Well I am back at it again. I just found some of the stats that have been missing from the DNR site, or at least I could not find them for a while. http://www.iowadnr.com/wildlife/files/logbook.html is where I found this info. In looking at this current and past info it looks like the DNR maybe looking for some ways to make up for the potential short fall on license fees if they in fact reduce the deer herd to early 1990's levels. I know that I tend to over analyze some of this stuff but at least I think I am right.
license info
Total Licenses Total Hunters NR Licenses Total Dollars
2006 377,525 339,966 6500 +6500 $12,851,824
1993 168017 168017 0 $4,200,425
The total dollars reflect 6500 NR licenses @ $400 and 6500 NR antlerless @$200 339,966 @ $26 and 37,599 @ $12
In 1993 I don't believe there were any NR licenses and every license was the same price but you could get both a bow and a shotgun license. These figures show a difference of $8,651,399. For a while there may not be that much of a shortage because there will still be a lot of licenses sold but as the deer population drops and as a consequence the success ratio drops what will happen to the numbers of deer hunters.
In 2005 there were 211451 deer killed with 391864 licensed issued for a success ratio of 54% and in 2006 there were 150552 killed with 377525 licenses issued for a ratio of 40%. They have not posted the number of licenses for 2007 but I read that there was a little over 140000 deer killed.
Now take us back to the years of yesterday to 1993 there were only 76430 deer killed by 168017 licenses issued for a ratio of 45.49%. At our current rate of travel if 2008 brings a number licenses of 350,000 and a further reduced kill of say around 130,000 deer that will drop the ratio to only 37%. That means that there will be over 200,000 of us deer hunters who won't tag a deer, meaning any deer, buck or doe that year.
Is this really what the DNR wants or what we deer hunters want? How long until those casual deer hunters who only hunt a day or two per year get frustrated with the lack of deer and places to hunt just give up? What happens to DNR revenue when the license numbers drop to 200,000 and the revenue drops $4,000,000? I know what I think will happen, unlimited over the counter NR licenses at $500 or $600 a pop, which will lead to more outfitter leasing and NR land ownership which will further limit resident hunting access. Why is it that it seems that the DNR is listening to and trying to placate all the groups who don't pay a penny to support the DNR and deer programs and ignoring or propagandizing the people, deer hunters, who do pay the bills. Some where I must be missing the big picture so can some one enlighten me why I should continue to kill more and more does so that the deer population will drop to a level where even if I can buy all the licenses I want, I can't find deer to fill them?
No where on the DNR site could I find an actual population number even if it was just an estimate of the deer we have in Iowa. I found a couple of charts and graphs that were almost impossible to read, but I could make out the population GOAL, 170,000 deer. If they should meet that goal and still expect to sell 250,000 licenses, which entitles every holder to harvest one deer, a success ratio of just 50% means that we have just put the white tail deer on the endangered species list in Iowa. WHAT ARE WE DOING? Do we want to go back to having 200,000 hunters applying for a lottery for 100,000 licenses so that we might be able to kill 50,000 deer.
I know that I sound like a dooms day prophet and keep harping on this subject, but i continue to read posts about people wanting to kill more does and to donate them to Hush just so they can shoot more, or they want to shoot 10 or more in an urban hunt just so they can earn a urban buck tag. All of the bow hunters should take note and read some of the stats on the DNR page. for example in 2001 there were 52002 bow licenses issued and a bow harvest of 18798 deer for 39%. In 2006 there were 76258 bow licenses issued but with a kill of only 22008 reported for only 29%. Now there has been many questions about the new reporting system that went into effect in 2006, but I would hope that bow hunters were responsible enough to report every thing that they killed. What happens in 2008 when there will probably be just as many licenses sold and fewer deer. If the overall harvest drops by 10,000 or 15,000 deer and you figure that maybe 30% of those are bow kills, 3000 to 5000 deer, that would mean that about 75,000 bow licenses were used to bow harvest maybe 19,000 deer for a ratio of only 25%. Is it ok with 75% of all the bow hunters to pay your money and know that you won't tag any deer?
I need to stop now before I make this thing 2 pages long and loose too many of your interests. Read the DNR stuff and please give it a little thought before you go out and "whack a whole freezer full of skin heads" especially if you want your kids to become deer hunters with something to hunt.
license info
Total Licenses Total Hunters NR Licenses Total Dollars
2006 377,525 339,966 6500 +6500 $12,851,824
1993 168017 168017 0 $4,200,425
The total dollars reflect 6500 NR licenses @ $400 and 6500 NR antlerless @$200 339,966 @ $26 and 37,599 @ $12
In 1993 I don't believe there were any NR licenses and every license was the same price but you could get both a bow and a shotgun license. These figures show a difference of $8,651,399. For a while there may not be that much of a shortage because there will still be a lot of licenses sold but as the deer population drops and as a consequence the success ratio drops what will happen to the numbers of deer hunters.
In 2005 there were 211451 deer killed with 391864 licensed issued for a success ratio of 54% and in 2006 there were 150552 killed with 377525 licenses issued for a ratio of 40%. They have not posted the number of licenses for 2007 but I read that there was a little over 140000 deer killed.
Now take us back to the years of yesterday to 1993 there were only 76430 deer killed by 168017 licenses issued for a ratio of 45.49%. At our current rate of travel if 2008 brings a number licenses of 350,000 and a further reduced kill of say around 130,000 deer that will drop the ratio to only 37%. That means that there will be over 200,000 of us deer hunters who won't tag a deer, meaning any deer, buck or doe that year.
Is this really what the DNR wants or what we deer hunters want? How long until those casual deer hunters who only hunt a day or two per year get frustrated with the lack of deer and places to hunt just give up? What happens to DNR revenue when the license numbers drop to 200,000 and the revenue drops $4,000,000? I know what I think will happen, unlimited over the counter NR licenses at $500 or $600 a pop, which will lead to more outfitter leasing and NR land ownership which will further limit resident hunting access. Why is it that it seems that the DNR is listening to and trying to placate all the groups who don't pay a penny to support the DNR and deer programs and ignoring or propagandizing the people, deer hunters, who do pay the bills. Some where I must be missing the big picture so can some one enlighten me why I should continue to kill more and more does so that the deer population will drop to a level where even if I can buy all the licenses I want, I can't find deer to fill them?
No where on the DNR site could I find an actual population number even if it was just an estimate of the deer we have in Iowa. I found a couple of charts and graphs that were almost impossible to read, but I could make out the population GOAL, 170,000 deer. If they should meet that goal and still expect to sell 250,000 licenses, which entitles every holder to harvest one deer, a success ratio of just 50% means that we have just put the white tail deer on the endangered species list in Iowa. WHAT ARE WE DOING? Do we want to go back to having 200,000 hunters applying for a lottery for 100,000 licenses so that we might be able to kill 50,000 deer.
I know that I sound like a dooms day prophet and keep harping on this subject, but i continue to read posts about people wanting to kill more does and to donate them to Hush just so they can shoot more, or they want to shoot 10 or more in an urban hunt just so they can earn a urban buck tag. All of the bow hunters should take note and read some of the stats on the DNR page. for example in 2001 there were 52002 bow licenses issued and a bow harvest of 18798 deer for 39%. In 2006 there were 76258 bow licenses issued but with a kill of only 22008 reported for only 29%. Now there has been many questions about the new reporting system that went into effect in 2006, but I would hope that bow hunters were responsible enough to report every thing that they killed. What happens in 2008 when there will probably be just as many licenses sold and fewer deer. If the overall harvest drops by 10,000 or 15,000 deer and you figure that maybe 30% of those are bow kills, 3000 to 5000 deer, that would mean that about 75,000 bow licenses were used to bow harvest maybe 19,000 deer for a ratio of only 25%. Is it ok with 75% of all the bow hunters to pay your money and know that you won't tag any deer?
I need to stop now before I make this thing 2 pages long and loose too many of your interests. Read the DNR stuff and please give it a little thought before you go out and "whack a whole freezer full of skin heads" especially if you want your kids to become deer hunters with something to hunt.
