Western Iowa Crop Harvest and Deer Hunting

I write a few blogs about Iowa deer hunting so I was not surprised to get an email yesterday with the familiar subject "Sent via ActiveRain" I nice gentleman from Alabama was packing his gear to head for Iowa in search of the elusive trophy whitetail when as a last thought he decided to send me an email to check on conditions here. He wrote

"Hi Jason I am writing to let you know we love your blog. We are from Alabama fixin to head north to your neck of the woods for a little deer hunting. We have been following your blog all year keeping up on the deer in the Loess Hills. We travel to Iowa every three to four years with the family for a deer hunt. We usually head down to southern Iowa but after reading your blog we decided we would give the Loess Hills Forest a try this year. We had never even heard of it until you mentioned it! Thanks so much for that. We will be headed north in the morning and hope to arrive by October 26th. We have a few stops along the way to visit family so that should take about 2 full days. We were wondering if you could give us an update on the harvest in Iowa. About what percentage of the crop is out by now? How has the weather been up there and are you seeing any rut activity yet? We will be around for about 9 days and hope to catch the best part of the rut. We will be camping at the Pisgah City Park so stop by and see us. We would love to meet you in person if possible. Thank you so much for your information and we look forward to hearing back from you and a great year in Iowa." Mike and Patty- Alabama

I was tickled that somebody found my information useful because I have a load of fun writing it. I suppose there are others wondering the same thing so I'll paste my response below.

Mike and Patty-

It was great to hear from somebody that enjoys what I write. I have a load of fun writing it and always love hearing from folks like yourself. First of all congrats on your Iowa deer permits. They are not the easiest thing to get. Deer hunting and the harvest have both been slow. The harvest has been hampered by nearly a full week of rain last week. Farmers were able to get back into the fields on Sunday and are going as fast as they can to get the crops out. With such a wet year, and rain in the forcast this coming weekend they are moving at breakneck speeds to get it out. The wet year has caused them quite a few problems this year with ear development and molds in the grain so many are not having the best of years. The last figure I heard on the harvest was 35% and I would bet they are gaining 5-7% daily.

Now the rut! We finally got a good hard freeze the last two nights. Nice solid frost each morning. The leaves have turned and the hills are beautiful right now. You'll be coming at the peak of the fall colors. The rut is starting so that is good news. In my estimation it has been a little slow this year so you for sure have not missed anything. I have been able to find more scrapes than rubs. Maybe I am looking in the wrong places, I'm not sure but rarely have trouble finding rubs. I have been able to find many scrapes, and with last weeks wet weather the bucks seems to be spending a little extra time keeping them fresh. At this point the signs are not intense so the best is yet to come. If you arrive on the 26th and stay for 9 days I bet you see the better part of the rut. I will stop by the park and visit, I always have a good time chatting with the folks at Pisgah Park and swapping a few stories from the treestand. Look for a silver Ford F-150 pickup. See you in a few days.

Loess Hills Acreages and Farms | Southwest Iowa Homes | NP Dodge Real Estate

Jason Smith, REALTOR® Sales Associate - NP Dodge Real Estate

Homes, Acreages, Farms, Land, Recreational Land

Cell Phone 402.250.1006 Email Jason@gowithjason.com

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