Iowa deer hunting and Iowa Hunting Land.  Is it really that good?

Anybody that knows anything about deer hunting has heard of Iowa and our premier hunting land.  They may have even dreamt of it a time or two but really how good is it?  We can lay claim to the world record with the harvest of the "Albia Buck" but does that make us the best or just one of the top states for whitetail?  I recently read with great interest the a paper titled Boone and Crockett Whitetails-A Geographic Analysis by Joel W. Helmer who is a B&C Associate at the Oklahoma State University.  Joel's analysis was very informative and certainly paints a picture of where Iowa stands for big bucks.  Joel took my question one step farther and found not only which states produce trophy whitetails but which counties within those states are producing trophy deer.  

Joel must have spent a ton of time on his research because he took all known B&C entries between 1830 and 2001 and entered all 5,439 entries into a Geographic Information System which allowed him to produce maps and study the data.  Clearly Joel's maps show that the Mississippi and Missouri River systems across the United States hold some of the best whitetail in America.  Joel's maps were color coded by the number of trophy deer harvested in each county and showed a defined distinction where those rivers cross the United States. 

So where did Iowa end up after all of the dust settled?  Iowa was the number 1 trophy whitetail state in the US overall.  For the period from 1830 to 2001 more entries were entered into B&C from Iowa than any other state.  Iowa had 615 entries in the Boone and Crockett record book followed close by Minnesota with 608 entries.  The list looks like this

Iowa 615

Minnesota 608

Wisconsin 589

Illinois 552

Texas 316

Missouri 285

Kentucky 279

Kansas 255

Ohio 235

Michigan 155

Now as far as states go you can see where Iowa ranks for trophy whitetail but how about counties?  Well of the top 50 counties in America for whitetail, those counties are located in the following states.

Iowa (17)

Illinois (11)

Wisconsin (6)

Kentucky (4)

Minnesota (4)

Texas (4)

Maine (2)

Michigan (1)

Montana (1)

As you can see 28 of the top 50 states in the US for trophy whitetail are in Iowa and Illinois with Iowa holding a whopping 17 of the top 50 counties. 

Now that we know there are 17 counties in Iowa where you want to look for your best chance to find trophy whitetail you'll want to narrow it down to the best of the 17 right?  Well Joel's paper lists the top 10 counties since 1980 for entries and 2 of the top 10 are here in Iowa again.  Tied for 4th place in the top 10 counties since 1980 are Monona County in the Loess Hills of Western Iowa (where I spend a lot of time hunting deer) and Allamakee in Northeast Iowa.  What do these two counties have in common? Rough terrain and the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.  Are you wondering where the other 15 great deer hunting hot spots of Iowa are?  All up an down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and a few in the southern two tiers of counties in Iowa.   

Iowa's reputation has not gone unnoticed.  Judging by the number of emails I get requesting information on Iowa hunting leases, recreational land and hunting land in Iowa I would say folks have noticed Iowa.  As an avid archery and muzzleloader deer hunter myself I know I'm blessed to be a resident of the great whitetail state because when it comes to trophy deer, Iowa has them and I think its fair to say that the whitetail hunting in Iowa is the best there is.

If you are interested in reading Joel's paper drop me an email Jason@gowithjason.com and I will get you a copy of it.