Iowa hunters- questions please reply ???

B.Trull · Post by **B.Trull** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 8:02 am

I had a nice discussion the other day with a employee of the IDNR who has worked there for 26 years. I am going to paraphrase the discussion , but I wopuld like some input and see if you agree with his comments.

1) hunters, outdoorsman have a good relationship with the DNR ?

2) Farmers and local landowners have a moderately good relationship with hunters ?

3) primarily upland birds birds, deer, turkey are hunted in Iowa ?

4) DNR makes a real attempt to secure more public hunting lands for outdoorsmans with matching funds ??

A good friend and I are thinking of picking up and moving out there and see what you Hawkeyes and Cyclones think of your state as far as for outdoorsman and houndsmans. Thanks Peace

brad

blackdirt beagles · Post by **blackdirt beagles** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 9:12 am

a buddy of mine goes there every season. he says landowners are usually very nice when they stop and ask for permission. they even made friends with an old farmer and now stay at his place when they go. the guy even has a kennel they get to use. this is in the Wapello area. he did say most dont want you to shoot the pheasants, but they love rabbit hunters.

bob huffman · Post by **bob huffman** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 12:45 pm

I ain't seen a rabbit over here in 20 years. I train my dogs on san juans knotheads and possums. To hunt real rabbits I have to go to NY.

sog · Post by **sog** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:52 pm

We go there every year up by the northwest corner of the state and it is unbelieveable of how many rabbits there are you almost step on the things walking around

bob huffman · Post by **bob huffman** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 4:22 pm

He's lyin! We don't even have a northwest corner of the state.

B.Trull · Post by **B.Trull** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 6:34 am

Ah Bob there are plenty of rabbits for every one. Plus Iowa always needs more wrestlers. My hounds arent that good anyway !!!

Brad

Blu Tick Beagler · Post by **Blu Tick Beagler** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 9:24 pm

I plan a trip or two every year to Iowa. We have plenty of Rabbits here in Eastern Ohio, but not like Iowa. It started 6 years ago. 3 of us payed a guy named Stan Knox to rabbit hunt in SW Iowa. Stan is a great guy, but we found that the Iowa DNR is great too. There is public land everywhere, and full of rabbits. I called the DNR about 4 years ago and they sent me maps of the entire state. The last trip I made there were three pick-up's headding from Ohio to Iowa, full of hunters and dogs. I'll still never forget my first trip to Iowa. Stan told us not to tell anyone we were rabbit hunting if we went into town. He said they would probably laugh at us. He came out to watch the dogs run, and asked how those beagles knew how to circle that rabbit back to us. He was amazed. We still laugh about that. the Iowa DNR has a nice web page with maps and rabbits populations for the entire state. Check it out

B.Trull · Post by **B.Trull** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 8:29 am

Yes, I have a brochure from Mr. Knox and have been studying the different counties SE of Des moines for amount of public land and type. Yes, the DNR has been very helpful. Such a nice change after living in Indiana and paddling aganist such resistance for so long. Peace

Brad

DENY · Post by **DENY** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 7:06 pm

I HAVE LIVED IN IOWA FOR MOST OF MY LIFE AND THE DNR IS ONLY INTERESTED IN DEER AND PHEASENT HUNTERS FROM OUT OF STATE FOR THE MONEY. THEY DO VERY LITTLE FOR THE SMALL GAME HUNTER
THANK GOD FOR PHEASENTS FOR EVER BECAUSE THE HABITTAT THAT THE MAKE IS GOOD FOR RABBITS ALSO
DENNY OUTLAW BEAGLE DEN

B.Trull · Post by **B.Trull** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 8:30 pm

Yes, the person from the DNR said that phesants forever and the DNR often cost share pieces of land. I am a little suprised the cost of land is that expensive in a state that is not very populated. Feel lucky. I walked for 9 hours on Indiana public land and jumped 1 lousy rabbit this last week. Peace

Brad

bob huffman · Post by **bob huffman** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 10:07 pm

I live 1 mile north of Fox Hills DNR hunting area which is 1500 acres and I will promise you there are no rabbits there. I am serious. The DNR buys land for turkey and deer and most of it is wasteland that nothing but those 2 can live on. I am 5 miles from Eldon hunting area and it is the same thing. Contrary to what you may have been led to believe by people that don't live here, the rabbit population is not that great. They are in pockets that still have briars which most of Iowa land does not have. The predetors have wiped out the once good rabbit numbers here. If there are not briars, you won't find rabbits no matter how much cover there is. I can take you to huge doze piles and old homesteads that one would think would be loaded with rabbits and there are none. Yes we have rabbits if you are lucky enough to know where they live but there are miles of prime pheasant and quail cover with no rabbits. By this time of year the hawks and coyotes have thinned them down to small numbers and you will have to look hard to find a good place to hunt. When I look for places to hunt I look for a good briar patch and if it is not there, you might as well save your time cuz there will be no rabbits. It may be differant in other parts of the state, but here I can count on one hand the good places in my county. Miles of corn and soy beans but no rabbits. I happen to live close to town where coyotes stay away and I have rabbits all over 200 acres around my house but if you don't have people to scare away the predators or briars, it gets tough to find them

bob huffman · Post by **bob huffman** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 10:14 pm

The last dnr boy I saw I asked told him about it too. Asked him why they didn't make some brush piles on all that ground the hunters have paid for. The farmers have torn the cover out of this state severely yet the hunter has to pay a 10.00 habitat stamp to hunt. Shouldn't the ones that tear out the habitat have to pay for it instead of hunters who want to shoot some rabbits. The rabbits also have a big dose of herbicide as it flows like water in this state. The beans are what they call Roundup ready and they can just spray the hello out of them to kill the weeds and grass. I hope the rabbits are Roundup ready too.

DENY · Post by **DENY** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 1:28 pm

I AGREE WITH YOU BOB I LIVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STAT AND IT IS THE SAME HERE. THE DNR LIKE TO TELL PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE DOOING ALL THEY CAN BUT IF IT DOES NOT MEAN A LOT OF MONEY TO THEM THEY DO NOT CARE. THE DNR IS NOTHING BUT A BIG POLITICIAN
THEY WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANT TO HERE. THEY HONESTLY DO NOT GIVE A DAM ABOUT THE LITTLE PEOPLE RABBIT HUNTERS OT SQUIRREL HUNTERS. DENNY

B.Trull · Post by **B.Trull** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 7:05 pm

I had a nice conversation with 2 state biologists today concerning the public land , wildlife, funding and such. I will paraphrase the general ideas. first, one of the biologists , both of whom, are responsible for counties SE of Des Moines said some of the public land does not hold rabbits and some does, but they ( Iowa DNR ) do not target most small game species, most emphasis on upland birds, deer, turkey. No suprise,same as Indiana most popular, most revenue. Second the state is poor for funding and most of the operating monies come from some type of grants out of the Pittman funds , granted from the feds. To get money from the feds the state must meet certain requirements. Why there is little or no dog training on state land , feds dont like it during nesting season march-July. why? the upland gamebird and waterfowl people are influential at the federal level. Small game hunters arent. Some of the Pittman monies even go to pay salaries maintain equipment and the such. this explained alot of differences for me between the state of Iowa and Indiana

Brad

Brad

bob huffman · Post by **bob huffman** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 3:48 am

To be honest, I don't expect the DNR to do anything for me. Could care less if they buy public land or manage for rabbits or small game. I also don't expect them to charge me 25.00 to hunt rabbits but that is what it cost. 10.00 of that is for habitat stamp. What they need to do in Des Moines is tax the hello out of people that tear out cover. Iowa is only 6 % timber now and fading fast. They rip out all the fence lines so they can plant corn and beans at 40 MPH and then get in that new govornment paid for pickup and get to the diner to have coffee and donuts. The only thing the DNR manages for is money. The deer herd is out of control and I can't drive down my road at night without dodging them, even after season was just over. The more of them high dollar tags they sell, the better the stock holders up there in Washington like it. That means they don't have to send them any money from Washington. The reason they do that is because money is power. If you want to hunt coon or trap, it cost a lot more and then if you want to shoot a deer, you have to take out a loan and its only good for 1 deer.. No, I don't expect them to do anything for me, but they sure expect me to give them 25.00 each year to shoot a few rabbits. I hear next year you will have to get a license to hunt mushrooms and dig fish worms. May start charging to trap mice, kill spiders and swat flies. When they start charging for air, I am out of here.