BrentD
Well-known member
What changed?
My 2026 Iowa season
- Thread starter duckhunt
- Start date
What changed?
duckhunt
Well-known member
2 deer down , story later.
duckhunt
Well-known member
Quick explanation is I had an antlerless tag for Butler county that I filled and dad tagged out with his either sex statewide tag.
Small doe mine large doe dad's.
Will give a better recap later.
Small doe mine large doe dad's.
Will give a better recap later.
Gellar
Well-known member
If you get an early muzzleloader tag you can’t get any tag for the shotgun seasons, not even a antlerless if your county has tags available. The early tags went from selling out the first day available to not even half of them being sold. It’s been that way for 6 or 7 years.
BrentD
Well-known member
I thought it had been that way for thirty years. But I didn't pay a lot of attention to shotgun tags. You could not get an early and late muzzleloader tag since at 1993.
Gellar
Well-known member
You could only get an either sex tag for one or the other but you could get antlerless tags if you wanted. I always used my any sex for early muzzleloader and just got antlerless for shotgun. Now I get my any sex for late muzzleloader and any sex tags for shotgun to hunt with the group.
duckhunt
Well-known member
Let's back up a few weeks. Dad is 73 and has a hard time walking in any hunting area but still likes to go, bad hips after a lifetime of factory work. Also very busy with mom's doctor appointments, so dad thought he was going to give up hunting. My plan was to go ahead and yank our deer stands out of the private property close to home and just hunt public land by the cabin. But I knew dad was probably going to change his mind and I was right. Last weekend I was scouting some public and got a call from dad that he was going to get a tag. I just laughed it off and changed plans, I guess Im thankful that I can still hunt with dad
So now it's opening morning and cold with heavy frost.I walk with dad to his deer stand then head over to another stand about a quarter mile to the east. Now gellar has been telling me about rattling in October so I figure why not give it a try. After about hour and a half of light I rattle lightly and jyst sit. Im not sure if it was the rattle or just their path but 2 small does came in after about 10 minutes. I have an antlerless rag and either sex tag so I figure I ll fill the antlerless. I shoot the second doe since the first did not present a shot and they take off. So I unhook my safety harness and get ready to climb down.
As im grabbing my pack and turn around I see the first doe cicle back to me and she's alone so I know my doe is down somewhere. I watch her and she goes back behind me towards the direction dad is. I get down and don't see any blood, I'm thinking oh crap but I know she's down because other doe was alone. I find her about 30 yards from where I shot her. Just then I hear dad shoot. Oh great now I have two deer to gut and drag out. Kind of a nice problem to have. Dad swings over to check on me as im finishing getting my deer. So the story is that the other doe was still with a big doe that I didn't know was behind me the whole time. Those two worked their way to dad and he tagged out on the big girl. After gutting and dragging and using the cart we got both deer loaded up in a couple hours.
I got mine cut up and put away thus afternoon and dad likes to take his deer into the locker whole. Just went and got some groceries so I can head up to the cabin tomorrow and hunt with my either sex tag. Still have 8 days of hunting so hopefully more excitement ahead.
So now it's opening morning and cold with heavy frost.I walk with dad to his deer stand then head over to another stand about a quarter mile to the east. Now gellar has been telling me about rattling in October so I figure why not give it a try. After about hour and a half of light I rattle lightly and jyst sit. Im not sure if it was the rattle or just their path but 2 small does came in after about 10 minutes. I have an antlerless rag and either sex tag so I figure I ll fill the antlerless. I shoot the second doe since the first did not present a shot and they take off. So I unhook my safety harness and get ready to climb down.
As im grabbing my pack and turn around I see the first doe cicle back to me and she's alone so I know my doe is down somewhere. I watch her and she goes back behind me towards the direction dad is. I get down and don't see any blood, I'm thinking oh crap but I know she's down because other doe was alone. I find her about 30 yards from where I shot her. Just then I hear dad shoot. Oh great now I have two deer to gut and drag out. Kind of a nice problem to have. Dad swings over to check on me as im finishing getting my deer. So the story is that the other doe was still with a big doe that I didn't know was behind me the whole time. Those two worked their way to dad and he tagged out on the big girl. After gutting and dragging and using the cart we got both deer loaded up in a couple hours.
I got mine cut up and put away thus afternoon and dad likes to take his deer into the locker whole. Just went and got some groceries so I can head up to the cabin tomorrow and hunt with my either sex tag. Still have 8 days of hunting so hopefully more excitement ahead.
duckhunt
Well-known member
duckhunt
Well-known member
Got some groceries yesterday evening and got my little doe taken care of. Took my wife to the lions club omelet breakfast this morning and loaded up the truck headed northeast to the cabin. Stopped and grabbed another antlerless tag for allamakee county on the way. Sitting at the top of a hill with 2 tags and 7 more days ahead of me.
duckhunt
Well-known member
I thought the thermals and wind were bad in the mountains, I'm pretty sure I've experienced 13 different wind directions since I sat down.
duckhunt
Well-known member
Time to cut up deer in the dark.
Gellar
Well-known member
That means you got another one?
duckhunt
Well-known member
Yep
Gellar
Well-known member
That’s all? No details?
duckhunt
Well-known member
Lol sorry had supper, took a shower and went to bed.That’s all? No details?
duckhunt
Well-known member
I have only scouted this spot one time last weekend so it's new to me but there was alot of sign. Im not a trophy hunter so any sign is good sign to me. This hilltop is only one hill over from the ridge behind the cabin so not a far walk either. @Gellar it's the ridge I texted you about above my corner. So There's some swirling wind and a little time yet, I'm reading hunt talk and got a book out and read for a few minutes.
Forgot to say on my way up the hill I came across a really nice fresh scrap on the ground. The first two Places I sat down I didn't have a very good angle on that scrape because of the contour of the slope so I moved to a third angle.
As the sun dropped about an hour before end of shooting time the wind died down to almost nothing. I think this is my absolute favorite time of day for deer hunting. I can hear him coming plan as day through the leaves from behind me and left. I gradually turn head and see a small buck walking the line beside some thick brush. As he is still behind left I get my body turned and gun ready as he walks behind some trees. Now I'm ready and he walks to about 40 and stops behind another tree, then decides to turn hard quarter away as he us chewing on some leaves. He then turns back broadside behind some other trees and now he checking me out thinking something isn't right. After a stare down for about two minutes he calms down and steps out for a perfect shot.
I line him up in the Williams sights and let the smoke fly. I can see he is hurt bad and runs slightly along a curve in the thuck brush. I reload and go to look for blood but don't see any, I think I need to go back to hollow points. My doe and this buck did not have much blood. Anyway I loop around where I think he went and found nothing so I go back to the start and work into the thuck brush a bit and found him only fifty yards from the shot. I give many thanks and send out some texts.
I got him cut up and into game bags, then hung the meat in a tree for the night. I didn't pack him out because my pack was completely full of other crap which has me thinking how much stuff I really need to carry when I'm almost always within a mile of the truck or cabin.
Having coffee and breakfast waiting for light to go carry him out.
Forgot to say on my way up the hill I came across a really nice fresh scrap on the ground. The first two Places I sat down I didn't have a very good angle on that scrape because of the contour of the slope so I moved to a third angle.
As the sun dropped about an hour before end of shooting time the wind died down to almost nothing. I think this is my absolute favorite time of day for deer hunting. I can hear him coming plan as day through the leaves from behind me and left. I gradually turn head and see a small buck walking the line beside some thick brush. As he is still behind left I get my body turned and gun ready as he walks behind some trees. Now I'm ready and he walks to about 40 and stops behind another tree, then decides to turn hard quarter away as he us chewing on some leaves. He then turns back broadside behind some other trees and now he checking me out thinking something isn't right. After a stare down for about two minutes he calms down and steps out for a perfect shot.
I line him up in the Williams sights and let the smoke fly. I can see he is hurt bad and runs slightly along a curve in the thuck brush. I reload and go to look for blood but don't see any, I think I need to go back to hollow points. My doe and this buck did not have much blood. Anyway I loop around where I think he went and found nothing so I go back to the start and work into the thuck brush a bit and found him only fifty yards from the shot. I give many thanks and send out some texts.
I got him cut up and into game bags, then hung the meat in a tree for the night. I didn't pack him out because my pack was completely full of other crap which has me thinking how much stuff I really need to carry when I'm almost always within a mile of the truck or cabin.
Having coffee and breakfast waiting for light to go carry him out.
