One more hunt

I

IA at heart

New member
Unfortunately, I have not been able to get out in Iowa near as much as I would have liked this season nor near as much as I usually do. I have been out there a bit and seen plenty of birds this year but I really want to get one more good hunt in before calling it a season.

I am going to head up this Sunday and get in some hunting Sunday afternoon and then I plan to hit it hard all day Monday, or at least as long as the legs hold up. My plan right now is to hunt the south as they did not get near as much snow as points north did. I think there will still be some decent cover and it should be a bit easier walking.

I have one small private spot but intend to primarily hunt public and some of the newer walk in IHAP areas, particularly in and around Clarke County. At best, I bag dinner for the cabin that night. At worst, I get some great exercise, some good scouting for next year with snow on the ground and enjoy a couple of days in the great Iowa outdoors. I will report back next week, hopefully with a couple of pics.
 
i will be hunting jan 8-10 (the end of the season). do you hunt anywhere else in the state or are you tied to the south? :cheers:
 
The right attitude

Hello IA at Heart,

You are going into it with the right attitude. The North and West sides of your cover will have significant snow even in your southern areas. Work that heaviest cover as that is where I am finding birds.

If your outing is like my last two, you will see birds in the fields and shelter belts where permission is tough to get. Find that WIHA that doesn't have much competition for cover and you should find some birds.

I guarantee that you will be a leaner, meaner hunter when you finish your journey this weekend. It is tough going to walk in the fields!:)
 
Iowalabs - I will be "camping" in Lucas county so I kind of want to stick around that neck of the woods. Plus, I was in DSM over X-mas and the snow was a bear. I kind of figured the cover would be pretty much gone in many places and the walking would get very tough. So, I am going to check out a few spots in the south and see what they hold. They did not get quite as much snow as they did further north. Shooting birds is not my first priority but I sure do like to see a few while checking out new ground. Hopefully I will get a few flushes to get my blood pumping. And a rooster in the bag will be a bonus.

Kbell - Thanks for the advice, hope to put it to good use.
 
Well, I did make it out for a bit on Sunday afternoon and all day Monday. Sunday afternoon I hunted some newer (2 years) public in far southern Iowa, south of rt. 34. In a short 45 minute walk on ground I never hunted before I kicked up 5 hens. This looks to be a promising spot for next year given the weather holds up.

Monday I hit 3 IHAP walk in areas and I must say I was incredibly pleasantly surprised. In the first spot, there were food plots planted, corn and sorghum, great cover for birds and lots of other cover for other game as well. It was a very nice piece of land. I kicked up two hens and a covey of quail with 20+ birds. A great sight to see. No shots fired.

IHAP piece two was beautiful as well. Lots of grass. It was warming quickly and what snow was left was soft so I could see fresh tracks EVERYWHERE. That place was absolutely loaded with birds but they were runners. I only saw two hens and one rooster in that big place that were too far off but there were birds running around there like crazy. A dog would have made for a very good day there. There were food plots in here as well.

IHAP piece three was pretty much the same as two. Big and lots of grass with good creek bottoms running through it and patches of beans and sorghum throughout. Kicked up four hens here but like the others, it appeared there were alot of birds there.

All in all, a great couple days in southern Iowa. All these spots were south of Rt. 34 which in the last decade or so I honestly dont think I have seen 5 pheasants while hunting. So, it appears far southern Iowa had a decent recovery this year as well as other spots across the state.

I will be back at these spots next season for sure.
 
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Nice report, bud. Sorry we didn't get out this year. I hunted much less due to a variety of factors. My end of year stats collection bore out the numbers to prove it. Didn't even hunt on the 10th (rain) ... a first for me in a long while.

I agree with your remarks about southern Iowa. It certainly appears to be on the uptick!
 
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