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All the dead deer

houston

houston

Member
With harvest in full swing, the reports of dead deer are becoming serious. At my business in Ringgold County, the talk of the numbers are stagering. As many as 30 head in one large river front field. Hundreds more are coming to light.
With this being the tip of the iceberg, the DNR should/needs to re-examine the late rifle season NOW. Other than the hunters, sportman ect, no one wants to admit to the killing of 100's if not 1000's of shed bucks in this rifle season. If the DNR insists on money and politics to trumph Iowa's deer herd its only a matter of time until we loose our ALL OUR BIG Bucks. With the combinaion of the disease and the rifle season, it will take years to rebuild as it stands now. JMO! jeff~
 
I agree. SOMETHING needs to be done. They can't just make an adjustment to next years tags. Action needs to take place this year with seasons and/or antlerless tags. I'm not sure who needs to be contacted to push this though.
 
I found a 140" dead deer in a creek bottom yesterday in Monroe county 100 yards from my stand. Called the dnr and he said it was probably EHD. He has tested over 30 deer and the samples have come up positive.
 
The DNR says that they are scaling back the numbers of antlerless tags across the state, as well as the number of tags available for the rifle season. They said they are starting that this year, and decreasing more and more as years go by.
 
thephatchef said:
The DNR says that they are scaling back the numbers of antlerless tags across the state, as well as the number of tags available for the rifle season. They said they are starting that this year, and decreasing more and more as years go by.
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That was before EHD was ever an issue, the tags may NOW need to be adjusted as well to take the EHD into account.

Pray for a wet winter and spring!
 
its not the DNR. its the governor and farm bureau so if you want change I suggest you get in touch with them because they're the ones handcuffing the DNR.
 
I know I'm fairly new to deer hunting and all but if the farm bureau and the governor are handcuffing the dnr with the Amt. of tags allowed, as sportsman should we take a look at our ethics and cut back our tag purchases if know one else will. Just my 2 cents
 
rookiedeerhunter said:
I know I'm fairly new to deer hunting and all but if the farm bureau and the governor are handcuffing the dnr with the Amt. of tags allowed, as sportsman should we take a look at our ethics and cut back our tag purchases if know one else will. Just my 2 cents
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Sadly thats the problem.. too many killers and not enough hunters. Some people think they have to go out and shoot ten deer a deer just because the tags are available even though they end up donating the meat anyway. The HUSH program is for a good cause, but probably the worst thing the state could have done in my opinion to keep overharvest from happening.. not that the governor cares anyway
 
How do any of you propose adjusting tags that are already sold?

We are the solution to this concern.
 
I agree 150, instead of whacking 4 or 5 does and donating them all, shoot what ya need to fill the freezer and be satisfied, we are the ones who are able to control the harvest for the most part.
 
I'm saying suspend antlerless tag sales in the counties hit the hardest. They are dead deer, they should be able to go one for one taking away available tags for every EHD death. Like it has been said though, it will never happen because managing the herd is not the goal. The DNR's words fall upon deaf ears when speaking about the Iowa deer herd to the people with the power to control.
 
I agree with 150Class. All any of us can do is police ourselves and share the news of EHD. Mother Nature has her ways and those ways are harsh and cruel; however, she knows best.
The battle over tags has been going on for some time now and politics trumps common sense... much like the CWD thing. You may or may not be a big fan of the Iowa Bowhunters Association, but I think the IBA has done a good job of leading the charge in defense of the DNR's recommendations through its membership. Let the science of deer management determine the numbers. I expect the numbers this year will take some time to determine. I'm just an old bowhunter and that's the way I see it.
 
numbers of deer.

with the EHD problem everyone will see what bow hunting was like back in the 60's and 70's our numbers were low then, it was a good nite if you seen a couple of deer in a day. bucks were not everywhere and there were time's when no deer were seen at all. stick with it and make the most of what you have it may be some time before it will be like it has been but it will come back not only has the disease hurt our hunting but also the people who depend on the hunting for their income.
 
Hopefully we can get a nice frost soon to kill off the bugs that cause EHD. I don't want this to continue to hurt the IA deer herd. I think next year the rifle season will go. EHD seems to have hit Southern IA very hard.
 
I hear they cancelled the November antlerless season and the January antlerless season this year. So I looked at the season calender on Iowadnr.gov and it didnt have them listed. Does anyone have word if this is legit or not? Our deer herd sure needs these two seasons gone this year.

Edit: Just found the link. Answered my own question. THey are having January antlerless, not having November antlerless. My bad.
 
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