Iowa deer lease hunting land

Mid-America Hunting Association Iowa deer bowhunting members enjoy the highest ratio of success Iowa deer bowhunting of all deer hunters in our three state region.

This Iowa deer hunter success effect is related to the filtering affect caused by the whitetail deer tag application system of limiting hunters. The viable Iowa non-draw year preference point system limiting most to two points before successfully drawing a tag seemingly drives away the less dedicated bow hunter and attracts the archery hunter more willing to put in scouting time when he is successfully drawn.

That pre season deer scouting time we have seen over the years makes for as great a potential success enhancer of anything a hunter can accomplish. When scouting any of our leases every deer hunter will have plenty of acreage to find what he selects as his trophy whitetail deer spot or if lucky enough, several spots.

A dedicated archery hunter that spends as much time driving and scouting our leases as on the hunt. This trophy buck grossed 170 6/8 with a net score of 163 3/8.

Scouting

Those that do scout (most do and do more so than any other hunt discipline) will cover in general 2,000 or more acres and settle on generally two farms with multiple deer stands. These same deer hunters will continue to hunt one farm as often as possible and quit that land only when a harvest is successful or not and it’s time to move on to other farms.

Rarely does any one deer hunter cover more than 3 of our lease land farms within one season. Anyone attempting a deer hunting trip that covers too many properties in too short of a time essentially moves the deer around rather than seeks a pattern on any one lease. This difference is lost on many that think the more field days over a greater number of farms enhances success.

Even though the weather was quite warm I had a good hunt. Seen a lot of bucks. At 7:00AM one morning I rattled in 5 bucks to within 30 yards. No shooters. I killed this buck on the 8th day after missing a 160 class ten pointer 30 min. earlier. My partner Matt [last name deleted] video taped the whole thing. He had killed a 160 inch buck a couple of days earlier. Can't wait 'till next season. Thanks for a great club.

Greg

Thanks Greg for the great story of what would be a great hunt for anyone!

Regulations

Iowa tag costs are above $300 and further serve to limit the deer tag application and subsequent Iowa bow hunter pressure.

Iowa’s bowhunting season has several advantages over that of our other states and they include the season is during the peak of the rut and before the firearms season. And, that firearms season is shotgun only, the shorter range of which leaves many quality racked bucks walking at the end of the year.

This one singular aspect of Iowa's deer hunting has not been the bonus many believe it might be to attracting bow hunters. While commented on frequently, it still remains that while Iowa bowhunting season sees the greatest success amongst our bow hunters, Kansas remains the largest producer of 140+ bucks.

A final comment about peak rut hunts and shotgun only limitation combined with the large crop fields Iowa is well known for, may leave many deer bow hunters with a bow in their hands watching the best trophy whitetail of their career running haywire after a doe through the middle of a grain field well out of range of all. The good news is that outside of the peak rut with more predictable whitetail patterns and the more funneling terrain of the shallow drains crossing the many farm fields leaves many a shot opportunity for the archery tree stand hunter.

Tim, a 13 year local member.

Hunting Advantage

What most will enjoy about our do it yourself deer bowhunting are the number of lonely days in stand free of other hunters. This itself is frequently the reward many will seek and the heartache of others.

Those coming from high pressure deer hunting states will have become dependent on pushed movement and in the central mid-west the truly natural whitetail deer moves about in a far more limited manner than most realize.

This natural whitetail will not come to the deer hunter unless the hunter injects himself within that movement pattern. Picking that right spot within that pattern then becomes the key point of the hunt. No surprise in this statement. What MAHA provides is that deer hunt opportunity - the right habitat in the right region of Iowa that has a history of trophy production for do it yourself bowhunting.

First MAHA Hunt

Having been a past member of a couple of “hunting clubs” in my home state of West Virginia, I was skeptical about the quality of the hunting experience I’d have with the Mid America Hunting Association. My previous experiences had taught me to expect a minority of the members to have claimed access to most of the good hunting locations, with new members left to settle for the “crumbs”.

In reality, what I experienced on my [location deleted] bow hunt during the first week of November this past fall far exceeded my expectations! During seven days of bow hunting, I saw no other hunters in the woods, and I could find no sign that anyone had hunted on any of the leases before me! I saw deer from stand each day that I hunted. Moreover, I had shot opportunities at Pope and Young bucks on three out of seven days.
Suffice to say, I don’t get that kind of hunting back in West Virginia.

I made the “mistake” of shooting a fairly nice buck (at least by my previous standards) on the second day of the hunt. He had 11 scoreable points and measured 130” and 3/4th inches; his live weight was well over 200 lbs. (that means that he weighed roughly twice as much as your average eastern buck). Of course, that relegated me to hunting doe for the rest of the week. Predictably, I had a buck that would have measured somewhere between 145 and 150 walk by me at 10 yards on the next day’s hunt. Later in the week on Friday, another buck of approximately the same size waltzed past at around 15 yards! Next year, I’ll definitely hold out longer in hopes of a nicer buck!

I hunted the first day of rifle season, but didn’t see any shooters. I did see two coyotes (one very large) and two small eight point bucks. Towards the end of the day I spotted a large doe and decided to take her back home with me.

In addition to the quality of the hunting, the beauty of the farmland that I hunted impressed me. In the past, I’ve always hunted either in the Appalachians or the Rockies. While I still love mountains, the Mid West has a wide-open, remote quality that I came to appreciate. The sunrises and sunsets were beautiful, and I almost always heard coyotes howling in the distance in the evening on my way back from stand.

On top of the picturesque landscape, the people I encountered were exceedingly friendly. For example, one farmer interrupted his soybean harvest to help me work on my broken-down truck. The association members that I met were friendly and helpful as well; they seemed to be high quality sportsmen.

Finally, I’d like to thank Jerry, John Nee and son, and most of all John Wentzel for assisting me as a first year member. Thanks, John W., for the land recommendation for [location deleted]. I’m excited about scouting [location deleted] and bow hunting there this fall!

Sincerely,

Clint

p.s. I’ve attached a photo of the rack off my [location deleted] buck. He’s not great on spread or tine length, but he has decent mass.

Kansas whitetail deer bowhunting

Missouri bowhunting

Mule and Whitetail Deer hunts

Iowa whitetail hunts

Iowa Whitetail Deer Bowhunting

Options

Special

Administrative

Success

Scouting

Regulations

Hunting Advantage

First MAHA Hunt