Any of you familiar with Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

Have a chance to move there to a different office in my company with a raise. Anybody have any comments? Seems like good hunting atleast?

You gotta do what's good for you and your family. It's been so long ago, but I'm sure one of our manufacturers was there. 'Been to several manufacturers in Iowa. All I remember is corn and sky. It would drive me absolutely nuts.

I'm only 25, single with family being my parents who live around 30 minutes away from me now, and then brother/sister -n-law, and nephews . Really no ties here.

I love Texas and definitely want to end up back here but I'm not so convinced a year of change wouldn't be a bad thing

Back in 70's buried telephone cable around their, the Mississippi bout 70+ miles away... Good fishing & hunting... Deer are bigger bodied, squirrel, pheasent, might be some partrage they tad smaller than quail, fast moving... Good people, talk ta some if the farmers at the cafe's.... Back home its getting tough ta find places ta hunt... Winters little cooler than here... Best Wishes Edit: i was just passing threw, hit the big time, foundry work, was always able ta vacation 1-2 weeks every year summer shutdowns & several times in winter back home ... Todays ecconomy gotta take what ya can..

In all the years I travelled most of the US, except the Left Coast and New England, the coldest I ever was ...was in Omaha. air temp was -24 and wind chill was -70.

Pulled into the Ramada at Omaha airport, across the river in Council Bluffs, haveing taken 2 hours to drive the 40 miles from Lincoln on black ice, desk clerk told me to put my car over the curb and bury the grill in the ligustrum bushes outside the restuarant windows to protect my radiator from the blowing snow & freezing it solid.

Next morning Dumb Arsed me went to unlock the car and could not get the key in the door, stuck it in my mouth to warm it, instead under my arm pit, and it went into the lock nice and easy and promptly froze solid on contact with the locks metal. Borrowed a Bic Lighter, and burned a orange sized patch of paint off the door around the lock, got the key out and started the car. Took a handful of snow and slapped it on the burnt spot, and made my sales calls in Omaha, called the office in NYC and told 'em I was going to SOUTH to Texas instead of driving to Kansas City to finish the week ...went to the airport turned the car in, caught a plane to Austin TX, drove the rent car home to Dallas and turned it in at the airport and never heard a word about the burnt spot. Oh well
Ron

Go for it!

Iowa is a beautiful place.

That was a warm day... Seen were its -100&some below 0.. People snowed in for days... Shoveled snow inside of porch just ta get out... Oil drip out of oil pan slower than thickest mallasses, after heater been on it for half hour... Could go on, but, tis worthless with out pic's , yet doesn't mean it not so...

Bear in mind that the job market in Texas is the hottest in the country; it's not like this in most places. If things don't work out in Iowa be prepared and have the $$$ to move back to Texas, should you need to do so to find work.

My manager at my first job after graduating from college was from Cedar Rapids. I asked him how the heck did he wind up in Lubbock, Tx. He said he and his wife packed all their belongings into two cars. The last thing he did was tie a snow shovel onto the hood of his car. When they stopped for gas in Lubbock, the attendant asked him what was that thing tied to his hood. He knew he had found the city he wanted to live in. Don't know if this was a true story or not, but he enjoyed telling it to everyone.

born and raised in the area, brother and sister still live there

father lived there until oct 2014, he passed. lived on the south side

just about 15 miles south of where he lived is the Coralville reservoir, some of the best hunting and crappy fishing in the state

also have a couple of shooting ranges in the area also, hawkeye wildlife management area. consisting of Coralville res, and lake McBride alarge piece of ground for hunting and fishing, the farmers in the area leave rows of corn in the fields for the wildlife. deer all over and if you have a good dog pheasant galore. this year is supposed to be better for pheasants then past years

several rivers in the area including the cedar which goes straight through cedar rapids, the iowa which feeds Coralville, and the wapsipincon river just north east of cedar rapids, has a whole bunch of hunting areas that run almost the entire length, matsells bridge being one of the larger ones
east of town towards the Mississippi there is a place called muskrat slough, darn good duck hunting, best accessed with a canoe. go west of town quite a bit on 30 there is otter creek another hunting area

north of town is the palo area, there is a large lake on top the hill, for some darn reason doesn't hold a lot of ducks in the last few years. does however have a darn good number of Canada geese, during the later part of the year, hunting seasons open, hard to drive anywhere in the area without spotting a large group of geese going somewhere, good crappy, and have heard a story or 2 of having some nice size walleye. pleasant creek state park, and goose pond natural area. all is open for public hunting and fishing

got more, but that should answer a couple of questions

thought I would add a little story, one year while hunting palo lake one morning it was -3 with wind chill putting it at -17, ya it does get cold some years. we had to walk through decoys every 20 minutes to break up lite film of ice forming between them. and we were in a protected cove.
had ducks all over the main body of lake that year, they just wouldn't for some reason commit to cove. leaving hours later we found out why, guy had setup on tip of cove and was basically hunting our dekes. the joy of public.

Some good info on this thread... Like usual my posts ain't worth typed out post, hit send on me android & it done gone missing... As they say here in Dang Gov... as pappy once said: tis a conspiracy i tell ya ... Hit send & had ta relog in... Don't believe ya have ta pay lease fees, like here in ... Up their ain't got them zombies hogs ta hunt like here, unless some escaped HF... They do have ice fishing, its cool... Can be very dangerous if ya don't know what ya doing... Theirs people can give ya advice bout that.. Best Wishes

Thanks for the information, and the stories guys.

My situation is, I am a 25 year old Civil Engineer, that works for a Geotechnical Engineering Company here in Texas. We have recently merged with a large company based out of Minnesota, but with offices all over the midwest, and this would allow me to work for some different folks, and learn some new things I wouldnt mind seeing some different country either, so maybe the corn fields would be nice. Either way, I want to find me some hunting land up there for sure if I am going to be there for a while. So you say talk to local farmers?

Thanks again for the input!

I figured out who you work for, Braun's a good company, flexibility in accepting assignments will help your career. One word of advice; try to avoid dating women that are wed to the area. I met my wife in Texas, but she's from MN, I couldn't get her out of the state with a crowbar.

There is definitely lots of corn here, and fields of beans too. Good hunting possibilities around the wooded areas. Corn feeds deer really well, so there are some brutes up here. The Cedar Rapids area is in the middle of a lot of good ground. The pheasants have had a rough go lately with heavy spring rains and rough winters. The stories of Iowa being cold are true. You will see lots of vehicles and people out on the frozen lakes in the middle of winter. Summer humidity will be brutal on those not used to it, but you can work outside in the middle of summer and not melt away.

I live in the northwestern part of the state.

Haha, yea i figured if anyone was from the area, you would be able to figure it out. I am definitely excited about the merger, and so far I have really enjoyed working with the Braun guys . And thanks for the advice on the women. I am used to the daisy dukes/ cowboy boots, sundress women of Texas so interested to see how the women up there are .

Awesome I'm super glad to see someone actually from the state on here! Are farmers good about leasing land to hunters or is it extremely difficult to find? I am actually going on an ice fishing trip on the Canadian border somewhere with the Braun Guys in January. I've been told it should break me into the cold nicely

I married a midwestern girl. Mine is from Minnesota. The best thing that ever happened to me.

go for it, like mentioned good hunting & fishing, its what life is all about, if you don't you may wonder what you missed.

I've been married for 37 years, almost 38, so I'm not complaining.

Back on topic Deer in Iowa ca be huge but I think it's a limited tag draw hunt but within a 10 hour drive you can hit a lot of MN, WI, MO, The UP of MI, and Nebraska. All have over the counter tags, in Nebraska you have to drive to the Pine Ridge area, but it's over the counter there. A bit farther and your in Wyoming.

Just for the guys following this thread who've never heard of the Pine Ridge Res & Fort...look at a map & find Denver, then go north and find Sydney NE and your almost there when you go north some more up around the Wyoming border....with several different Units scattered around.

A buddy and I talked many times about going to Pine Ridge and hunting the Reservation, since he'd been ummm either 2 or 3 times before. Really different gig than Texas, covered up with Denver close to the road hunters on the weekends, and the Tags are issued by the Reservation for not much bux as I recall. We were going to stay at the Fort FWIW. IMO it's a much younger man than I am now kinda REAL Rocky Mountain Hunt in very cold weather .... and worth the effort by all accounts.

Some other Res Hunts in western & northern Nebraska worth checking out too on the State website....mostly White Tails the further east you go and mixed at Pine Ridge....where you can buy multiple tags OTC when I was planning a trip 10-12 years ago.
Ron

Pine Ridge in SD is reservation in NE it's not. Pine Ridge is a ridge of low mountains extending south from the Black Hills. In Nebraska it's the northwestern corner of the panhandle.

So even if hunting on a private lease you have to draw a tag? That really sucks

I looked it up Iowa is over the counter for residents draw for non residents.

I did not grow up in IA but lived in the Des Moines,IA area for 4 years. There are many hunting opportunities throughout the state. Compared to TX, in my opinion, there is much better public hunting. Based on the 2015 roadside counts by IA DNR, there has been a rebound in pheasant counts in recent years, more so than other midwestern states. You can find okay pheasant hunting (with lots of scouting and research) on public land - although it is better hunting on private. There has been a resurgence in quail populations this year. The deer are corn fed and big. Good Eastern turkey hunting and other small game (rabbit, squirrel). Plenty of predator hunting for coyotes. Fishing there are many opportunities as well - largemouth bass, pike, walleye, trout etc. Overall a good place to be if you like the outdoors.

I will say that it is cold with lots of snow and ice!!! AS the heat is extreme in TX, the cold is extreme in IA. IF you don't like the cold, then that might be a problem.

Hopefully this was helpful? Good luck with your decision.

There is actually a lot more to that old joke, but I can't tell it here.

If you do go, before you leave get yourself a Lifetime Combo License here in Texas. That way you will always have a resident Texas license when ever you come visit.

As for women... think corn fed. I used to work with a lady from that area. She was cute. Growing up she was always one of the better looking, most popular, girls in school and such and got the attention because of it. When she moved to Texas she was just another girl in the room, an average girl in the room.

I had an uncle that used to duck hunt in Iowa a lot.