Background: Iowa has a very prestigious resource many people are not aware of – the whitetail deer. The whitetail deer is very numerous in Iowa due to a couple of reasons – food (corn and beans) and habitat (lots of places to hide). Corn and beans allow Iowa deer to grow larger than the average whitetail deer across the country, increasing not only their mass and body size, but their antlers as well. The antlers are a prized possession across and the country, drawing hunters, photographers, and nature lovers from every other state in the United States to come and try their hand and seeing, photographing, or harvesting a “trophy” whitetail with large antlers. Some do it on their own, some knock on doors, while others pay for a service to guide them. Iowa resident hunters are fortunate enough to be able to get anywhere from 2-3 whitetail buck tags every year (one for gun hunting, the other for bow). Non-Residents (NR’s), on the other hand, have to wait approximately 3 years to “draw” a tag in order to hunt a whitetail buck (although they can hunt does every year in Iowa).
Even if a NR owns property in Iowa, they cannot get a tag every year.
Many other groups have a large interest in Iowa’s deer population besides
hunters and
NR land owners:
· Animal Rights – defend the ‘rights’ of animals
· Farmers – deer eat their crops – leaving less for the farmer = less $$$.
· Hunters – some hunters hunt for trophy purposes and some hunt just to fill a freezer with meat. Most think that if they open up buck licenses for NR’s, Iowa’s trophy deer population will be decimated like the surrounding states and the average hunter will not have a place to hunt (due to NR’s buying up all the Iowa land and turning it into hunting outfitters).
· Insurance Companies (Farm Bureau, etc) – have to insure crops that are eaten by deer. Farm Bureau is said to have the backs of NR landowners, pushing that Iowa hunters are not harvesting enough deer, so they want to represent and lobby for NR landowners and open up buck licenses for all hunters.
· Non-resident (NR) landowners/NR’s – own land in Iowa, but cannot get a buck license every year due to Iowa’s current laws.
· DNR – Role is to analyze all other interest group information and data and make the best possible solution for Iowa’s deer population and not just one individual group. Also, uses sale of licenses to fund their program.
The deer population, however, is something that is very highly disputed by all interest groups. Many interest groups and politicians use this population “problem” to create the best situation for their own group.
Currently:
· The DNR tries to monitor and maintain the deer population by limiting/issuing doe licenses and special seasons.
· In some counties, doe licenses are increased and some there are none (based off previous year’s data and the current deer population). Hunters can purchase as many doe tags until the current county quota has been sold out.
· Buck licenses remain the same: 1 anysex (buck) bow license, 1 anysex gun license. Iowa Land owner’s can receive an additional anysex license if they choose, in order to further control the population on their property.
Seasons:
· Bow – October until January (one buck tag)
· Early Muzzleloader (gun) – one week in October (one buck tag for any one of the gun seasons)
· Shotgun #1 (gun) – 5 days in December
· Shotgun #2 (gun) – one week after shotgun #1
· Late Muzzleloader (gun) – after shotgun #2 in December until January 10
· Late Antlerless (rifle) – After Jan. 10 to reduce the population in the southern counties – antlerless deer only (until doe quota reached)
Link:
http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/DeerHunting.aspx
Purpose: To analyze Iowa’s deer population, debate with other interest groups, work together for a solution, and to present that solution to the DNR.
Procedure/Problem: You will be assigned an interest group and partners. You will fill out a contract to keep everyone in the group accountable. In your group, you are to research your interest group and their stances/viewpoints and present to the class a solution (your opinion) as to what should happen with Iowa’s current deer seasons, laws/regulations, quotas, if anything. After your presentation, you will need to represent and defend your group and come up with a solution to present to the DNR with all of your classmates.
You are to include and document
4 sources (2 interview/2 web) for your presentation. The 2 interviews need to be through phone, person, or email. We will provide a list of questions, but you need to come up with
3 other questions to ask.
After research, you need to present your research to the class in some form of media (PPT, Prezi, Video, website, etc). A rubric will be provided.
After your presentation, you will participate in a whole-class debate on Iowa’s deer population. During the debate, you will need to decide, as a whole class, what your recommendation will be as one unit. You can decide how you want to recommend and defend that stance to the DNR (again, PPT, Prezi, video, website, etc)
Twice a week you will be asked to fill out a “What did I do” Google Form to keep track of your progress and give you goals for the next work period.
Before and during the unit, you will be responsible for our content taught and homework associated with that content. Ecology is the over-arching unit and we will still teach content related to our project.
Questions asked to interviewers
What is the deer population in Iowa and is it a problem?
What causes the deer population to rise and fall?
Are predators a factor in the number of deer in Iowa?
Is habitat a factor in the number of deer in Iowa?
Is hunting a factor in the number of deer in Iowa?
What laws should be changed to help manage the deer population in Iowa?
What should the lawmakers do to control the deer population in Iowa?
Why is the deer population important in the state of Iowa?
