blake
Life Member
This article was posted in the Iowa Sportsman News Letter:
Deaf Ears Again?
I hate to beat a dead horse but I can’t help it. The DNR released a press statement on January 17, 2012 again basically confirming what we deer hunters already know, that deer numbers are down in large part due to the efforts to reduce the deer herd.
Here is the statement from the DNR:
The final regular deer season ended Jan. 10 when the late season muzzleloader and the archery season closed. Deer hunters had reported taking nearly 113,000 deer at the end of the season, which is about 4 percent lower than was reported last year at this time and about 21 percent below the reported harvest in 2006.
While the harvest is lower, the number of deer licenses issued during the regular seasons has stayed about the same since 2006. “The reduced kill is a result of the reduced deer population,” said Dale Garner, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Bureau. “Deer numbers in many
areas are near the established goal. We continue to hear complaints from hunters that they did not see the number of deer that they had in the past and some are voicing their concerns that the herd reduction may have gone too far.”
Hunts for antlerless deer continue until Jan. 29, in select counties and urban areas. Even though licenses may be available, not all areas in these counties need the extra harvest, Garner said. Hunters need to work with the landowner where they hunt to determine if extra does need to be taken.
The DNR will review the harvest and population surveys after the seasons are complete in January and make proposals to reduce the deer kill and stabilize deer numbers. Reductions in the harvest were proposed in 2011 but not adopted."
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Again this is old news to us as we discussed that issue a few newsletters ago. What gets me and I leave this open for debate is the very last sentence. “Reductions in the harvest were proposed in 2011 but not adopted”. What the heck? How this reads me is the DNR knew they were getting close to their goals last year and let their superiors know, in this case Governor Branstad, that it is time to start reducing surplus tags. In return their highly qualified recommendations were shot down and vetoed by the Governor. That is exactly what happened! Governor Branstad as some of you may know rejected the DNR’s recommendation of lessening the harvest of deer in counties that have met their goal and kept the quotas the same across the board.
One can only assume that the same recommendations will be offered again this year. The question is will the Governor listen to what the DNR has to say? If not what good is it to pay the DNR to manage the deer population if we are not going to listen to their advice?
What do you think; will the DNR recommendations on the deer population fall upon deaf ears again this year? Do you think the Governor should have the final say on the Iowa deer population? Email Here
Deaf Ears Again?
I hate to beat a dead horse but I can’t help it. The DNR released a press statement on January 17, 2012 again basically confirming what we deer hunters already know, that deer numbers are down in large part due to the efforts to reduce the deer herd.
Here is the statement from the DNR:
The final regular deer season ended Jan. 10 when the late season muzzleloader and the archery season closed. Deer hunters had reported taking nearly 113,000 deer at the end of the season, which is about 4 percent lower than was reported last year at this time and about 21 percent below the reported harvest in 2006.
While the harvest is lower, the number of deer licenses issued during the regular seasons has stayed about the same since 2006. “The reduced kill is a result of the reduced deer population,” said Dale Garner, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Bureau. “Deer numbers in many
areas are near the established goal. We continue to hear complaints from hunters that they did not see the number of deer that they had in the past and some are voicing their concerns that the herd reduction may have gone too far.”
Hunts for antlerless deer continue until Jan. 29, in select counties and urban areas. Even though licenses may be available, not all areas in these counties need the extra harvest, Garner said. Hunters need to work with the landowner where they hunt to determine if extra does need to be taken.
The DNR will review the harvest and population surveys after the seasons are complete in January and make proposals to reduce the deer kill and stabilize deer numbers. Reductions in the harvest were proposed in 2011 but not adopted."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Again this is old news to us as we discussed that issue a few newsletters ago. What gets me and I leave this open for debate is the very last sentence. “Reductions in the harvest were proposed in 2011 but not adopted”. What the heck? How this reads me is the DNR knew they were getting close to their goals last year and let their superiors know, in this case Governor Branstad, that it is time to start reducing surplus tags. In return their highly qualified recommendations were shot down and vetoed by the Governor. That is exactly what happened! Governor Branstad as some of you may know rejected the DNR’s recommendation of lessening the harvest of deer in counties that have met their goal and kept the quotas the same across the board.
One can only assume that the same recommendations will be offered again this year. The question is will the Governor listen to what the DNR has to say? If not what good is it to pay the DNR to manage the deer population if we are not going to listen to their advice?
What do you think; will the DNR recommendations on the deer population fall upon deaf ears again this year? Do you think the Governor should have the final say on the Iowa deer population? Email Here
Last edited:
Good catch!
