Hunters reported harvesting nearly 95,000 deer during Iowa’s 2019-2020 hunting seasons, which is a decline from 2018-19, when hunters reported nearly 108,000 deer.
Wildlife experts say while there are a number of factors that likely contributed to the decline, the most prominent is the outbreak of hemorrhagic disease that killed thousands of deer across the state. It was the second largest outbreak of hemorrhagic disease in Iowa, behind only the 2012/13 outbreak, and the reduced harvest is consistent with that following the 2013 outbreak.
Tyler Harms, wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said one of the department’s best population survey tools is the bow hunter observation survey where bow hunters record the number of deer and other wildlife species they observe each day from their treestand. The survey is conducted from Oct. 1 through the opening of first shotgun season.
“The lower harvest corresponds with fewer deer bow hunters reported in their survey, and while the impact from hemorrhagic disease may have contributed to some of that decline, our hunters are also conservationists and if they perceive a drop in the deer population, they will make a decision on whether or not to kill more deer. This year, many of them decided not to,” Harms said.
The Iowa DNR manages the deer herd to support a harvest of 100,000 to 120,000 deer that was based on the recommendations from the legislatively mandated deer advisory committee.
“Our deer population has rebounded after hemorrhagic outbreaks in the past and we expect the same will be true after this outbreak,” Harms said. “From our perspective, we manage the population for the long term and impacts from this year – while significant – are likely a short blip on the horizon.