Private land access for a fee
- Thread starter Naknekm
- Start date
Goosemaster
Well-known member
Exactly. Do not pay trespass fees!!
Do whatever you want, don’t let others rain on your parade. I can understand a person traveling a distance and wanting to make sure they have decent hunting when they get there.
Having said that, I don’t know of any directory that would give you the information. County Pheasants Forever might be a place to start.
Pull your 5th wheel to NW Iowa (Okoboji area) and hunt the numerous parcels of public land that area has to offer. There are a lot of public spots, they have birds, good cover and are re-searchable on the Iowa DNR website. Just be aware the Iowa shotgun season starts the first weekend of December, runs for 14 days. The Iowa deer gun season typically runs 5 days for the first season, closes for two days. Then reopens the second Saturday of December and running 9 days.
Thanks for the great info. Do you suggest not hunting during early to mid December. Because of the deer hunters?
Vet_WingChaser
Member
I second the NW Iowa area for tons of acres of public land. and I agree that the first two weeks of December might not be great for traveling to Iowa for pheasant hunting because of the deer season. I'm sure you could work around deer hunters, but you'll have to be WAY more selective on the parcels you hunt and most private land owners are going to be deer hunting or letting deer hunters on their land. NW Iowa has a lot of swampy/cat tail areas and is best hunting later in the winter when everything is frozen.
Double edged sword, the orange army will help keep birds moving around but there are obvious risks involved. Personally I’d go any week in November over the first three weeks of December.
gimruis
Well-known member
I can't comment about Iowa, but in Minnesota during any deer firearms season, there are also added blaze orange requirements. Your normal vest with orange shoulder patches is not enough. You need at least 50% above the waist AND an orange hat. I had a friend warned about that during the youth deer hunt a couple years ago when he was pheasant hunting.
Iowa springerguy
Member
Private land would be best but where i hunt the locals seem to think that they can go wherever they want. The other thing I would consider is what color is you dog. If the coat is primarily white or they have a feathery white tail be extra cautious.
scott county vizsla
Member
The orange army has been greatly reduced along with Iowa's deer population over the last fifteen years or so. I just wait until late morning when most hunters are either tagged out, hunted out, or ready to grab lunch and watch some football. Sticking to midday and open grasslands I rarely see another hunter that time of year.
Bob Peters
Well-known member
I did pheasant hunt Southern MN one time on deer opener. It was hard to find a spot in the morning, as there were both deer and bird hunters out. I stuck to very open prairie, avoided trees, and put an orange vest on the dog, which I don't normally do. I had no problems, but this weekend when gun opens in MN I will be jumping the border and hunting Iowa!