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Gee Tim my archery application was only ~$530. :rolleyes:

BTW in the past if you didn't draw a tag they kept $20 as an application fee and you earned a preference point. This year that increased to $50. :mad: Gotta figure those $ into your cost too since it usually takes at least 2 preference points to draw an archery tag now.

BTW...Illinois is not much better. Tag, habitat stamp and NR license comes to ~$470 if you hunt more than 5 days. The 5 day permit gives you a small break but not much.

At least Kansas and Missouri haven't gotten out of control...yet.

Edited by Rhino
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I live fairly close to IA (2 hours) and IL (1 hour) but because of those crazy prices I do not try to hunt there.... A hunter would easily have a $1,000 dollars or more into a buck assuming you get one. Yeah I would love to kill one of the big ones that is there but I would rather put that $1,000 into my own property and try to grow my own big buck ;):D

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Ya it is not cheap. But I guess you get what you pay for. I don't really know what to think about it. As long as they keep the non resident rules the way they are I am fine with that. If they need more money then I think they should raise the resident stuff a little would be fine with that.

Where ya plan on hunting, Tim?

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But I guess you get what you pay for.

While I generally agree with this comment....you aren't getting anything for what you pay for here......Yes a tag but that doesn't mean you are going to get tag anything....

I think I can go to Ohio, WS, KS, MT, or other states a lot cheaper and get the same thing......I might even be able to go there multiple years for the same money and increase my odds on a better buck.

Don't get me wrong IA and IL have amazing deer but there isn't amazing deer lurking behind every tree....;)

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While I generally agree with this comment....you aren't getting anything for what you pay for here......Yes a tag but that doesn't mean you are going to get tag anything....

Don't get me wrong IA and IL have amazing deer but there isn't amazing deer lurking behind every tree....;)

I was going to say that but didn't. I guess it is more like gambling....the more you pay the more you win....but it is all a risk.

And glad to hear someone from out of state say there is not a booner lurking behind every tree. :D

Tim, that should be a good area (I'm assuming you've been there before). We are just a touch west of ya in the Loess Hills. ;)

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I guess it is more like gambling....the more you pay the more you win....but it is all a risk.

And glad to hear someone from out of state say there is not a booner lurking behind every tree. :D

Iowa's always been more expensive for NR's but going up 65% on their NR license fees over the past 4 years is really out of hand.

Granted some of my most memorable trips have been there but I haven't put a tag on an Iowa deer yet. Basically I'm 0 for 3 on Iowa hunts and 1 for 2 there when just sitting behind a camera for another hunter. By comparison I'm 2 for 4 in Illinois, 2 for 6 in Kansas including a B&C entry, 2 for 5 in Texas, and 0 for 1 (non-lethal hit) in Missouri. The more you pay the more you win theory really doesn't fit if your talking about putting a tag on a nice buck. Hunting just doesn't work that way.

No there's not a booner lurking behind every tree but I have seen more B&C class bucks in Iowa than I have in all the other states I've hunted combined. I've seen 3 so far there. Just no shot opportunites for me unless you include 75 yard camera shots with a 3.5 megapixel pocket camera while I was bowhunting. It was the biggest buck I'll probably ever see in my life. Made my 184 KS buck look sort of punny. Daylight deer movement is about as good as it gets in Iowa except when they go into lockdown. The only place I've been that compares for daylight deer movement is Texas. Illinois is good too but not as good as where I've hunted in Iowa.

Now I'm not complaining about not tagging a buck there. I've had a lot of fun in Iowa and at least for me bowhunting is not about having to tag deer unless it's the right one. I'm not saying it has to be a booner either but knowing what lives there makes it easy to let deer walk I'd kill in most other states. For those reasons it's my favorite state to hunt and I'd hate to give it up but that may be in the cards if this price increase trend continues like it has.

Edited by Rhino
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I've always said that you should have to pay what your state charges non-residents if you go out of state.

MS does that with states that border it. Caused a big fuss with LA about 4 or 5 years ago. They came to an agreement and LA lowered the NR license cost.

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Here is a quick story, after seperating from the Military my best friend and I decided that we would go on a fishing trip every year. Well our first year we went to Lake Wilson in kansas. We caught 3 fish in 2 days of fishing WITH A GUIDE and the biggest was a 5lb striper. The next year we did our home work and found Beaver Lake in Arkansas. Now this trip was double what our first trip cost us. Lake Wilson $225, Beaver lake $425, those are per day prices. We opted for the Beaver lake trip and had the best fishing we have ever expierenced!!!! We caught 5 fish the first day, the smallest being a 12 lb whiper. The biggest was a 24lb 38" striper. The next day we caught 7 fish, all in the 12-18lb range. It was so great we went back the next year!!!

Now here is my take on this whole situation...... Iowa is known for its great whitetail hunting and the opportunity to harvest a mature buck is there. Over the last 15-20 yrs Iowa residents and IDNR have gone by a management system that brought the deer numbers from next to squat to now people chomping at the bit to hunt here. Its not just the soil minerals or the access to crops. ALOT of states have the same, even better, habitat for LARGE whitetails but in one way or another their state has not set forth a solid management system. Take for example Missouri (not picking on you guys:D) but the northern part of missouri has the exact same country as Iowa if not better yet Mo allows a gun season in the heart of the rut. We all know that this is not going to help with management.

Now for my take on the high tag prices, if any of you have ever applied for a non-resident elk tag in New Mexico or Arizona you know the tag prices are steep steep steep. Same goes for a alaskan Brown bear hunt, Yukon moose, dall sheep or whatever it is that trips your trigger

I get alot of guys that tell me that "Elk is a bigger animal and thats worth it" or "we dont have elk our state and I'm willing to pay that price for the tag". Well my thoughts on this are, why are you wanting to come to Iowa?? Its the chance of shooting a big buck correct?? I mean its obviously not for the meat, if it was then you would just stay in your home state and harvest one. People want the chance to bag that booner or something larger then they would in their home state.

I myself don't like the rise in preference point cost. They should have kept it at the $12 that it was. No need in my opinion to raise it to $50. Some people think that this will hurt the revenue of non-resident tags but I'm telling you here and now that for every 1 person that doesnt apply there are 10 more that are more than happy to apply. I hope that those who applied on here get drawn and if you do and your in the Indianola area. Make sure you let me know and I will treat ya to supper.

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