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Heartland Outdoors
Iowa deer harvest down
Tue, January 17, 2012
By THE IOWA DNR
While Iowa produced its usual share of big bucks this fall and winter, deer hunters in the Hawkeye state are reporting declines in the overall harvest and in the number of deer they saw this season.
Iowa’s final regular deer season ended Jan. 10 when the late season muzzleloader and the archery season closed. Deer hunters had reported taking nearly 113,000 deer at the end of the season which is about 4 percent lower than was reported last year at this time and about 21 percent below the reported harvest in 2006.
While the harvest is lower, the number of deer licenses issued during the regular seasons has stayed about the same since 2006.
“The reduced kill is a result of the reduced deer population,” said Dale Garner, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Bureau. “Deer numbers in many areas are near the established goal.
“We continue to hear complaints from hunters that they did not see the number of deer that they had in the past and some are voicing their concerns that the herd reduction may have gone too far.”
Hunts for antlerless deer continue until Jan. 29 in select counties and urban areas. Even though licenses may be available, not all areas in these counties need the extra harvest, Garner said. Hunters need to work with the landowner where they hunt to determine if extra does need to be taken.
The DNR will review the harvest and population surveys after the seasons are complete in January and make proposals to reduce the deer kill and stabilize deer numbers.
Reductions in the harvest were proposed in 2011 but not adopted.
Comments
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If someone would have harvested that brute that Tim posted from Iowa, they could have made up the 4% difference from last year : )
Posted by Dr Chollokee on January 17
IT will be a cold day in hell when our state attempts to cut down the deer harvest
Posted by clintharvey on January 17
They sell about the same number of tags as 2006. What are they going to do when more people say the hell with it because they can’t get a deer. I’m sure they will just raise fees to compensate for their cash cow. These states are going to be in a hurt if something like hemorrhagic disease that hit along the milk river and northern plains. If I tried a scam like these states do with deer tags I’de be in prison. If a tags not used then it should be refunded.
Posted by wsmbass on January 17
WSM it took some thinking about your last sentence. And i would LOVE to know The total number of tags sold for all seasons. And i wonder if its greater than the amount of deer available
Posted by clintharvey on January 18
Well if there were limits placed , then we as hunters would’nt be able to go buy pockets full of tags,It’s a money maker obviously. If we keep buying them, they will keep selling them. Its all on us as hunters to manage the deer population, that just dosen’t mean shoot does and genetically challenged bucks because you don’t want there jeans passed on. the more deer breeding the more deer there is going to be. we have to manage the numbers both ways, help control the deer population but the time will come (and maybe its now) that we will have to restrain and help raise the population.
Posted by bowfisher1 on January 18
I meant *genes
Posted by bowfisher1 on January 18
good one Chollokee!!!
Posted by walmsley on January 18
Maybe the entire state of IA should take a drive to Monona County they have it “figured out”. Of course before these numbers came out the entire state had it figured out, but who’s counting right Tim?
End of the day the herd could not maintain the numbers of 2005-2007 so Mother Nature stepped in and got control of the herd. But that is too logical so we would rather blame the LWS, Government, Gun Hunters, Outfitters and anyone else that we do not agree with. JMO- but when you start talking about government conspiracies and then the herd rebounds in 3-5 years your credibility is shot.
Posted by PIMPSTAFFER HATER on January 18
Total permits and harvest trends are available.
Best source published that I have found…
http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/deer/Documents/IllinoisDeerHarvestReportFinal.2010.2011.pdf
Posted by virtualSniper on January 18
Deer are like the stock market and we’re all shareholders. S&P would give the deer herd a “neutral” or “hold” rating.
Posted by Walston on January 18
PH, just curious. How did Mother Nature step in after 2005-2007? Did some massive statewide die-off happen that I didn’t hear about?
Posted by Treehugger on January 18
PH, you seem to live under a rock of bitterness. The only thing you do like is being critical of everything anyone posts on here. If you’re so different than most of the rest of the hunters reading these forums, why do you keep coming back? Wake up and smell a cup of logic. If mother nature couldn’t support those numbers of deer, how did they ever get there in the first place? It’s obvious in Illinois and Iowa that increased hunting pressure, primarily on does is what has reduced numbers. The states designed it that way.
Posted by full draw on January 18
full draw every now and then someone comes on these sites, generally a doe slayer, talking about how its mother nature that could be the issue and not the 250k to 300 k deer killed each year by hunters. Hunters kill around 1 out of every 3 deer in the state and some want to blame it on blue tongue and other diseases. Its mind boggling really but ill leave it at that.
Posted by clintharvey on January 18
So do we know if the lower numbers in Iowa are due to that state cutting back on tags or is it that the Iowa herd is shrinking too? Or something else like reduced hunter effort due to the economy?
Posted by Murdy on January 19
Oops, guess I just skimmed the article.
Posted by Murdy on January 19
FULL DRAW and CH here is the logic; The last major incident of EHD was in 2007 which effected over half of the counties in IL. Now I am obviously not as intelligent as you but when that combined with CWD encroaching from the North in the last 5 years coincides with a decreased harvest every year since then why is that not a possibility??? So as I peek out from under my rock there was also a smaller outbreak in 2010. I guess it is more plausible to bash the DNR who had it right to the point that they had the herd where you wanted it in 2005, or bash hunters that shoot does. Your right I’m the bitter one. Maybe I am the vocal majority that is tired of hearing your chicken little rant about LWS, DNR, Outfitters and Doe Slayers??
Posted by PIMPSTAFFER HATER on January 19
While i prepare to teach logic today for a college…. ill help you out some here. What do you think has killed more deer in the last ten years? The 2.5 to 3 million deer killed in the last ten years by hunting or the EHD outbreak of 2007? The disease thats effecting our whitetail herd is clearly lead poison. Did EHD kill 20 to 50 thousand deer in 2007? Maybe more? yes. Did the dnr incorporate this into any kind of management plan? Nope offered just as many tags as ever. Made no statements about decreasing the kill in some areas. NOTHING 5 years later. And still many of the meat hunters that do agree that the herd is down state in the next sentence about how they are trying to kill 5 deer because thats what it takes to feed their family for a year. From 1990 to 2005 people became accustom to a apparently unlimited resource, Now that there are signs that there is a limit, most meat hunters wont change their personal harvesting habits. The only thing i personally can hope for is that when hunting gets to the point that meat hunters are forced to sit in a tree and just enjoy nature because they arent getting to shoot something every other hunt, that they will quit hunting and watch football.
Posted by clintharvey on January 19
I will try and find some common ground- your right the DNR did not change anything. However the decrease is not just contained in between the boundaries of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. There has been a harvest decrease in WI of over 100K deer since 2007. IA is down per the above article, IN had another record yr but do they really count? Michigan was down over the last couple years. All I am saying is that your eyeball test in one tract in one county in one state doesn’t add up to a cup of jack. So by your account whitetail deer harvest #‘s decreasing in IL, MI, WI, IA and I’m certain other states means what? Deer are going on the endangered list? DNRs all over the country need YOU to figure out what they can’t?? What exactly is this data proving? All I am saying to you and FULL DRAW, and WALMSLEY and anyone else is that state of deer hunting is what it is today. This is not 2005, in 5 years you might be begging for 2011 numbers. Then again you might be setting a record in 2017- No one knows- give it a rest, turn the page. You are living in the greatest state to hunt/kill/see/watch whitetail deer- sit back and enjoy it. I’m not bitter I feel sorry for you having to hunt an entire season with all this on your mind. You need a hug.
Posted by PIMPSTAFFER HATER on January 19
PH, you didn’t read anything about me criticizing the DNR, because I didn’t. I still have good numbers of deer where I hunt because we do manage the herd, ignoring much of what the state says. I haven’t complained one time to anyone about deer numbers. What I did type is that states like Illinois and Iowa are accomplishing exactly what they set out to accomplish…decreasing the deer population. CWD is another extremely over-exagerated ridiculous endeavor the state is trying to attack, but will never solve with their silly attempts. CWD has been out west for decades. I completely agree we live in one of the best states, and at the best time in history for deer hunting, watching, etc. But the clowns out there that think deer are an unlimited resource need only to check on a little history of the buffalo, or the hundreds of lakes in Canada that were nearly fished out before the Canadian DNR initiated slot limits, etc. I don’t blame the state either, because it’s the greed of human nature that causes hunters to pull the trigger over and over again without thought for the future.
Posted by full draw on January 19
pimp, From the states you mentioned. you will notice that ALL of them have increased pressure on does with late seasons recently. Its not mother nature. Its increased pressure on antlerless deer. I got up and left a lee and tiffany speaking engagement as they stated that they shoot over 100 does on their property during their late antlerless season.
Posted by clintharvey on January 19
Clint, I have no idea about Lee’s personal deer population, though I believe they run about 6K acres which makes 100 does about 1 doe killed for every 60 acres which isn’t really too crazy. THe one thing that I have noticed though, is that every mature buck you see on their show has major hide damage…my guess is way too much fighting…a sign of too few does I would think.
Posted by Treehugger on January 20
I’m sure they keep their buck to doe ratio close so the bucks really move during rut and they see plenty of them to film. Someone said something about Indiana record harvest and I believe 2012 season they want to add a doe only season (Should be interesting to see if there starts to be a decline in harvest numbers) and in years past they don’t have an either sex tag option so if you want a doe you have to buy another tag.
Posted by wsmbass on January 20