I’m looking for something a little off the wall…. My buddy and I have enough preference points to finally draw a tag in Iowa. I’m 99% certain we can’t afford a really good, fully guided outfitter. We really don’t want to go that route anyways. I’m hoping we can find something semi-guided or even straight up DIY. I just want private land… been doing the out of state public land thing for 8+ years now and we’ve killed plenty of great bucks but with all these years and money invested in preference points I would really like to get my hands on some private land!

Any suggestions from guys that have actually done it?

Would lov to deer or turkey hunt that state but especially deer. Good luck

I went the leased land route the last time I hunted Iowa and it was a terrible experience. The one thing I have learned in all my years of hunting the Midwest, every year is a big unknown! Everything is so dependent on weather, what kind of neighbors are around the property and numerous other factors. For example, I lost a really good deer on my farm to EHD and most of the known survivors from last fall have not shown back up. My days of leasing private land are on thin ice. I'm sick of spending thousands of dollars to hunt average deer. I say all this to highlight the fact private land is not necessarily the smartest thing to do when it comes to Iowa and what you have invested. The odds of you leasing a private farm at an affordable price that holds above average whitetails are low in my personal opinion. If you go that route, I would strongly suggest you try to find some public within close proximity as a fallback plan.

I have been sitting on enough points to draw IA for years now while waiting on the prefect opportunity to fall in my lap. Well, that perfect opportunity hasn't come. I did the same thing the first go around and made a bad decision after my patience ran thin. I've decided to just hunt public when I do go and start building points again. I've wasted so much time by just sitting around waiting on the prefect opportunity to justify the time and money involved with hunting that state.

I’ve got a buddy from KS who’s drawn Iowa and he hunted public. Absolute giants on public out there. 180-200+ are not out of the ordinary for a few public tracts. The leasing game in the Midwest has gotten very difficult. Lots of smaller farms are leased to out of staters but basically hunted when they’re not there. Bad thing is you never know it and have no idea what they’re killing. That’s not just Iowa. I’ve come to the conclusion that if I’m going to spend that kind of money I’m WAY ahead leasing ground in AL by the right people and managing for 130-150” deer and being content.

Your right Matt- my leasing out of state days are over when these run out. Too many variables you can’t control. Im staying home from now on except maybe for the occasional pay hunt somewhere.

We had a good run of 10 years or so of leasing private land in Illinois, but got burnt out from the logistics. We leased directly from the land owners and had around 1,000 acres at one point. Way better hunting there than Alabama but we got to the point where we hated the driving.

My buddy and are are in the same Iowa dilema. Were both sitting on 6 points and can't decide whether to try to get on a lease or go the outfitter route.

I am strongly considering doing a couple pay hunts a year and let outfitters do all the work and deal with all the issues that come with leasing OOS.

Unless one leases a really special property, the cost doesn't math out in the long run. I have been lucky early on to have leased some of those special properties, however as Matt noted so much has changed in the Midwest. I currently lease just shy of 600 continuous acres that has taken a good deal of effort to put together. There are only 3 of us that hunt this property, we manage pressure and are pretty particular with what we shoot and mid 40's is all it has consistently produced. I know of 5 groups of guys in my area doing something very similar as we are and we just aren't killing 150's or better on these private leases. That is a big white flag for me!

I’m sitting on points and will go the outfitter route. I’ve been patient and invested my time/money to accrue the points and I’m not going to chance them on a private lease. Not saying an outfitter is that much better because I have ran across some pretty crappy ones, but I feel a trip to Iowa warrants the expense to shell out for a good one.

I hav considered just putting up $ for a dang good outfitter some where like iowa every year. My Lease 3k - planting $750-850 - corn i am afraid to say $$. I got a 256 in clarke just me - solid deer lease - i control what shot which not much

My camden 80 gone way down - but it just me. I do like planting and watching deer grow - i dont think my property ever produce a 150 and i hav had some 6 and 7 year old deer. 130 would b rare - 140 hard. I had a stud 4 year old few years back exceptional - disappear - could hav made 140 - prob neighbor got him

Camden could produce bettr but somebody cutting me off there - it sucks now

At least i dont put up with club howey BS

At 55 i just don’t want to do all the work, deal with all the headache and driving that a out of state lease takes. Just not fun to me anymore. Id rather someone else deal with all that and I just hunt.

1K a day. Whew !

For anyone going the outfitter route, Check out Whiskey Ridge Hunts. I turkey hunted with him but he kills some stud bucks.

Really appreciate everyone’s advice here. Some really good feedback. Looks like it’s going to be back to the public land grind. At least we have a solid 6-7 months for some e-scouting. If anyone else is planning to be up there next November give me a shout. We can compare notes. We’ve met some really good folks doing that.

If a group of aldeer members decide to go lease route or want to book a trip to together with an outfitter, I'm interested. Sitting on enough points (5) to go. I'm planning on going next yr or the following. Muzzleloader not archery for me.

It would be hard for me to pay an outfitter in Iowa as good as the public land is.

Big changes to out of state party hunting laws in Iowa this year. There’s a chance more opportunities to hunt non-resident private land will be available in the future.