Want to give Iowa public a try

[Bob Peters]

Him and I have enjoyed almost 40 years now, quietly pottering around. No, we haven't slaughtered them every year, but it's been a lot more fun. No one to baby sit, no worrying about a date and getting everyone to agree on everything.

I do one trip a year with a larger group, 8-11 people depending on who can make it. But I really agree with your sentiment. The first year everyone always wanted to hunt together. I'd do it because I had to. I've finally talked some sense into most of them. We all stay at the same place but split up during the day, usually 2 or 3 guys in a truck and go hunt. Much more enjoyable. A lot easier for the dogs. When you get a bunch of guys all in a line for a march through a sea of grass, I feel like the dogs spend a lot of time just running up and down the line. And there's always someone who walks a little faster and is out front and then you can't shoot if a bird flushes. And blocking, I know it can be a good tactic, but you really gotta know the lay of the land and the guys you are with. Large group hunting seems like a better idea when the ground has been heavily salted with dumb birds from the chicken factory.

 

[nastymcnarf]

I lived in Charles City, Iowa for quite a few years. As mentioned...there are some good public areas in north central iowa. If your goal is to avoid the crowds...go later in the season. Snow and cold are your friends. The thicker public areas pick up birds in the nasty weather...A guy and a dog can do pretty well during this point of the season. One of my favorite places was a public spot that got pounded the first month...don't even bother hunting it. The adjoining farmland was good cover but not very thick and certainly no cattails. Those birds never left that posted ground in fair weather...no need to. Add a foot of snow and good windchill...they piled back into the thick public stuff. Sometimes with only 40-45 minutes left in shooting hours...but you can have some short, very noisy hunts. If you have your choice of times to hunt...I'd go late season.

 

[Brentbullets]

Good advice, I don't get excited about pheasant season until about Thanksgiving and I hunt only private ground.