I’ve hunted Iowa archery twice. Different experiences from eachother. Granted, both experiences were fun/exciting and I am grateful to be able to hunt the farms we hunt.
First year was 2017, unbelievable. It was what you dream of when talking about Iowa. Quality bucks after bucks. I notched my tag on the third day and I was hesitant just because the amount of good bucks I saw. I had 150-155” 10pt around me all night, he got spooked and took off. Next thing I know a big frame deer is headed my direction, he got to 15 yds and I still don’t have my bow in hand because I wasn’t sure. I saw a second main beam, split G2 and tines for days. I honestly had to talk myself into it. He gave me a good shot and rest is history. Scored 169”
Drew same tag in 2022 and the quality/age class of deer wasn’t there like 2017. EHD hit that area hard two times since and you could see the missing age classes. Hunted same spots/areas/trees and we hunted hard. Out of 3 guys we managed to shoot deer, but not the type of deer we did in 2017.
We get full range of 8 farms 2000+ acres and to our knowledge the only archery hunters that hunt them. The farmer hunts them every year shotgun for two days and they shoot anything.
I can’t wait to go back to Iowa and I do believe that it’s worth the wait. Literally a true giant (200”+) could step out at anytime. Out of all the whitetail states I hunt/hunted, Iowa still holds the #1 spot for me.
