Iowa Turkey Hunting
Iowa turkey hunting season within Mid-America Hunting Association receives little hunter pressure due to Iowa's tag costs and limited spring season. With Iowa's seasons over lapping that of Kansas and most of Missouri any hunter could easily plan a multiple state spring season hunt on the same trip.
We are careful to insure reasonable expectations about our hunt quality. We occupy that range between a hunter owning and controlling his own large acreage and that of public lands. We do have hunter pressure on our land. It is greater than that of private land hunted by one hunter and far less than that of public lands. The trust is that as a business and not a hunting club we have to provide the customer service to insure repeat business/hunters. That service is good hunts. Compare these hunter pressure numbers to our spring turkey hunting and hunter statistics as well as to the turkey hunter testimonial section to gain a more complete understanding of the hunt quality we provide. The final analysis must also include the acreage available though MAHA. An Iowa private land acreage map is posted below on this page.
Iowa spring season gives yet one more option to the Association hunter. As it has been largely under used it is due to only that there are many other options to choose from and not from a lack of Iowa spring turkey hunting opportunity, land or time available. For those that truly want to pursue spring toms having an Iowa tag generally means one more tom over that of Kansas, Missouri and their home state. During spring turkey season there is plenty of time to spend in all three states and then have the rest of the summer for fishing.
As it has been for most spring season hunters heading to Iowa is to first call one of MAHA's full time/longtime partners either Jon Nee or John Wenzel. They both have enough boots on the ground time to recommend right down to numbered farms where to start the hunt. They will get the hunter to where he parks his truck, steps out and hunts.
Iowa turkey hunting regulations summarized:
Shot size is limited to 4-8 shot.
Only one turkey tag, hence one tom per non-resident. Residents may secure up to two tags.
Non-residents turkey hunters may apply for tags by telephone, call 515-281-8688. Application deadline is typically near the end of January each year. For those that have missed the draw deadline there have been occasions in past seasons where not all draw tags were applied for and the left over tags were available for over the counter purchase on a
first come first served basis.
Spring turkey season is separated by zones.
MAHA private lease land in the spring season zone #4 shown here. Highways 59 is the western boundary and 80 the northern boundary of zone #4.
MAHA 2010 Iowa turkey hunting lease land location in shown by county name and acreage leased within that county.
Typical south-central Iowa turkey habitat is more brush than trees, more open farm ground than wooded.
We find ourselves in the constant reminder mode of the new to the central mid-west self guided turkey hunter that the prime Iowa regional turkey hunting locality is within the agricultural zone where 50% farm land use, meaning crop fields, is the norm. This open land well supports the setup and call turkey hunter and allows the run and gunner to be quickly detected and avoided by most flocks.
This example is an 80 acre piece which throws many who are more accustomed to larger tracts of land. We choose to undersell rather than only illustrate what many would consider the best examples. The average acre size per hunter per day is a 1/4 section, 1/2 x 1/2 mile square of 160 acres. The single largest piece of land dedicated to a single hunter in Iowa not broken by the one mile road grid system is 20 acres. It is the smaller leases however, that sometimes produce some of the most consistent year to year results. All farms have a hot spot or two and this one is no different.
Mid-America Hunting Association wild Iowa turkey hunts allow the average do it yourself Iowa hunter the chance to enjoy his turkey hunts as he sees fit. Contrast this with a hunting guide service and the hunter that has his own skills will find more flexibility of selecting when to hunt and have more private controlled lease land access to hunt over than any other option to be found. That is true for our Iowa hunting land as it is in Missouri and Kansas.