Iowa hunters in the Dubuque area have the opportunity to extend their deer hunting season and help the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sample more deer for chronic wasting disease in and around their city. The Natural Resource Commission of the Iowa DNR approved the Jan. 26 to Feb. 10 deer management zone season extension Wednesday.
The extended season will allow the DNR to collect additional deer tissue samples to test for the always fatal disease. Licenses and zone maps are available at Tri State Outdoors 563-582-8514 and the Bait Shack at 563-582-9395. An estimated 200 licenses remain from the 2018-2019 management zones hunt. Participating hunters must have a 2019 hunting license and habitat stamp and, if successful, are required to provide a tissue sample.
A deer killed along a Hwy. 52, 2-1/2 miles southeast of the City of Dubuque, tested positive for chronic wasting disease in December.
The Iowa DNR proposed to make available the unsold licenses from the existing Dubuque Perimeter Zone to allow hunters to collect additional deer in the area to be tested. The proposal also allows for archery hunters who passed their proficiency test as part of the Dubuque City Zone hunt to purchase those unsold licenses as well.
The Iowa DNR is partnering with the Dubuque County Conservation Board to collect samples. Hunters are restricted to shotguns, muzzleloaders or rifles shooting straight walled cartridges in the Perimeter Zone. The City Zone is archery only. The extended season is for Iowa residents only.
For more information, contact Terry Haindfield, Wildlife Biologist, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 563-546-7960 or 563-380-3422.