Cedar Rapids concludes annual urban deer hunt

CEDAR RAPIDS - Hunters harvested 146 deer during Cedar Rapids' annual urban deer hunt.

Cedar Rapids public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said 82 hunters qualified to participate in the bow hunt, which ran from Sept. 17 to Jan. 10. Of those 82 hunters, 27 were successful in harvesting a deer.

Buelow said two hunters each killed seven deer during the season and 18 hunters harvested five or more does, making them eligible for the 2017-2018 incentive buck tag.

All told, hunters killed 136 does, five button bucks - those without antlers - and five antlered bucks.

Of the harvested deer, 24 were donated to either the Help Us Stop Hunger program - a collaboration between hunters, the Food Bank of Iowa, meat processors and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources - or to a local initiative at Mission of Hope, Buelow said.

The annual hunt, hosted in the city since 2004, strives to reduce the deer population in Iowa while also providing meat to Iowans in need. Buelow said the city has seen a 57 percent reduction in deer killed on the road since the program began.

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