Indian Creek Nature Center Wants Out-of-State Hunters to Bid Big

CEDAR RAPIDS- A Cedar Rapids nature center hopes out-of-state hunters really want to bag an Iowa deer in the coming hunting seasons.

For the second year, the Indian Creek Nature Center will auction off a deer tag for non-resident hunters.  Only a handful of non-Iowa hunters can claim a deer tag through a lottery system.  But the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) gives about two dozen conservation groups one free deer tag each to auction off.

Indian Creek opened the bidding for the highly-prized deer tag on E-Bay last Sunday.  The auction will run through next Sunday and nature center director Rich Patterson said he's hoping for spirited bidding.

“What's really interesting is how much money people will pay for a deer tag (non-resident).  And what's in it for the nature center is we split the income with the DNR.  Last year that meant about $3,400 each,” Patterson said.

So far this year, the bidding for Indian Creek's one out-of-state deer tag stands at $3,000.  Based on what happened last year, with a $6,800 winning bid, the offers should really shoot up in the final hours.