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November 1-7
Day 1
I am finally bowhunting Iowa! I drew zone 5 with 4 points and there was only one outfitter I wanted to hunt with - Steve Hanson of Straight Arrow Outfitters. Steve is a Pope and Young member and advocate for the club and came highly recommended by several bowhunters I know and respect. This is a trophy deer hunt in Southeast Iowa - the top trophy producing area of the country. The weather has turned unseasonably cold with SNOW the day before our hunt. Perfect!
Our morning hunt started the night before when my American Airlines flight landed in Des Moines. I was on the flight with the campaign staff of Pete Buttigieg. It was an interesting flight. I was upgraded to first class and sat next to a CNN reporter. She was covering Buttigieg - but after asking her a couple of questions it was clear that she was not interested in conversation. I got the hint and we never spoke again. When we landed we all headed to get our luggage. My big duffle never showed up. Nobody had luggage except for the film crew and my bow case. To make matters worse, they only had one poor guy at the luggage desk and he was gettinng hammered by angry passengers. All of our AA Apps showed our luggage was loaded in CLT but someone screwed up and it was not on the plane. I have experienced this before and it did not end well.
So no morning hunt. Since AA had no ETA on my luggage by 10 AM, Steve thought it was a smart to buy some personal gear and he would cobble together boots and outerwear. It was smart because by 1 PM, my bag is still MIA.
Steve came through and I was able to hunt the afternoon. I bought some stuff, and he was able to borrow some boots and outerwear. I was in business. Not ideal, but better than sitting around pissed off at American Airlines.
I saw three deer tonight. A doe was being chased hard by a small, 120" buck. At 5:15PM a 3.5 year old eight came out of a draw and headed into the sorghum. I expected to see more deer but nothing else showed up.
During dinner I received a call from the luggage driver. He wanted to deliver my bag tomorow but I convinced him otherwise. So I should be good to go for Day 2. Fingers crossed!
We are hunting with Straight Arrow Outfitters owned by Steve Hanson. You need to draw a Zone 5 tag to hunt with Steve so start building those points! Southeast Iowa is considered by many as the top trophy deer destination in the country.
Our hunt takes place in Southeast Iowa. The habitat is a mix of food plots, river bottoms, and large agricultural fields. Prime Iowa Whitetail habitat. No baiting, we are focused on crops and rutting areas.
