Deer Quota Updates

KBell

KBell

New member
My friend Shane O'Brien sent me this update of a conversation he had with Senator Pat Murphy from Dubuque. I have heard from others that the Iowa Farm Bureau Insurance is pushing for even more reductions in the deer numbers.

Shane O'Brien 6:42pm Jan 18
I received the following from Senator Pat Murphy from Dubuque.

Shane,
Thank you for contacting me. Below is the response I got from staff here at the Capitol. I was surprised to say the least. I visited with my son Jake who also hunts. He admits it is getting a lot tougher and recommended limiting to two seasons and allowing one doe license. I visited with two other hunters and they admitted that hunting is weak thoughout the state except for the southern two tiers of counties and Allamakee and Clayton. It is my understanding that there was discussion limiting the hunt, but the Farm Bureau was against it. They are a powerful group that is listened to on this issues. The recommendations were passed solely on biology.

I could introduce a bill, but I think it is unlikely that anything will happen. If you would like a bill introduced I would have to put the request in by Friday. Let me know; however, I should point out that if the Farm Bureau is opposed it probably will be enough to stop the bill from going anywhere. Let me know quickly.
Thanks for letting me know about this. I was totally unaware.

Pat

Pat,
Many hunters are noticing a decline in the deer numbers in certain parts of the state. Your constituent is one of them. The DNR biologists are also hearing from deer hunters and seeing less deer. They are the ones who set the license quotas. In the past, the Legislature has been pushing DNR to make more licenses available to shoot more does. We are not hearing this cry from Iowans anymore. I do not know of any legislation being considered this year that would require DNR to issue more doe hunting licenses. Let me know if you need more
 
More on quotas

I wrote Iowa state senator Tom Hancock today and received his prompt reply.

Hi Shane, About five years ago Iowa's Insurance industry prioritized a lobbying
effort to reduce Iowa's deer herd. The Iowa farm bureau continues to complain
about huge deer numbers. During this period, the Iowa DNR biologists presented a
... few times at our natural resources meetings and did indicate high herd numbers.
The Biologists presented a plan to reduce the herd by 25% and indications are
the plan succeeded. Hunters in the Epworth area indicate herd numbers are down.
I will ask the DNR for an update. I agree with you as a former hunter, I do not
want the hunters in Iowa to lose the ability to do what they love to do.

I will get back to you once I get an update from the DNR biologists
 
while you are at it, you might want to ask the Iowa DNR how the pheasant population is doing and how they might want to survey the small town businesses and the impact the pitiful bird population is having.......and the stupidity behind raising the price of an NR license to a record level.....these folks are idiots....of course they are politicians, so that is a given!
 
hunter94 said:
while you are at it, you might want to ask the Iowa DNR how the pheasant population is doing and how they might want to survey the small town businesses and the impact the pitiful bird population is having.......and the stupidity behind raising the price of an NR license to a record level.....these folks are idiots....of course they are politicians, so that is a given!
Click to expand...

I don't think the dnr has as much to do with the pitiful bird numbers. That can be associated to the loss of habitat(crp) to high commodity prices, and, snowy winters with wet springs. I did not buy my NR license the last three years for obvious reasons. I did send the dnr an e-mail a few years back asking them why they are raising the cost with the bird numbers declining, to me that didn't seem logical...
never got a response.
I do have an investment interest in Iowa as a non-resident landowner with land in crp. Replanting this spring. Keeping my fingers crossed and praying for good planting weather.
 
More painting of the picture

Dear Shane O’Brien,
Your email was forwarded to me and I want to thank you for your interest in Iowa’s deer resources. The data indicated that deer populations throughout most of eastern Iowa were at goal, or very near to it, when analyses were completed this past spring. The goal is to maintain a stable deer population that approximates levels that occurred in the mid-to-late 1990s. For the 2011/12 deer seasons, the DNR recommended that county antlerless-only license quotas in eastern Iowa, as well as some central and southern counties, be reduced by over 23,000 licenses.

We also recommended that the November and January Antlerless season should be discontinued in certain counties and that the January Antlerless season should be shortened by a week in the remaining counties (the recommendations would have totally eliminated the November and January Antlerless seasons from northeastern Iowa). However, these recommendations were prevented from moving forward for public review and the Natural Resources Commission was not allowed to vote on them. Due to this, season structures and antlerless quotas remained unchanged for the 2011 seasons. Recommendations will again be formulated during this coming winter and spring for the 2012 deer seasons.

Contacting your local elected representatives, as you indicated below, is a good idea as they are also important decision makers in this process.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions, if you feel I may be of further assistance please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Tom
Thomas R. Litchfield
Chariton Research Station
24570 US HWY 34
Chariton, Iowa 50049
641-774-2958
 
Keep the Farm Bureau out. Let the DNR do it's job based on sound deer management. My area has a good number of deer I hope it continues.
 
Heard it unofficially that Iowa now has a new non-resident landowner tag. Any nr landowner can purchase a deer license for $1000 provided they have at least 80 acres. Is this correct?
 
Hello

Hello Birddog456,

I have not heard anything about this but the price would be right for the state of Iowa. My free advice whether this is true or not would be to invest the $1,000 in habitat/land purchase in your home state of Illinois as it will serve you better in the long run.

I hunted the entire second season plus one day of scouting and saw the lowest deer numbers that I have ever experienced in 46+ years of deer hunting. To be direct, deer reduction goals have gone too far in the numbers. Certain counties (like the central and north central areas I hunt) have tipped the scale under current management goals to few if any deer. Other counties may not have experienced this but remember that "state-wide" measures were put into place years ago at the dismay of many of us. The extended seasons and extra tags did not serve my counties in regards to deer management. These are just my observations but any of you are encouraged to post your comments. I need to reconsider my deer hunting options for next season.
 
Don't think I would get any license at that cost, just curious. Kind of a shame though, kicked up 3 bucks end of October off my place out there, ranging 140 - 170. Always nice to dream.
 
deer license

As an out of state land owner in Iowa, the DNR must be dreaming for that price($1000) for a deer. Here in Colorado an non-res elk tag is far less with a better chance to bag one. Sounds like the legislature is too involved in revenue than reason, just make people go a different direction for hunts.
I was back to the farm in November and disappointed in the pheasant count and loss of habitat because of farming practices. And the DNR will probably raise the license fee because of lower revenue.
 
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