Jason Smith Iowa Hunting Properties and Farm Land

I found this advertisment on Craigs list for lodging in the Loess Hills area of west central Iowa. If you are planning a hunt in the Loess Hills of western Iowa this may be a good option for you. This home is located very near the best hunting in Iowa right here in Monona and Harrison Counties.

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Taken from Craigslist.org http://siouxcity.craigslist.org/spo/893982205.html

My hunting trip will not cost you a fortune like a guided hunt will. This is not a guided hunt, but I will advise you. I expect you to already know how to hunt. I farm for a living, so I am too busy in the fall and spring to give guided hunts. I can tell you where to hunt around here. This is an affordable opportunity for you to come visit Central Western Iowa, and for me to put my extra farm house to work. This house is located half way between Sioux City and Omaha along I-29, or 6 miles South of Blencoe Ia. It is also half way between the Missouri River and the Loess Hills, both are 3 miles away from it. Within 15 miles of this house there is 12,000 acres of public hunting in the Loess Hills, and 4,000 acres of public hunting along the Missouri River. The best hunting around here is for deer, turkeys, and predator hunting. Harrison and Monona counties are both rated in the top half of Iowa`s trophy buck registry. Each county is getting 1300 extra doe tags for this season. Act fast because they have always sold out by the end of Nov. Plan a January doe hunt here, we have to many does. The Loess Hills have Iowa`s highest turkey hunter success rate. Harrison co. came in 2nd. for 2007 for total turkeys harvested in the state. Monona was not far behind. Out of state hunters plan now for 2009, you have to apply for tags by early January for deer and turkeys.

Pheasant hunting here is spotty, there are more pheasants in Northern Iowa. Waterfowl hunting here is feast or famine depending on the fall weather. This year could be the best in 13 years though with the recent rains, all we need is for the birds to push through before the season is over. When that happens and we have water around like this year, the waterfowl hunting along the Missouri River bottom can be phanominal! You do not have to be a hunter to stay at my house, if you just need a place to stay while visiting here you are welcome.

I want to warn you though if you are planning on walking in the hills you need to be in decent shape. There are a lot of 2/1 slopes or worse that might be 200 yards long. You can not avoid them if you want to get up were the critters are when the heat is on. I have 30 years of hunting experience in these two counties and I am willing to share that with you to a point for free, leg work will cost extra.
The house is a 2 story 4 small bedroom house with one bathroom that has a tub/shower combo. The kitchen has a gas stove, mircowave, refridgerator, toaster, sink, cooking utensils, and table with chairs. The house is fully furnished, all you need to bring is your hunting gear and food. The price to stay here is $100. per night for the whole house. I also charge a cleaning deposit of $50. per head with a minumum of $200. Sorry for that but it is necessary to keep the place from getting destroyed, anything less would not replace much. If nothing gets ruined I will refund back the whole cleaning deposit. Normal cleaning like at a motel is no extra charge.

You can find out more about the Loess Hills State Forest by going to iadnr.com , find state forests, then click on the Loess Hills. You can also find information about out of state liscenses and tags, and their application dates. If you go to one of the satelite web sites and type in my address of 1025 Cameron Ave. Little Sioux, Ia. 51545 and then scroll East you can see the whole Forest by following the roads. You can also see the place for rent, it is the North house. If you send me your address I have a house brochure I can mail you. Contact Scott & Lisa Phipps: 712-649-2056 or meanfarmer@futuretk.com

There is no doubt that if you are an avid whitetail hunter like myself you have heard of Pike County Illinois. I've been there many times, in fact our main office is located in Pittsfield Illinois right in Pike County. While there for meetings and training we always stay at Hadley Creek Outfitters north camp in southern Adams County Illinois. Pike County and Adams County are two of the most well known whitetail hunting counties in the United States. The terrain there is as flat as can be coming off of the Mississippi River valley and eventually grows into rising timbered ridge lines with long draws mixed with agricultural fields making some great habitat. The rough and rugged terrain of Pike and Adams Counties along with fertile river valley soils makes a great place for bucks to get proper nutrition and provides them with the security needed to grow big. All of these are great things to consider when evaluating a hunting land purchase but maybe you don't know that Pike and Adams have an Iowa equivelent. A place where the land is just as rough, the deer just as big and the soil just as fertile. Its Monona County Iowa and boy do we have some of the best hunting land here! Monona County Iowa is one of the whitetail worlds best kept secrets and the numbers prove it.

Joel Helmer wrote a Geographical Analysis of Boone and Crockett Whitetail harvests in the United States. Joel used a computer program to enter all of the B&C records to find a visual representation along with some hard facts about where the most trophies are coming from. Joel's work is often cited in articles about finding the best area to hunt. If you click on the link above you can read his report but I'll quickly summarize what you will find in that report. When the numbers were entered Iowa was #1 in B&C entries of all time but I think the most impressive part of his report was in the break down by counties. There are only two Iowa counties in the top 10 counties across the United States and they were Allamakee County in Northeast Iowa and Monona County in west central Iowa. In fact both Iowa counties in the top 10 of all time were tied for 4th place with Adams County Illinois. Pike County Illinois was #3 on the list of all time B&C entries. Depending on which time period you look at on Helmers report Pike County Illinois and Monona County Iowa are only separated by 1-2 entries for that time period.

In fact Monona County Iowa also has a neighboring county or its equivalent of Adams County which is Harrison County Iowa. Harrison and Monona Counties in Iowa are the equivelent of Pike and Adams in Illinois, but....... you might find the hunting land prices in Iowa a little more affordable, and the roads a little less crowded during hunting season.

If I was to give you a description of Monona and Harrison in Iowa like I did Pike and Adams in Illinois above I could copy and paste it here but I'll save you the trouble. Instead I'll tell you the differences in the two areas. In Pike County Illinois you will find rock bottom creeks and in Monona County Iowa you will find dirt and sand bottom creeks. In Monona and Harrison Iowa you will find Loess soil towering nearly 300 feet above the face while in Pike and Adams you'll find more limestone bluffs. In Monona and Harrison Counties you'll find a much more rugged terrain that provides an even greater degree of security for whitetail deer. In the western Iowa counties instead of the Mississippi River valley you'll find the Missouri River Valley.

To illustrate the very similar nature of Monona and Harrison to Pike and Adams I've put together a few terrain maps to show you.

ILLINOIS

ABOVE is a terrain map from Pike and Adams County Illinois. You can see to the left (west) the flat Mississippi River Valley and then as you move to the east the land abruptly changes to a rough terrain with river valleys and the work of many years of erosion down those valley's creating many fingers that if you looked at an aerial photograph are heavily timbered.

BELOW is the equivalent in Monona and Harrison County Iowa. Again to the left or west you see the flats of the Missouri River Valley and as you make your way east across the graphic you notice they rise into steep ridge tops that have been weathered by erosion over thousands of years creating the same timbered ridges and valley's as you see in Pike and Adams County Illinois. This rough terrain stretches from northern Iowa all the way into Missouri along the western edge of Iowa.

IOWA

West Central Iowa has some of the best whitetail habitat on the face of the earth hands down and its a huge secret that's likely to stay that way for some time. Despite the heavy horned deer here in the Loess Hills it doesn't have the reputation or fanfare other location get. What does that mean to the recreational land buyer? It means there is somewhere else you can buy Pike County quality land with Pike County quality deer at a smaller price tag and certainly less crowded gravel roads. Thats enough to set any whitetail hunters pulse racing right?

Did you notice there was not one southern Iowa county in the top 10 counties of all time? I spend my days stomping around the Loess Hills in Western Iowa hunting and marketing hunting properties in the Loess Hills which gives me the chance to put my feet on literally hundreds of farms and I know the deer that are out here.

Finally I will leave you with this excerpt from and Iowa Department of Natural Resources brochure called White-tailed Deer that I was reading the other day. This excerpt will give you an idea of the deer roaming the Loess Hills in Western Iowa. "Fawns weigh from four to seven pounds at birth and will gain 80 to 100 pounds in their first six months of life. Adult males reach an average weight of around 240 to 265 pounds at about four and one- half years of age while adult females average 140 to 160 pounds. The largest deer ever reported in Iowa was a 440-pound buck taken in Monona County during the 1962-hunting season."

Jason Smith, Land Specialist

712-646-2061

Whitetail Trophy Properties

Iowa Hunting Land

What is the difference between one hunting property and another? Is there a way to judge them? The truth is that all hunting properties are unique and they are not created equal. If you were looking at homes you'd have certain things you are looking for. 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, large yard, 3 car garage, swimming pool. The same should be true of your dream hunting property. When it comes to judging a hunting property do you know what you are looking for? How will you judge? For some its all about price and that should be the very single last thing you look at. Start off in your range, but don't let it be a limiting factor up front.

The least talked about feature of a hunting property I hear about is huntability. In today's world you read ad after ad for hunting properties that have "trees shredded by huge monster bucks, excellent spots for food plots, the property is covered up in deer sign, a 200 inch monster was shot here 2 years ago" Those descriptions help you understand some things about the property but usually completely overlook huntability. When you finally decide on a property that has these tree shredding bucks will you be able to hunt it? Will you be able to hunt it for every wind? Will you be able to have a buddy or two on the property at the same time? Most of all does it have high opportunity locations or will all of the deer activty be spead out and equate to a diminished experience for you?

First let me say that I think the single greatest resource you can use in evaluating a hunting property is a topo map. A topo map will tell the story of any hunting farm before you even set foot on it. I'm surprised just how often this tool is overlooked. You can find topographic maps for all of Iowa on the Iowa Geographic Map Server from Iowa State University.

Two weeks ago while planning a hunt with a friend where we were going to hunt a property I'd never set foot on I decided to look up a topo map for the property. I drew a circle on the map and emailed it to him. I told him that circle represented the best opportunity on the property. He was impressed with the thought of using a topo map to choose hunting locations so I elaborated with him a little about how you can tell where deer will be based on terrain features. Unfortunately a permanent blind had already been erected on the property in a different location about 200 yards across the opening, but luckily we could see that location from the permanent blind. At 6pm that first evening we saw deer across the opening and without hesitation he turned to me in the blind and said "thats right where you drew the red circle on that map" He was right, it was exactly where I'd drawn the red circle and now there were 6 deer standing right there. We finish out the evening seeing 22 deer with the majority of them traveling right through the exact spot.

I'm going to use a property that I have listed now to show you what I mean by huntability. A farm I named The Magnolia Trophy Factory is an excellent example of terrain features. First let me show you the aerial view of the property.

Look at the aerial and answer in your mind where you think the best opportunity on the property will be. Notice the layout of the property, the open spaces in relation to the timber on the property. What is your first impression of the property. Does it look like a hunting property you would be interested in? Most people would say yes because it does have some great features you can see from the aerial. There is a secluded field in the northwest corner that's about 25 acres, open spaces for food plots, there is a small stream running north and south on the east side of the property, thick timber and it looks like a variety of stand locations so the property could be hunted by several people at one time. You can even imagine setting aside part of the farm as a sanctuary without loosing much area, and still having great access at the same time from the southwest corner or the eastern side. You can even see another creek on the neighbor to the west, plus you get the benefit of the neighors adjoining timber on the west, maybe thats your sanctuary if you can find out that neighbor does not hunt?

The one thing you can not tell from the aerial is where the best opportunities are on the property. Here is a topographic map of the property and I have circled in red where the best location on the property is to hunt.

This property has two great features in close proximity to each other. Inside the red circle you see another round circle. This round circle is a "convergence hub" and immediately to the east of it is a "saddle"

The convergence hub is a location where many trails will come together like the spokes on a wheel, because many terrain features converge there. Deer naturally use the path of least resistance when navigating terrain, much the same as a human does. When you are standing at the bottom of a hill and you look up you'll be drawn to the path of least resistance. You can also notice these paths by looking at a topo.

A saddle is a low spot in a ridge line that lets animals pass over the ridge with the least amount of climbing. Saddles can be the most effective hunting location, especially during the rut when bucks are out scent checking areas for hot does. A saddle not only acts as a path of least resistance but a funnel squeezing all movement down to a narrow area making them exceptional locations to hunt. They can pass through these funnels and conserve their own energy, and move much more quickly.

Looking at topos becomes a game of connect the dots to see how the land is used by deer.

Above I've connected the dots and you start to see how this property is going to hunt. The ridge top trails in black connect with many of the secondary ridge trails in red, while crossing all of the shelf trails. You can consider each topo increment on the map a shelf trail by itself where deer walk along hillsides rather than up or down them. Now you can see how deer will natigate this property, and you can see the highest opportunity locations. Now all of a sudden that convergence hub and saddle look like excellent locations for a stand site.

If you were to look at this property in terrain mode you'd see this image. Now you can clearly see that saddle and convergence hub and how they will present a greater number of sightings. You can also see the ridge system on the property and choose other locations to hunt as well. In fact, look at that northwest field now! All of a sudden its even more exciting as a great food plot location. You know deer have easy access to it through that hub and saddle, its secluded and you can see from the aerial its surrounded by mature timber where you can hang stands. You also know from the aerial you can place an elevated blind, but the topo tells you the best place to put the blind and be able to see the whole field!

When you are evaluating Iowa hunting properties for purchase never overlook the effectiveness of a topographical map and be sure to choose a Whitetail Trophy Properties agent that has experience in evaluating hunting properties. Our brokerage serves Iowa, Missouri and Illinois with agents in all states. Best of luck this year in the field.

I work with folks everyday that are buying hunting land and because I live so close to Iowa and Nebraska border I often hear the question "Should I buy hunting land in Iowa or Nebraska?" Set the property tax question aside where Iowa obviously wins, set the tag question aside where Nebraska obviously wins. If you question about where to buy hunting land revolves around only the quality of the deer, quality of the farms and the areas past production of trophy deer western Iowa wins out every time. Recently I wrote a post comparing western Iowa to western Illinois. Monona and Harrison Counties in Iowa are very similar to Pike and Adams Counties in Illinois. You can read post about the Best Iowa Hunting Land and see how the two places compare.

I've worked hard to let everybody know about western Iowa's Loess Hills and the huge whitetail deer hunting secret we have here in Monona and Harrison Counties. The truth is that its not that hard of a sell, the numbers prove it. Below is a graphic that was sent to me by a friend about the number of Boone and Crockett entries in the area.

This color coded graphic of the counties in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska clearly show the hot spot for trophy whitetail hunting in the entire region. Bordered by the Missouri River valley the Loess Hills in western Iowa are a clear producer of big trophy deer. Its no surprise to me, I live here in the hills and know Monona and Harrison Counties are some of the roughest, most timbered parts of the hills, as well as the least populated. When you factor in the proximity to Omaha Nebraska south of us, and Sioux City Iowa north of us it makes it an extremely attractive area to purchase hunting land. With Interstate 29 running through western Iowa it also becomes the ideal weekend get away spot with easy quick access close enough to both metro areas.

Joel Helmer ranked all the counties in the nation according to B&C eentries. Monona County tied for #4 in the nation for Boone and Crockett entries, tied with Adams County Illinois and only one place behind Pike County Illinois which was #3 in the entire nation. When you look at his work you'll see only two Iowa counties in the top 10 and none of them are southern Iowa counties! Allamakee and Monona Counties are the only two in the top 10. Read Joel's report and see for yourself.

Now look at the numbers at the bottom of the graphic and look at Monona and Harrison Counties numbers compared to all other counties in western Iowa. At 24 entries it has a significant lead over all other counties!

I think one of the most important criteria for choosing a piece of hunting land is the county track record. Stacking the odds in your favor by purchasing hunting land in a county that is already producing is a great first step. Not only does it give you a better chance to harvest exceptional whitetail deer, but an investment in a high opportunity area its certainly going to be more attractive to a buyer when you sell.