Zone 2 — North Central, Iowa

Zone 2 occupies the Des Moines Lobe, Iowa's youngest glacial landscape, covering counties including Webster, Hamilton, Wright, Franklin, and Hardin. Topography is gently rolling to nearly flat with hummocky kettles, prairie potholes, and shallow wetlands — hallmarks of the last glaciation. The Des Moines River headwaters thread south through Webster County, while the Boone River and its tributaries drain the eastern portions. Land cover is overwhelmingly row crops (corn and soybeans, roughly 80-85% of the zone), with hardwood timber concentrated along river and creek corridors. CRP fields and native grass patches add scattered edge cover. Meaningful topographic relief is limited to river drainages, where timbered draws and bluffs concentrate deer movement.

Moderate to high on public land during shotgun seasons. Iowa's split shotgun seasons draw roughly 120,000 hunters statewide; Brushy Creek SRA and Boone Forks WMA see concentrated pressure during Shotgun Season 1 in early December. Archery pressure on public land is moderate — DIY bowhunters and outfitter-lease hunters compete for limited timbered ground. Zone 2 attracts less trophy-hunting outfitter activity than southern Iowa zones (Zones 5-8), keeping nonresident pressure somewhat lower. IHAP walk-in parcels distribute some pressure across additional private ground. Shotgun opener on public parcels should be treated as high-pressure; archery on public midweek in October is moderate.

Nonresidents must enter a draw system — applications accepted May through early June each year. The statewide nonresident quota is 6,000 general licenses (35% allocated to archery seasons, remainder to firearm seasons) plus 4,500 antlerless-only licenses for shotgun or disabled-hunter seasons, all divided by zone. A general nonresident tag package (any-sex + antlerless combo) costs approximately $498 plus application and license fees (total around $644). In Zone 2 the general license is valid for either-sex harvest except during Early Muzzleloader and Shotgun Season 1, when a forked-antler buck or antlerless-only license applies. Draw odds for Zone 2 are generally more favorable than the high-demand southern zones; most applicants draw within 1-2 years and first-year success is plausible. Iowa does not offer OTC nonresident deer tags.

Deer: Archery Oct 1-Dec 5 and Dec 22-Jan 10; Early Muzzleloader Oct 11-19; Shotgun 1 Dec 6-10; Shotgun 2 Dec 13-21; Late Muzzleloader Dec 22-Jan 10; January Antlerless Jan 11-25. Spring turkey (nonresidents eligible): April 14-May 31 by draw. Fall turkey is residents only. Pheasant: youth season Oct 18-19, regular season Oct 25-Jan 10 — north-central Iowa holds huntable ringneck populations supported by CRP and row-crop edge cover. Prairie potholes and wetlands in the zone attract migrating waterfowl (mallards, divers, Canada geese) in October-November. Coyote, raccoon, and furbearers huntable per season. Deer seasons above reflect 2025-26 structure; verify current-year dates with Iowa DNR before applying.

Zone 2 offers one of Iowa's most accessible public-land whitetail experiences — Brushy Creek SRA's 6,500 acres of diverse habitat including timber, prairie, riparian, and lake cover is among the finest walk-in public hunting areas in the Upper Midwest. The Des Moines and Boone River corridors produce quality mature bucks, with agricultural corn and soybean fields fueling strong antler genetics; zone bucks regularly exceed 150 B&C inches. Nonresidents benefit from more achievable draw odds than Iowa's storied southern zones while still hunting a state that consistently leads the nation in Boone and Crockett entries per square mile. The glacial lake and prairie pothole country layers in bonus hunting opportunities — ringneck pheasant, migrating waterfowl, and spring turkey — that pure timber zones cannot match.