sureshot
The Hunt Never Ends....
Well, I just got back home from a 3 day conference where we could go to a variety of seminars, one of which was a deer management seminar by our states deer biologist, Tom Litchfield.
He talked about a variety of different things, one including the deer population in the state of Iowa. As we all know, and many of us have seen first hand, the state's deer population has reduced quite significantly over the past 7 or so years. We have went from an annual harvest of over 210,000 in 2005-6 (if I remember correctly, but it could be more) to an estimated 120,000 this year, so we have shot roughly 90,000 less deer. Yes, that's right, 90,000! It has been stated many times by Tom that last year our deer herd was finally at an 'accepted upon' (goal) level across the state, so they (the IDNR) proposed cuts in the amount of doe tags sold, which were sent to the Governor Branstads office where they were 'stopped.' This upcoming year, because of the amount of extra does shot this past season, a few things will be proposed; an even more significant cut in the amount of doe tags sold, getting rid of the November antlerless season, and cutting the late rifle season down 1-2 weeks. These proposals will once again be sent to the Governor's office, where it will be 'up to him' to place them into effect. If the doe tags continue to be sold in the manner of which they are now, then deer hunting in many areas is going to suffer greatly (if they aren't already). In 1996, hunters in Iowa harvested just over 100,000 deer. At this rate, it won't be more than a few years before we are back at that level. If you don't agree with having the governor make 'biological decisions' then voice your concern. Call his office, email him, and contact your state reps/legislatures.
After Tom's presentation he opened up the floor to questions. One gentleman asked if the state was considering increasing the amount of non-resident tags that were sold each year. Tom stated that although it is talked about each year, it is something that he doesn't foresee happening this upcoming season.
This is where I learned something.....
Tom stated that if the NR tag quota ever is increased, that they will get rid of the zones, so instead of putting in to hunt in a zone, a NR will put in to hunt a specific county. This would in turn cause NR's hoping to hunt in many of the popular counties an even longer time to draw than the way the system is currently setup (6,000 NR tags). For example, counties like Decatur, Davis, Appanoose, Van Buren, Monroe, Lucas, Wayne, and Allamakee, that have a higher percentage of NR hunters, could take at least 1 year longer to draw even though there are more NR tags given out. There would very well likely be less NR hunters in many of these counties. Tom also brought up a few facts that I wasn't aware of, such as that approximately 5% of Iowa's hunters each year are non-residents, which is similar to what Missouri and Minnesota have even though we have a smaller deer herd and far less cover (more of the nonresident hunters in Iowa are congregated into the 'big buck hot spots' instead of evenly spread out across the state even though there are zones).
Overall, after hearing Tom's presentation, I personally feel that he is really looking out for the whitetail deer herd in the state of Iowa and that he wants whats best for all of us, resident and non-resident alike. Let's just hope that his 'boss', the gov, is willing to let him and the rest of the IDNR do their jobs. Afterall, the last time I checked, Branstad didn't have a biology related degree.
He talked about a variety of different things, one including the deer population in the state of Iowa. As we all know, and many of us have seen first hand, the state's deer population has reduced quite significantly over the past 7 or so years. We have went from an annual harvest of over 210,000 in 2005-6 (if I remember correctly, but it could be more) to an estimated 120,000 this year, so we have shot roughly 90,000 less deer. Yes, that's right, 90,000! It has been stated many times by Tom that last year our deer herd was finally at an 'accepted upon' (goal) level across the state, so they (the IDNR) proposed cuts in the amount of doe tags sold, which were sent to the Governor Branstads office where they were 'stopped.' This upcoming year, because of the amount of extra does shot this past season, a few things will be proposed; an even more significant cut in the amount of doe tags sold, getting rid of the November antlerless season, and cutting the late rifle season down 1-2 weeks. These proposals will once again be sent to the Governor's office, where it will be 'up to him' to place them into effect. If the doe tags continue to be sold in the manner of which they are now, then deer hunting in many areas is going to suffer greatly (if they aren't already). In 1996, hunters in Iowa harvested just over 100,000 deer. At this rate, it won't be more than a few years before we are back at that level. If you don't agree with having the governor make 'biological decisions' then voice your concern. Call his office, email him, and contact your state reps/legislatures.
After Tom's presentation he opened up the floor to questions. One gentleman asked if the state was considering increasing the amount of non-resident tags that were sold each year. Tom stated that although it is talked about each year, it is something that he doesn't foresee happening this upcoming season.
This is where I learned something.....
Tom stated that if the NR tag quota ever is increased, that they will get rid of the zones, so instead of putting in to hunt in a zone, a NR will put in to hunt a specific county. This would in turn cause NR's hoping to hunt in many of the popular counties an even longer time to draw than the way the system is currently setup (6,000 NR tags). For example, counties like Decatur, Davis, Appanoose, Van Buren, Monroe, Lucas, Wayne, and Allamakee, that have a higher percentage of NR hunters, could take at least 1 year longer to draw even though there are more NR tags given out. There would very well likely be less NR hunters in many of these counties. Tom also brought up a few facts that I wasn't aware of, such as that approximately 5% of Iowa's hunters each year are non-residents, which is similar to what Missouri and Minnesota have even though we have a smaller deer herd and far less cover (more of the nonresident hunters in Iowa are congregated into the 'big buck hot spots' instead of evenly spread out across the state even though there are zones).
Overall, after hearing Tom's presentation, I personally feel that he is really looking out for the whitetail deer herd in the state of Iowa and that he wants whats best for all of us, resident and non-resident alike. Let's just hope that his 'boss', the gov, is willing to let him and the rest of the IDNR do their jobs. Afterall, the last time I checked, Branstad didn't have a biology related degree.
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