The plan of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to reduce deer numbers statewide continues right on track, following the 2009 hunting season.

Hawkeye State sportsmen tagged 136,504 deer last year, including 71,273 does. The harvest is in keeping with biologists’ plans to reduce deer numbers statewide. Some areas still require additional trimming of the whitetail herd, but IDNR experts are predicting that reduction goals will be met within the next two or three years. This is good news for game managers, but what does it all mean to hunters?

CHANGE IS IN THE WIND
“The bulk of our counties will be at goal within two years,” said Tom Litchfield, an IDNR deer biologist. “Counties near Des Moines (Dallas, Madison and Warren) may take longer because we have larger refuge area issues to address there. Also, counties in the midwestern part of the state along the Missouri River will likely be the last to meet our population objectives.”

Litchfield noted that efforts must be made to meet harvest objectives in areas with high human populations as well — places where high deer numbers create problems for landowners, commuters and farmers. Iowa Department of Transportation removal of road kill carcasses peaked at around 14,000 animals in 2005 and has averaged about 12,000 annually since the mid-1990s. Some of these areas may have special deer hunts designed to reduce the whitetail population in smaller, specific target areas to help reduce some of these numbers.

Overall, the state’s slowly shrinking deer herd is “healthy” going into the 2010 season, Litchfield noted, as biologists continue to work to control whitetail numbers. There is no way to accurately estimate the number of deer in the state, but IDNR officials are keeping a close eye on the herd and annual harvests so that the state’s long-term quality deer hunting can be sustained. The present population should be capable of supporting a harvest of 110,000 to 130,000 whitetails annually if hunters cooperate and use the new reporting system.

“As soon as an area’s deer population starts to decline,” Litchfield said, “we will take action to keep things from getting out of hand. Our current management objective is a stable deer population at the approximate level that occurred in the mid- to late 1990s.

REPORT YOUR KILL
To help IDNR biologists monitor the state’s deer management program, hunters are reminded that all deer taken by gun or bow must be reported.

Hunters have the option of reporting their success via the Internet (click on the “Harvest Report System” link on the IDNR’s Web site – www.iowadnr.gov); by phone at (800) 771-4692; or by visiting their local hunting license issuing agent. Hunters must have the following information available: The nine-digit harvest registration number that appears on the Harvest Report Tag issued with each license; the sex of the deer (a “spike buck” is considered an antlered deer); and the county where the deer was harvested.

One caution for cell phone users: Poor cell service in some parts of the state has made it difficult to complete harvest reports by cell phone. Once the transportation tag has been attached to the deer, the hunter has until midnight the next day to make his report. The IDNR advises cell-phone users to wait until they are out of the woods and receive a clear, strong cell phone connection before placing the toll-free call.

2009 SEASON REVIEW
The early 2009 Iowa deer harvest was about 4,000 animals behind 2008 numbers, but the remaining deer seasons were expected to shrink that gap, said IDNR experts. Hunters still had the late muzzleloader season, the non-resident holiday antlerless season and the January antlerless season in which to participate.

“The number of female deer taken is the critical measure. We expected the overall harvest to inch lower because we had fewer deer,” said Willie Suchy, supervisor for the IDNR’s wildlife research section.

Suchy said he has received a few inquiries about extending the shotgun season such as was done in 2007, but that scenario will likely never happen again.

“The 2007 shotgun seasons were unique, with severe winter weather impacting hunter participation on the weekends in both seasons. Harvest numbers were also well below projections. Our second shotgun season had the highest harvest ever for the last weekend of the season since reporting started four years ago,” he said. “Extending the season like we did in 2007 is less likely to be needed, as deer numbers are now close to the department’s goals in many counties in the state.”

Proof that the IDNR’s plan is working is the buck-to-doe ratio in the harvest. From 1985 through 2005, the buck harvest has always exceeded the doe harvest. In fact, during the early 1990s, the buck harvest was nearly double the antlerless harvest. Since that time, the overall deer harvest has increased by over one-third; but, starting in 2006, the doe harvest was actually higher than the buck harvest. In 2009, the doe harvest was 71,273 animals compared to 65,231 bucks, or some 6,042 more does than bucks. Management strategies designed to increase the harvest of female deer for population control have resulted in annual doe harvests that are about 90 percent greater than those of 2002, and many counties posted doe harvest increases of more than 100 percent. In, fact, according to recent figures, Iowa’s antlerless deer harvest rates are among the highest in the nation.

Iowa’s 2009 harvest overall was 5,750 animals fewer than in 2008, but biologists said less-than-perfect hunting conditions combined with the fact that there also were fewer whitetails available last year.

Litchfield said preliminary numbers indicate there is potential for reductions in the number of antlerless deer licenses available in about 20 counties in east-central, northeast and southeast Iowa. He also said the traditional November antlerless deer season will likely be discontinued within two years.

Surveys in north-central and northwest Iowa show that deer are readily available in areas with good
habitat, but habitat is declining as CRP lands, fence rows and woodlots continue to disappear, meaning there is less suitable cover for deer in certain areas.

The Hawkeye State is divided into 20 wildlife management units (WMUs). A separate analysis is conducted for each unit. The analyses conducted after the 2007 season revealed in eight WMUs (38 counties) that deer populations were at or near desired goals. In nine of the WMUs (46 counties), deer populations were trending downward but were still above goal levels. In the remaining three WMUs (15 counties), deer population growth was slowed, but a greater harvest was needed to cause a population decline.

Iowa offers hunters multiple seasons within which to pursue deer. This variety in season options helps spread the hunting pressure out, providing more hunters more access to more land and allows hunters multiple chances to harvest deer. The majority of the kill occurs in December, after the whitetail’s breeding season, when bucks are less vulnerable to being over-hunted. The timing of this harvest is one of the main reasons Iowa maintains a high-quality deer herd while still having the ability to take many antlerless deer.