and I found a couple fresh bird kills from that morning. Calling the previous morning I had 3-4 yotes running in circles playing at probably 500 yards. Lots of dead pigs-they arent hungry.
 
First day today. It was really a brutal morning with that wind. Two of us managed 3 but it was pretty tough hunting. Both us and the dogs were spent by about 2:30. For snow I would say about a foot was the average but that damn wind really drifted it deeper in a lot of spots. Gravel roads are manageable, but you really gotta pay attention to all the drifting, parking is hard to come by because of the drifts.
 
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