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Iowa license/preference points

BRAY2KAY

BRAY2KAY

Active Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Messages
118
Location
West Virginia
Looking into starting the process of getting to hunt Iowa public land. Trying to learn how preference points work and how long does it normally take to get a stamp? Anyone that can help me with this process would be greatly appreciated.
 
Easiest thing for you to do imo is download the Iowa DNR app, we’ve got a great app in this state. If you click the hunt tab at the bottom and then non resident hunting and then go to non resident hunting application guide (pdf) it gives you all the info for zones, preference points, etc. Good luck!
 
Too late for a preference point for this year. I think it is from may to June for applications and preference point purchases
 
BRAY2KAY said:
Looking into starting the process of getting to hunt Iowa public land. Trying to learn how preference points work and how long does it normally take to get a stamp? Anyone that can help me with this process would be greatly appreciated.
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It's an expensive journey.
Points are around $65 ea.
Depending on the zone, and the weapon it could take 5 points to be drawn. That's on top of a license that is already expensive. Points, licenses, fees, etc can cost upwards of $900 when it's all added up.
It's more difficult to draw an archery tag than a gun tag. In general, it takes more points for a bow tag and you cannot hunt with a bow in the firearm season...it's gun only.
The period to buy points or apply for a tag is from 1st week of May to 1st week of June each year.
If you fail to draw then you are automatically awarded a point...there are no refunds.
Points do not expire.
Tags are zone-specific meaning you are restricted to the zone in which you were drawn...you cannot hunt state wide.
If you wanted to hunt a high demand zone (#5 for example) you can pretty much count on not drawing until you have 5 points which if you have zero points now, means you won't draw until 2027 or later.
One more thing, you can apply for tags as a group but the entire group will essentially be on the same level as the guy in the group with the least points. You could have 10 points but if one man in your group has only 2 points, I guarantee you that your group won't be drawing a bow tag. Be careful who you apply with.
 
I’ve been putting in for a few years now, have 3 points so far. From what I’ve gathered your southern units are gonna take atleast 4 points to get you a legitimate chance at drawing. They have all the stats on how many tags get drawn a year and what percentage points got drawn for each unit. Buy preference point in the month of May. Goodluck, I hope to be up there in 2024.
 
MSbowhunter48 said:
I’ve been putting in for a few years now, have 3 points so far. From what I’ve gathered your southern units are gonna take atleast 4 points to get you a legitimate chance at drawing. They have all the stats on how many tags get drawn a year and what percentage points got drawn for each unit. Buy preference point in the month of May. Goodluck, I hope to be up there in 2024.
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If I remember correctly, zone 5 did not have any tags awarded to 3 point holders last year, and not even everyone with 4 got drawn. 5 points was a guarantee.
It's crazy now.
When we 1st went, points were $10ea and you could draw with 2 points.
I have 2 points again and I'm turning 65 in a couple months. Not sure the math works for me to draw more than 1 more time until I'm easily over 70...haha too old to drag out a 300 buck! (No, Iowa doesn't have 300 pounders lurking behind evey tree).
 
Allegheny Tom said:
If I remember correctly, zone 5 did not have any tags awarded to 3 point holders last year, and not even everyone with 4 got drawn. 5 points was a guarantee.
It's crazy now.
When we 1st went, points were $10ea and you could draw with 2 points.
I have 2 points again and I'm turning 65 in a couple months. Not sure the math works for me to draw more than 1 more time until I'm easily over 70...haha too old to drag out a 300 buck! (No, Iowa doesn't have 300 pounders lurking behind evey tree).
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I could be totally mistaken, but I thought I remember having 4 points would put you around a 50% chance of drawing in almost all the southern zones. 5 points would pretty much guarantee you a draw.
 
MSbowhunter48 said:
I could be totally mistaken, but I thought I remember having 4 points would put you around a 50% chance of drawing in almost all the southern zones. 5 points would pretty much guarantee you a draw.
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You are correct. In some zones, 4 points was not a guarantee to be drawn. 5 points was a guarantee.
That's what I was saying.
And if you were one of the unlucky 4 pointers and didnt get drawn, you'll need one more year.
Obtaining enough points is a long term mission. If a guy has zero points now, and depending on which zone is desired, a guy might not draw for another 5 or 6 years from next spring 2023.
 
Thanks guys, I knew I couldn’t draw for points till may but was trying to get some knowledge on how it worked. I’ve hunted Illinois a couple times but was looking into Iowa for a change. Looks like I have a long road ahead ….
 
Attached are the 5 pages taken directly from the Iowa DNR app that should give all the info. Like I said earlier, great app and anyone interested should be able to find anything they need there. Hope this helps and good luck with your seasons and future draws!ECB9F5C9-B697-47B7-974F-FF6F3B12AC2E.jpeg7A5B9DEC-281A-4F44-8B9D-D8DD3DC29385.jpeg9ACFA772-395E-4843-8303-68B59D9962EC.jpeg46D94D3C-E5D2-481B-8B44-9ACA1B4859D2.jpeg5F6F23D5-9A15-4A5A-8600-C59BB2BFE97E.jpeg
 
If you have zero points now ....I wouldn't plan on drawing any of the southern units for another 6-7 years at least with the way point creep is currently going. Some of the unit with less public etc can be drawn much sooner though...and gun tags are really easy to draw.
 
Allegheny Tom said:
And if you were one of the unlucky 4 pointers and didnt get drawn, you'll need one more year.
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So if you put in for the draw with 4 points and do not get drawn, they do not reward you with another preference point? I haven’t looked that much into it yet, I just assumed if you didn’t get drawn they would give you the option to obtain a preference point still. I may end up waiting till I have 5 points then just to be sure.
 
No. Every time you put in for the drawings and are not successful. You get charged for the preference point and get the point for future use. So technically you can put in the application every year and build points that way. But most will just buy the point.
 
MSbowhunter48 said:
So if you put in for the draw with 4 points and do not get drawn, they do not reward you with another preference point? I haven’t looked that much into it yet, I just assumed if you didn’t get drawn they would give you the option to obtain a preference point still. I may end up waiting till I have 5 points then just to be sure.
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Yes you get a point if you are not drawn. But you pay the fee. It's on page 3 under preference points.
 
MSbowhunter48 said:
So if you put in for the draw with 4 points and do not get drawn, they do not reward you with another preference point? I haven’t looked that much into it yet, I just assumed if you didn’t get drawn they would give you the option to obtain a preference point still. I may end up waiting till I have 5 points then just to be sure.
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You DO get another point if you apply for a tag but you are not drawn. Sorry if my wording was confusing.
What I meant by "waiting another year" was that you'll have to wait another year to actually draw a tag.
And I'm referring to needing 5 points for a GUARANTEED draw for some zones (4&5 are tough to draw) and that seems to be the current state of things over the last several years. The number of points needed to draw in any of the zones has increased. That's due to the fact that more people are applying. As far as I know, Iowa has not changed the allotment, they have always been allotting 440 bow tags for zone 4. It's just that so many more people are applying for these tags which makes needing more points to draw...and it seems to be getting harder every year.
 
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