IOWA TROPHY
WHITETAIL HUNTING
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The Timberghost lodge is approximately 20 minutes north of Burlington, Iowa, in Mediapolis. We are located in Zone 6 in SE Iowa in Des Moines County and have lease ground in Des Moines, Henry and Lee counties.
Sept. 55-76
Oct. 43-64
Nov. 31-49
Dec. 20-36
Jan. 14-39
Please note these are averages and to plan for temps +/- 10 degrees to make sure you are prepared. Iowa weather changes drastically due to the fronts coming down from Canada during the fall and can have large temperature swings in a short time frame during season.
September into late October we typically have 6-9 guests in camp, after that we normally have 8-12 guests in camp at any given time.
All hunt costs include food, lodging, drinks, field prep, travel to and from your hunting areas, and guiding. Things that are not included but to keep in my mind are 7% Iowa Sales Tax, shipping of meat, antlers, and cape, and gratuities for staff if you choose to do so.
Non-Hunting guests are welcome but do incur an additional charge of $250 per day.
Absolutely. We know that it is not always possible to take all the meat home from your harvest and, as you will find out, we do eat venison during the week, but we also have many needy families in the area that benefit from any meat left behind.
Archery:
Longbows, recurve bows, and compound bows that shoot broadhead arrows that are at least 18 inches long
Crossbows:
Crossbows are not legal except during the Late Muzzleloader season. The only exceptions are:
Handguns:
Allowed During Gun-1 or Gun-2:
Muzzleloaders:
Shotgun Equipment:
The preserve is managed to maintain a higher than normal population and has a breeding herd of roughly 700-800 animals on the property. It is a difficult number to say exactly as censusing methods are only trends and not exact numbers. Needless to say, there are a lot of deer and a great age structure.
We have a naturally breeding herd we manage in the preserve. It is not a buck only preserve, or a preserve with a wildly skewed sex ratio. It is an authentic, naturally reproducing herd. You will see deer of all ages and sizes during your hunt. We do have a breeding operation outside the preserve that we use to continually improve the genetic potential of the herd in the ranch. There is really no other way to have animals of this quality without a great doe herd and you can’t manage the doe herd without knowing their breeding. We release a large number of yearling bucks and does every year into the preserve in addition to what is born in the ranch so that we continue to improve the genetic potential in the ranch.
We do have true management deer that are less than a Select Hunt, but due to the genetics in the ranch, not enough of them to book hunts. Most of these deer are harvested as an additional harvest as a second deer or by a guest of one of our hunters. Many clients may book a hunt and bring a non-hunting guest that ends up harvesting an old management buck. As far as booking a hunt, the Select Hunt is our least expensive option to experience Timberghost.
Most don’t like to talk about it, but it happens. If a buck is wounded, we consider that to be your buck unless the guide feels it is a clean miss. We will do everything in our power and make every effort to make sure you get the opportunity to put your hands on him before the hunt is over and with our experienced crew we have a great track record for most everyone ending their hunt with a smile.
It is very rare, but it does happen. We put a lot of time and effort to make sure you have the best opportunity possible and have some of the best guides in the country, but if you don’t have the opportunity to harvest a buck we will refund 75% of the hunt cost.
If tags are available, we do allow hunters the opportunity to take more than one buck, either an additional management buck or trophy depending on availability. Of course, it cost more based on your choices, but it is an option and the guides will let you know in advance what the additional cost would be to you.
Select hunters can upgrade their hunt if they see a larger animal they want to harvest. Guides price upgrades in the field based on age, score, and look of the buck and can be anywhere from $500 to $4,000 depending on how much of an upgrade you are looking for on your hunt.
YES. All hunts in the preserve are fully guided. This is for the hunters benefit more than anything as most people have never seen bucks like you will be seeing in the ranch. We want to make sure you harvest a mature buck both for your benefit and to ensure we are not hurting ourselves in the future by harvesting a younger buck with great potential.
We take archery hunters throughout the season for both Select and Trophy Hunts in the preserve. The primary difference in the Adventure hunt takes place during the rut in November and is a trophy hunt with NO TROPHY FEES. It is a fun time to be in the woods and we try to make sure there is no gun hunting during those weeks although sometimes we will have a select hunter in camp to help accommodate scheduling, but the priority is placed on our archery hunters during those weeks.
In the preserve, you can hunt with your weapon of choice. From rifles that shoot a 1,000 yards to homemade archery equipment, it is up to you on what is an enjoyable, challenging hunt.
The preserve is just under 1,000 contiguous acres of varying habitat. There are no cross fences and no separate pastures. Just beautiful Iowa landscape managed to provide the best possible habitat for the deer and an incredible hunting experience for our guests.
Our Super, Trophy, and Adventure Hunts are a flat fee with NO TROPHY FEES. We want the experience to be as authentic as possible which means when the buck of your dreams steps out and gives you the shot, we want you enjoying the adrenalin rush that only true hunters understand and not worrying about how much it will cost to pull the trigger.
We have come up with a system that seems to work for everyone in camp. We draw cards the first night to establish a pick rotation and rotate the pick each morning and afternoon. Pick 1 goes to 2, and last pick rolls up to 1st pick. This ensures everyone has a chance to hunt where they want, or think they want to hunt.
The guides and hunters typically discuss the options, look at the scouting board, and decide where they want to go for their pick. We believe in working as a group so all the guides as well as the hunters help decide where to go. You ARE NOT assigned a farm or stuck in the same stand for the week. We want you to “see it all” as much as possible as well as have every opportunity to harvest a monster Iowa whitetail.
Hunters who have shot and wounded or missed are put in a second rotation the rest of the week so the guys that haven’t had an opportunity have the higher picks.
The simple answer is no. We stand hunt to help ensure the hunting is just as good for the next guy as it will be for you. You wouldn’t want to hunt an area that had someone walking around in it all morning or had the deer driven out of the timber. We treat our properties as much like a sanctuary as possible by low impact entrance and exit so the deer feel comfortable and safe in and around our hunting areas. We have had many instances of several new bucks showing up in and around gun season as they have figured out they do not get harassed on our properties and there is always plenty of food as well.
It is an unfortunate part of hunting, but it does happen. If a deer is wounded, we will make every effort to recover that animal. You and your guide will discuss options for continuing the search based on the information available and past experiences of both you and your guides. We do realize that sometimes a recovery is simply not possible as well as appreciate the time and investment to be able to hunt with us in Iowa. We do allow our guests to continue to hunt if they choose to do so. If you do not harvest a buck we will refund the $1,000 and treat the wounded like a harvested mature buck. If you choose to continue to look but there is no recovery we will refund $1,000 just as if you harvested a mature buck. If we are able to find the buck later in the year, we will make the antlers available to you.
We do everything we can to ensure you get an opportunity to harvest a mature Iowa buck, but we would all be kidding ourselves if we thought everyone would be successful. If you do not harvest or shoot at a buck during your trip we will refund $2,500 of your hunt cost.
We have roughly 4,500 acres of free-range ground located in Zone 6 in SE Iowa. It is comprised of farms from 80 to over 600 acres spread out in a 45 mile radius from the lodge.
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