Pheasant hunting in IA

J

Jeff L in TN

New member
Good afternoon! This is my first time on here so here goes. Myself and two of my brothers, and two of my cousins are planning a pheasant hunting trip in Iowa this coming November. We will be staying in Ruthven IA. and hunting public land. I was wondering if there are any farmers/land owners in the area that might grant us permission to hunt on their land? We are all mature adults our ages range from 27 to 54 and we will have four Labradors with us. If you own land in the Ruthven area and are willing to let us hunt it please email me. Thanks, Jeff. jefflaf@bellsouth.net
 
Jeff,

Welcome to the forum. I do hope that someone can help you with Iowa hunting.
 
The best part of the state to hunt and will also have the most hunters. I would plan your hunt for the 2nd half of Nov for better access to private ground and most of the crops will be out.
 
Public Grounds

I would not be afraid to hit public hunting grounds. I lived in Estherville for 7 years and did 90% of my hunting on public grounds. Last year out there I went out 15-20 times and only got skunked once. Most of the times I only hunted 2-3 hours. Dickinson and Emmet county have a lot of public grounds. The DNR has an excellent website showing topographic maps of most of the public land.

Good luck
Bucky
 
To Bucky's point I also hunted many years around Estherville and before that from I-80 up to border West fo I-35 and all about 90% or better on public ground including road ditches. About 17 years worth of hunting in IA.

I too would go later in season as early season when corn is in can be a bust. Right around Thanksgiving is a good time to go.
 
Thanks for all the input. Our trip is scheduled for Nov 8-13. We will be deer hunting in MI. the next week, opening day is the Nov 15 so that rules out pheasants in IA after mid month. I think we'll do fine on the public land, we will have 4 labs with us, 3 are super pheasant dogs and one is an up and comer. I'd still love to hear from someone that would be willing to let us hunt their land.
 
I've only hunted Iowa once and that was just a couple of years ago, it was just me and my lab. I had access to 1 farm at the time and after that I just drove around and stopped to ask for permission for 3 days. Not once we're we ever turned down. Great folks and great hunting!
 
I would agree with BUCKY some great public ground is in that area. If you go up around the Spirit Lake area and Emmetsburg area there are a lot of good public areas.
 
I used to hunt that area quite a bit in the late season. I did so well in the cattail sloughs on public land that I never bothered to knock on doors. It does get pounded pretty good from a competition stand point though. I've since moved on to less pressured areas.
 
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