Bill
Just a quick note and picture to let you know that my annual trip to [location deleted] was great fun this year. The bird situation was greatly improved--what a difference a good winter and spring can make. Found numerous coveys of quail and had a great time with the pheasants. It was a treat to have a dusting of snow as compared to the sweltering conditions of last year for both the deer and bird hunting. Seeing the bird tracks in the snow gets your blood going and really helped to focus on the best areas. I was happy to find a good number of pheasant that would hold for the dog. Had no problem seeing 30+ birds a day and had four days limit in spite of my having to apologize to my dog for a few misses. No pictures of the birds this time, but I'll have a bunch of great memories.
On the deer situation, once again my limited vacation time forces me to choose and I always prefer to spend more time on the birds. My total time in the woods for deer this year was 3.5 hours. I'm happy with the buck I did harvest and am very glad that there was some snow as the fields were too muddy to drive to it. Ever the impatient bird hunter type I am I took this deer while still hunting opening morning.
Thanks again for the opportunity to hunt such fabulous land. Best to all this holiday season.
Regards, Bill
Another
John, Thought I would share with you some pictures and a note on my annual trip out west. I decided to make it a combo trip for birds and deer. In short, I had the two deer with three hours in the woods! First [location deleted]....the bigger of the two. He was the first (but not last rack buck) I saw. I hunted him the opening day and he was down before 9:00am. Thank God for the new Winchester Platinum slugs--the only one of the 'new breed' of slugs my Remington likes. Took him at 145 yards through the heart.
I had fun chasing the pheasants for the rest of the weekend on the property I had reserved for deer hunting, but decided that I had better head off to [location deleted] to try to fill that tag. Called in to the Association Monday afternoon to reserve one of the properties you had recommended since I have never hunted deer in [location deleted]. Thanks for the recommendations--it too was a winner! Early Tuesday morning I had the 10 point As my passion is birds I didn't wait out a larger deer, for fear I would run out of bird time. If I would have known my dog was going to come up lame on Wednesday I may have played it differently.
But again, had a great time putting on the miles for a day and half seeing well over a hundred pheasant and 5 coveys of quail. The upland cover was just awesome. The pheasant didn't want to hold for the dog too well, but I had a great time taking half a limit--one with the handsome spurs of an older bird.
The leases you suggested were so gamy you could just about eat them. Oh how I envy those in the Association that can hunt more than once a year! Best wishes to all in and with the Association this holiday season. Best Regards, Bill
Another
To be honest, I'm more proud of the two pheasants (over two days) than the deer. I heard the warnings about Iowa pheasant hunting and gave it a try anyway. Taz did everything right on this bird while working him going with the wind. He hit a point that made a tear come to the eye and then, fortunately, was able to drop him in a creek for a 'wet' retrieve. Some birds drift away in the mind over time, but this one is likely to stay. Incidentally, of course there is no problem with the cover on the lands we lease. Even the locals can't remember such a tough hunting season.
On the deer...I had given up deer hunting for over ten years until this year with the association. This is my first association deer. The land I have access to around Ohio is poor and public land is always a war zone. I am not one that has much patience to sit, so having a section all to one's self is heaven to still hunt. Now that I am 'on the board again' with this young 8-point, and as my familiarity with Iowa deer hunting increases, I intend to become more selective for trophies. I'd like to try Missouri sometime and wonder where to begin for a good still hunting piece of property or two?! This piece had the ideal balance of crop, hardwood, natural barriers to utilize in pinning deer and the rolling hills that keep you on your toes going over the top into the wind. Thrilling!
I consider myself fortunate to have been able to still hunt this deer successfully. There was little or or no deer movement with hot weather and, I am guessing on this, the full moon allowing the deer to confidently feed all night and bed down early. All the deer I saw I moved myself. I did manage to see the largest deer (body AND rack) I have ever seen dead or alive this past trip. Unfortunately, with Iowa being shotgun instead of rifle I did not take the long shot that would have been required even though it was very tempting. He ended up on an adjacent piece which is really part of the same woodlot. Regards Bill
Another
John,
Sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner, I have been extremely busy with work and family. Most e-mail and voicemail has gone unanswered.
In any case, your message served as a reminder that I had a good season and there is hope to have another this fall. Attached are a couple of photos. Not many of birds but limits were the norm this year and frankly I really enjoy working harder for fewer birds as strange as this sounds. Good results were had I hunted across the state from west to east and ending in a deer hunt. As you can see from one picture there was one long bird day. Did meet some good people In [location deleted] and we hooked up 
and had a ball with Taz and a younger dog completely enjoying themselves and exercising their instincts. The white dog backing was just a puppy. Very pretty.
The deer story was a good one. Unfortunately the farm I had reserved earlier was full of cows. This completely annoyed me and forced me to my 6th choice for property. But as you can see all was not lost. I have to share the rest of the story however as it is typical and has a few classic lessons. On opening day of deer season I saw a nice deer mid morning and promptly missed the shot cleanly. Did not see anything the rest of the day. The following day 
saw a shadow of a small deer. Frustrated and impatient as I am I went pheasant hunting and had a great time. Unfortunately this left Saturday morning as my last chance to hunt. I had promised my wife I would be home Sunday morning to help around the house and that I would be on the way out of the woods by 9am for the 800 mile trip home. At about 8am I got a poor walking shot at a decent deer and clobbered a branch that went unnoticed in the foreground of the scope. In my frustration I had forgotten to rack in (pump gun) the next shot and the deer presented an easier shot several minutes latter at which time the shell did not feed correctly and in general made enough noise in the woods to wake the dead.
Needless to say the deer did not wait for the outcome of my gunsmithing. I was ready to launch the gun and promised that the next possum, woodchuck or something would die before I got out of the tree. Stubbornness kicked in and I refused to leave the tree until 9am. At exactly 8:58am as I turned to exit the tree I saw a brown dot streaking across the wheat field near the stand. The dot grew antlers as it came at me about mach 3. As luck would have it It stopped and turned broadside at about 50yards before leaving the field. I glanced at my watch--9am straight up. I finally dragged the beast out by 1pm as the small amount of snow had left all passages very muddy. I arrived home exhausted but with a story for the ages. Hope to generate another this fall.
The lessons:
1. Hunt until the last minute--It just might pay off
2. Rack in another shell no matter what.
3. Don't hunt one mile from the road when there is no snow, no carrier and no help.
4. Hunt birds!
Regards Bill
Another
John, There will be more pictures and words to come. I'm still rushing to get things sorted out with a deer and such before I have to go back to work tomorrow. But, I wanted to send my favorite picture of the trip along. This picture is hours before I put my son on a plane in Kansas City to go home to Ohio (I stayed to hunt some more). We had time for one more walk in one more field on the way to the airport and got the nicest Rooster of the the trip--24" tail feathers. I'm happy to report my son is hooked on hunting in the Midwest. Regards Bill
Another
John,
As promised here is a more comprehensive update of my annual trip to [location deleted] and [location deleted]. First the birds then the bucks.
I'm happy to report that my 9year old son is hooked on Midwest hunting. He had a great time for the four days he tagged along with me. We saw lots of birds and I'm glad I took your advice to try [location deleted] as the cover was just right for him and game plentiful to keep him interested. I later found birds spotty in [location deleted] where I was planning to take him (but ultimately found them in good numbers and had a great hunt). As reported, we found quail to be abundant and we are not quail hunters. Many birds would hold well enough for a point and we have some great memories of good dog work. The best rooster, clearly an older bird, had 24" tail feathers. Enclosed are a few pictures of the bird hunting. A dusting of snow later in the trip made for some real fun and helped to show just how tight some birds would hold--a set of tracks going into a clump of thick stuff and none coming out. Pretty good evidence of location and a couple kicks would usually produce a hen that certainly did not want to get out of the warm hiding spot. This tighter holding behavior allowed a couple true doubles which are always a treat and something to remember. As usual, we saw some tremendous deer and lots of turkey as we wandered. My son can not wait till next year!
I do want to pass along some other tidbits:
I badly sprained my knee on day three when I stepped into a hidden hole. This slowed us down but we made the most of it with frequent icing, a brace and loads of aspirin. Be careful of the holes!
The [location deleted] campground it first rate and highly recommended as a base of operation for campers. Worth noting they have electric, water at each site and hot showers (bathhouse) and first three days camping are free.
I discovered a decent campground in [location deleted] on the south side of town (not in MAHA yellow pages). Electric and running water for cleaning birds to be found, $6 per night, but no means to pay?? Also a city campground in [location deleted] (not in MAHA yellow pages) but has electric and water at the site.
The guy in the house on the southeast corner of [location deleted] is quite outspoken. Does not like us and watches his line--DO NOT CROSS under any circumstances. Apparently he names the roosters and thinks their his. I'm happy to report I relieved his memory some while hunting the association land next to his. It was funny, I shot a rooster and a split second later a covey of quail got up and I shot one of them--all while he was watching me standing next to my car. The quail dropped on top of the rooster and I picked them both up without moving my feet.
[Location deleted] needs some doe hunters badly. I put out no less than 30 does from the southwest corner.
If anyone has a youngster (BB gunner) going along, get a disposable camera for them. It is really interesting what they want to take pictures of.
I continue to be lucky with deer hunting and tried one of the new properties added this year-- [location deleted] I first want to thank you again for the great land quality maintained and recently added. I also want to thank you for something that does not frequently come up. I am an impatient deer hunter and always end up still hunting. I commend and thank you for keeping some deer sections on the large side. It would certainly help your bottom line to divide them and hold less leases, but clearly you and Jon see things from the hunters point of view. With my still hunting tendency, I tend to "chew up" a deer hunting property like a bird hunter. Having some size to the section allows a corner to be left for morning and evening watching while I can wander slowly over the other parts without mixing things up too much.
In any case, I had a great deer hunt. The fun started when I went in to hang my stand a few days before opening day. Bearing in mind that I had never seen this property before and had selected a stand location from a satellite photo, I think it is astounding that I saw 5 bucks in the 30 minutes it took to walk to the stand location. None of them were really great, but the sheer opportunity is amazing.
Opening day was eventful with a group of 6 does playing and bedding less than 75 yards from the stand and a crotch horn running them every which-way. But the cold and my impatience forced me to walk around on day two. I bumped the deer I shot in a small patch woods and I backtracked 150 yards to try to outflank him assuming he really wanted to stay where he was rather than run into the next county. He was smart enough to hook up with a doe and follow her back into the woods. It was a tenuous situation as the doe was within 25yards of me before he showed himself. But, the flanking maneuver ultimately worked and when she wasn't looking I was able to get a clean shot and he did not go far. Please forgive my disrespect for the game by sitting on him. By the time the picture was taken in Ohio he was frozen stiff and I really had to pull on his horns to turn the head. For a sense of size, the widest inside spread is 18.5" and the longest tine is right at 10".
Fortunately the snow and relatively flat ground allowed me to get the deer out before dark without much trouble. My sprained knee still howled in pain! I do have to say I was very tempted to drive on the property but did not. Regards Bill