JNRBRONC
Well-Known Member
Yeah, Baby! One of the counties I hunt has increased the antlerless quota!
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>Pheasants could be sparse, but not deer in Iowa</span>
Joe Wilkinson • Outdoors • July 3, 2008
Ice, snow and catastrophic flooding have marked 2008 as we close the first half of the year. No wonder many of us look a little deeper into the calendar for some good news -- say the hunting seasons? Even then, lousy pheasant-raising weather and 100,000 CRP acres put back into cropland mean bird prospects will be lean. That makes deer hunting a bright spot heading into this fall.
With a little extra time in November for bow hunting and a few more days in January for cold weather gun hunting, I've bought several antlerless tags in each of the last few years, and I've noticed a few carried by our December hunting party lately. Season dates, special zones and county-by-county quotas were set recently by the Iowa Natural Resources Commission, and antlerless deer tags will be a staple this season, as well.
"The only major change is an increase of about 11,000 antlerless tags," says Willie Suchy, Department of Natural Resources wildlife research supervisor. "They seem to be working real well. In some counties, almost 75 percent of all deer killed are antlerless, with 60 percent of them does. With that kind of harvest, we'll get those counties down, as well."
That means 120,000 county-specific tags are out there for hunters willing to kill antlerless deer. The goal, of course, is to bring deer populations to acceptable levels statewide by harvesting more does.
There will be 39 counties with more tags available this fall and winter. Most of those counties lie in the three southern tiers, though several northeast counties were bumped, too. Around here, Cedar County jumps from 1,000 to 1,300. Washington County goes from 2,150 to 2,250. Another 58 counties remain at last year's quotas, including Johnson (with 2,000 available), Iowa (1,200), Muscatine (1,700) and Linn (1,900).
Across north central and northwest Iowa, 22 counties will again offer no antlerless tags. They are among about 40 with deer numbers close to target levels, with another 30 heading in the right direction.
"In another year or two, we should be in pretty good shape there," says Suchy, noting that road-killed deer statewide dropped about 8 percent in '07 and that '08 aerial and spotlight surveys indicate a downturn, too.
"That leaves 20-some counties where we really have to concentrate on getting extra hunting pressure," he says. Those counties are in southern and northeast Iowa primarily, generally home to prime deer habitat and fewer people.
Special hunts -- in state or county parks and in or around cities -- remain popular. There are 60 of them this fall and winter, including in F.W. Kent Park, the city of Coralville and the Johnson County "corridor" zone. The commission also approved the popular Thanksgiving weekend and late January seasons for another year.
Of course, any hunter sitting in an October bow stand or posted up on a December shotgun season drive still expects that big buck. Allocation of any-sex tags -- which hunters can use to take bucks -- essentially will be the same. A non-landowner hunter can purchase one or two of them, depending on the seasons hunted. However, with deer seasons stretching over four months, we are starting to get the hint.
"Our hunters are really adapting to the quality deer management philosophy," Suchy says. "You have to kill does and pass up the little bucks to keep the herd from growing. You can still have a great time."
Details of the seasons and regulations; including adjustments in the blaze orange requirement for ground blinds, youth season regulations and landowner eligibility will be spelled out in the deer regulations booklets available online or at license outlets and DNR offices late this summer.
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>Pheasants could be sparse, but not deer in Iowa</span>
Joe Wilkinson • Outdoors • July 3, 2008
Ice, snow and catastrophic flooding have marked 2008 as we close the first half of the year. No wonder many of us look a little deeper into the calendar for some good news -- say the hunting seasons? Even then, lousy pheasant-raising weather and 100,000 CRP acres put back into cropland mean bird prospects will be lean. That makes deer hunting a bright spot heading into this fall.
With a little extra time in November for bow hunting and a few more days in January for cold weather gun hunting, I've bought several antlerless tags in each of the last few years, and I've noticed a few carried by our December hunting party lately. Season dates, special zones and county-by-county quotas were set recently by the Iowa Natural Resources Commission, and antlerless deer tags will be a staple this season, as well.
"The only major change is an increase of about 11,000 antlerless tags," says Willie Suchy, Department of Natural Resources wildlife research supervisor. "They seem to be working real well. In some counties, almost 75 percent of all deer killed are antlerless, with 60 percent of them does. With that kind of harvest, we'll get those counties down, as well."
That means 120,000 county-specific tags are out there for hunters willing to kill antlerless deer. The goal, of course, is to bring deer populations to acceptable levels statewide by harvesting more does.
There will be 39 counties with more tags available this fall and winter. Most of those counties lie in the three southern tiers, though several northeast counties were bumped, too. Around here, Cedar County jumps from 1,000 to 1,300. Washington County goes from 2,150 to 2,250. Another 58 counties remain at last year's quotas, including Johnson (with 2,000 available), Iowa (1,200), Muscatine (1,700) and Linn (1,900).
Across north central and northwest Iowa, 22 counties will again offer no antlerless tags. They are among about 40 with deer numbers close to target levels, with another 30 heading in the right direction.
"In another year or two, we should be in pretty good shape there," says Suchy, noting that road-killed deer statewide dropped about 8 percent in '07 and that '08 aerial and spotlight surveys indicate a downturn, too.
"That leaves 20-some counties where we really have to concentrate on getting extra hunting pressure," he says. Those counties are in southern and northeast Iowa primarily, generally home to prime deer habitat and fewer people.
Special hunts -- in state or county parks and in or around cities -- remain popular. There are 60 of them this fall and winter, including in F.W. Kent Park, the city of Coralville and the Johnson County "corridor" zone. The commission also approved the popular Thanksgiving weekend and late January seasons for another year.
Of course, any hunter sitting in an October bow stand or posted up on a December shotgun season drive still expects that big buck. Allocation of any-sex tags -- which hunters can use to take bucks -- essentially will be the same. A non-landowner hunter can purchase one or two of them, depending on the seasons hunted. However, with deer seasons stretching over four months, we are starting to get the hint.
"Our hunters are really adapting to the quality deer management philosophy," Suchy says. "You have to kill does and pass up the little bucks to keep the herd from growing. You can still have a great time."
Details of the seasons and regulations; including adjustments in the blaze orange requirement for ground blinds, youth season regulations and landowner eligibility will be spelled out in the deer regulations booklets available online or at license outlets and DNR offices late this summer.
