Iowa turkey hunting spring season

Disadvantages

Iowa spring turkey hunting has a lot working against it compared to other turkey hunting states and the results are that many self guided turkey hunters chose not to hunt Iowa and Association turkey hunters reflect this as well even with the knowledge that private turkey lease land awaits them.

The disadvantages are further amplified when comparing to the more liberal tags and hunting days, and the higher wild turkey densities of Missouri and Kansas. Then add to this mix that for the cost of a little extra drive time the Rio Grande and Eastern may both be hunted on the same trip for both the fall and spring.

Draw Tag

The first imposition on Iowa turkey hunters is the non-resident draw tag system requiring application by January for the April season. Many hunters may not be able to or simply do not plan that far ahead. The ones that do are making it a special effort to hunt the Hawkeye state adding one more tom to their list of states hunted.

The other hunter choosing to hunt Iowa is one that is making a campaign of harvesting the five available tags that our one cost membership price allows. While the Iowa spring turkey season tag application allows for non-draw years preference points similar to their deer tag, the uncertainty of a hunt is frequently all that is required to stop the planning process.

Try as we may to capture live toms on film means frequently not being fast enough with the camera when the birds are seen. The next best thing is this picture, the arrow points to tracks and the background shows the habitat this farm has a lightly wooded creek bottom surrounded by pasture north and south, fallow farms to the west and neighboring south, working cattle lot to the east. Not a crop field within 1/2 mile.

One Tom

The one tom limit to the Iowa spring turkey season further detracts.

Money spending decisions to travel for a hunt are typically based on the perceived reward and that reward is tempered by the fact that a one tag hunt may be over in as quick as an hour or take a week. A time allotment that is frequently a second priority compared to deer or upland hunting. Vacation days being limited as they are, will be rationed and rationed to the hunting that gains the hunter the greatest benefit. If that choice is between spring turkey and another hunting discipline, we have seen where the (especially Iowa) spring turkey season loses far more frequently than any other.

Broken Season

Hunt planning is further complicated as the Iowa spring turkey season is a broken season spread over four non-contiguous periods of variable time length. Rather than having one large window of opportunity, the hunter is limited to a far more finite period of season days and for many a constraint that work life does not allow for.

Iowa's wide open, large gain fields, flat ground and a flock counted at 60 birds. All should remember when traveling to the central mid-west that this region is flat land farm country and efficient farming is king. That is both a benefit and a consequence as the farming provides a very abundant food source, the very open ground requires enhanced camouflage and movement skill.

Advantages

There are advantages to the Iowa spring turkey season that also withstand comparison to Kansas and Missouri.

The first is there are fewer hunters state wide and on MAHA hunting leases. Within the Association limited spring season hunters are sharing up to 20,000 acres of land with enough supporting habitat to have room for plenty many more. This has been demonstrated by the 100% hunt success rate of all those that have hunted our Iowa land. This compares quite favorably to the 22 to 46% average state wide success rate since 1974.

Association private land is in south central and southwest of the state (Grand River watershed) and overlaps the region that routinely has higher year to year bird counts and harvest rates than elsewhere. This population advantage includes not just toms, but also the more sustainability statistics of hen and hens in spring with young. These sustainability statistics are credited to the southern region having the largest increase in flock size within the state.

A pre-season tom strutting in the evening on a creek bottom from a new lease that was just acquired that day.

Outlook

While there are advantages to the Association’s Iowa turkey hunting land the long term outlook is not promising. There are some turkey reproduction environmental limiting factors that will not be overcome by the Association. The first is the poor renewal of tall grass CRP has greatly limited turkey nesting cover. Another is farm improvements by use of the bulldozer being generate all the more recently with bio-fuel enhanced crop prices.

The results of this changing environment are readily apparent in the posted surveys. Overall, the Iowa year to year turkey numbers are decreasing when compared to the previous 10 year averages. The years of 1976, 1982 and 1986 being the all time three highest Iowa turkey counts since data collection.

Rare to find turkey nesting habitat and a direct cause for the poor Iowa spring turkey season results is prime nesting cover of tall prairie grass.

For those in our Association that want a do it yourself Iowa turkey hunt we have the private Iowa land, the right turkey habitat and good bird numbers to allow for a good hunt.

Iowa Hunting

Iowa Deer Hunting

Missouri Spring Turkey Season

Kansas Spring Season

Habitat