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SeasonsIowa deer hunting includes a split muzzleloader deer season that separates deer hunting for Iowa resident and non-resident deer hunters. The first muzzleloader season is an early 9-day season for residents only. It’s typically set for mid-October before the pheasant opener.
The second Iowa deer hunting season is for non-residents and it runs for over 20 days. It is usually set for the end of December running into January, which can be bitter cold, especially early in the morning and late in the evening. This is a great season to hunt as the
bucks are well beyond the rut and back into herds seeking
shelter in the wooded creek bottoms to wait out the winter
temperatures. Food is not likely to be an issue on our southern lease land as snowfall levels will be less than other
areas
and the browse will be plentiful along the many miles of soft edge
habitat along the farm fields and creek bottoms that make up many of
our land lease holdings. Scouting these areas well before the season
will easily identify the key localities where the bucks will seek
shelter and that includes the trophy quality bucks that will no
longer have any doe in season to pursue.
TagsAll non-resident Iowa deer tags are by draw. The draw period is usually the month of May through the first week of June. With a viable point preference system of cumulative points awarded for unsuccessful draw years most hunters rarely go more than two points between successful tag draws. As long as the hunter continues to apply he can count on eventually getting a tag. There has been a past performance of increased likelihood of applicants receiving a muzzleloader tag over that of archery and shotgun. Mid-America Hunting Association lease land is found within Iowa deer hunting zones 4 and 5. Hunter PressureMuzzleloader deer hunters are a minority within this Association and the late muzzleloader season seems well after most have had their fill of whitetail hunts through other seasons in other states. What this does represent is another option available to the Association self guided hunter making yet one more state and its three available seasons open to experience. Regardless of who the deer hunter is, the reality is that any of us have only so much effort to expend and within the Association more deer hunting opportunity exists than that effort can usually cover. We may all like to think we deer hunt hard but the reality is that we do not hunt hard on all that we have open to us. Muzzleloader deer hunters that have concentrated within that one discipline have out performed those that also modern firearms or archery hunt. The issue it seems is not more days in the woods it is focus on a particular time of the season and the deer behavior within that period.
AdvantageThe advantage of the late Iowa December deer season on Association leases is we have thousands of acres of corn, soybeans and winter wheat, some of which doesn’t get harvested until late December. Combined with crp grass brushy draws and timber, this is a perfect combination for quality late muzzleloader deer hunt. This is how it stands. Tags area available to draw, land is un-pressured and the bucks are there. All there is to do is to get the do it yourself Iowa hunter in the field to deer hunt.
Kansas muzzleloader deer hunting |
