Deer harvest down, as expected

As expected, the harvest during the recently completed shotgun deer seasons was substantially lower than last year's harvest during the same seasons.

Hunters took about 70,000 deer – a 9 percent reduction from last year's harvest, the Department of Natural Resources reported Wednesday.

“The reduced kill is a result of the reduced deer population,” said Dale Garner, chief of the DNR's Wildlife Bureau.

Garner said with the exception of one day, weather during the two seasons, which ran Dec. 3-7 and Dec. 10-18, was favorable for hunting. The number of licenses sold for the shotgun deer seasons this year was only about 1,000 fewer than last year, he said.

“Deer numbers in many areas are near the department's objective and we are now encouraging hunters to be more selective with their harvest,” Garner said.

While the shotgun season harvest was down substantially, the harvest total from all deer seasons, as of Tuesday, stood at 101,755 – down just 4 percent from 106,004 deer at the same time last year, said DNR deer biologist Tom Litchfield.

Archers and muzzleloader hunters have longer seasons, which enables them to maintain their harvest levels by putting in more time and effort, Litchfield said.

Reduced deer numbers become more apparent in the shorter shotgun seasons, he said.

Garner said more hunters are voicing concerns about reduced deer numbers.

He said the DNR will review the harvest and population surveys after the seasons are complete in January and make proposals to reduce the deer kill and stabilize deer numbers.

Earlier this year the DNR proposed reducing quotas for antlerless deer licenses in 35 Iowa counties, but the Natural Resources Commission backed off the proposal in response to pressure from Gov. Terry Branstad.

In response to hunters' increased pressure on does, which began in 2003, annual deer harvests have been steadily declining since 2006.

The reported harvest last year was 127,094 -- down from 136,504 in the preceding year and from 142,194 in the year before that.