Minutes from NRC meeting in June

[katy]

Here is a link to the minutes of the June Natural Resource Commission meeting in June. This is "THE" meeting that was held to approve the new deer seasons. Please read this! IT PERTAINS TO YOU! Here are a few excerpts from the minutes that should start some conversation!

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION—REPRESENTATIVE MARY LOU FREEMAN

Representative Mary Lou Freeman thanked the commission for their strong support of the HUSH program and thanked the department for getting it off the ground so fast. She said no one realized what a job you had getting it as far as it was last year and hopefully going statewide this year. Rep. Freeman also commented on the rifle season for deer. She said that if everyone that has contacted her about requesting a special rifle season, there should be a very successful turnout because of the huge demand and great interest in it. She added that if there are any skeptics about whether or not the DNR actually wanted to control the deer population, this should quell those skeptics.
Representative Freeman stated that on behalf of the Natural Resource Committee, she believes there is political will to do a state park user fee. She said there is enough interest and that personally she would like to make park user fee a priority for next year. She said, however, that being an election year,she didn’t think it will happen, but that the department should go ahead and plan over the next two or three years that a park user fee will probably be implemented. She thanked the commission for coming to Storm Lake and wished them good luck.


Rick Robinson

Rick Robinson, Environmental Policy Advisor, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, spoke regarding the deer hunting rule. He mentioned that the Farm Bureau does support the overall item and said it is probably the most comprehensive rule change and consideration for adoption that will probably be made. Mr. Robinson said it is clear that the legislature and citizens of Iowa have indicated their interest and intent of the department moving forward on the rules and implementing the things that have been talked about by the citizens of Iowa and the legislature.
He said the Farm Bureau particularly supports the new antlerless season in November and the extension of the January bonus season, the rifle season and changes for the landowner/tenant licenses. He said that with regard to talks about safety issues associated with the rifle season being proposed, their data shows that the safety issues do not hold water when you look at the Natural Resource Commission Minutes June 2005 N05Jun-31 experience of the other states. Mr. Robinson encouraged adoption of the rule and asked that the commission consider the expertise of staff and listen to the citizens of Iowa.


Willie Suchy, the department’s deer research biologist, presented background information on the latest harvest data and projection models. He described the data that is used and how staff comes up with the recommendations that they give. He said the goal is to balance public demand for viewing and hunting with habitat limitations, highway safety and agricultural interests. The department’s objective for the deer management plan is to maintain a stable population capable of sustaining a harvest of 120,000 to 140,000 animals.

First off, Willey - thank you for being honest and informing them and us on the process you use, and that you try to balance it out for everyone, not just for the powers that be.

Second - I dont know about you, but I dont know a single person that called Ms. Freeman requesting these new special seasons! I fell SOLD OUT!

Third - Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, I guess he with the most money wins! You will never have my business! What a crock of sheet!

Fourth - here is a "LITTLE" misprint, I told you all that shotguns are included in the november season!
Mr. Little reported a typographical error in 106.7(4) and 106.7(5). The word “shotguns” should be included along with bows, muzzleloaders and handguns. In addition, Mr. Little noted that centerfire rifles are restricted to 24 caliber and larger and language was added that says “and restricted to no more than six rounds in the magazine and chamber combined.”

OK here is the link for you to chew on! I encourage you to read this and act now!

www.iowadnr.com/nrc/index.html

To my knowledge this has not passed the Legislative Rules Committee as of yet! So get on the phone and send some emails out!

 

[Ogz]

The way I read the minutes, it says that rifles will only be allowed during the "extended" period of the late antlerless season, or for 7 days. Anyone else read it this way?

 

[katy]

You are correct mark. It is a late special season. That is the only time it will be used. (This year anyway)

 

[bowmaker]

The more I think about these special seasons and especially the rifle part the more concerned I get. I read those minutes and was upset at the increases in antlerless licences for my part of the state. I live in Davis county and right next to a fairly large public area. Tags for Davis went up to 3000 from 2000, Wapello went to 3000 from 1500, Van Buren 3500 from 2000, Jefferson 1500 from 1000, and Appanoose 3000 from 2000. In past years most of the available tags were sold and used, but with these huge increases I doubt they will sell out and there will be lots of $11.00 tags sold for rifle hunters. Where I'm headed with all this is some of the same things I've said for the last couple of years. Where I live deer numbers are down and WAY down from 10 years ago. When I move on my farm in 1994 it wasn't unusual to see lots of deer with some groups of 25 or 30 animals. The largest group that I have seen over the last 2 years is 8. I drive 4 or 5 miles of gravel roads at 7am and 6:30 pm every day as well as 20 miles of highway past corn, bean,and hay fields and see a doe with twins, a 2 year old buck and 2 other single does fairly regularly but not much else. I saw very few deer last season and although I had lots of antlerless tags I never had a chance to fire a shot after the shotgun season last year. What will happen to the already declining deer population on and arround this public hunting ground with all the extra tags and rifle hunters?

I know that there are areas that have to high of a concentration but it isn't here. We used to have a family hunting group and drove deer and moved them arround and killed about as many as we had tags for, but now all that has changed. Lots of the ground we hunted is no longer open to us, having been bought or leased with only 4 or 5 bucks being taken from several hundred acres. Also the deer pile up in these sudo refuges and are untouchable by us for all the hunting season but do damage when and where they want all year long. How will thoudands of extra antlerless tags help this?

The other thing that concerns me is using rifles at all. Local hunters already use about as many extra tags as possible, so most of the increased tags will go to hunters from outsid of the area. That means that most won't have ground to hunt other than public ground which is next door to me and several of you. I don't care what the guy from Farm Bureau says about safty issues not holding water there is bound to be issues with concentrations of hunters with high power rifles who aren't familuar with the country or terain shooting at deer running through the woods. I would bet that Mr Farm Bureau doesn't live in rural area much less next to a public hunting area in the southern tier of Iowa counties and would not move his wife and family into a tent on that same public ground for the duration of the rifle hunt!
And what happens if we are very lucky and there aren't any incidents? Then the rifle advocates say " see we told you it was safe so now we want all the gun seasons open to rifles because that safty issue was always the only reason to only use those bad and unreliable shotguns anyway". Thanks for the chance to vent. I have ben interruped several times writing this so it may seem a little disjointed, but the long and short of it is I think this rifle season and all the extra doe tags are not a good idea and deffinatly not in the best intrest of Iowan deer hunters. Now I feel a little better but not much!

 

[Ghost]

[ QUOTE ]
I would bet that Mr Farm Bureau doesn't live in rural area much less next to a public hunting area in the southern tier of Iowa counties and would not move his wife and family into a tent on that same public ground for the duration of the rifle hunt!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said Bowmaker!

Once again, Iowa deer policy is being made by big money with big money tunnel vision. Greed is a terrible thing.

 

[Danno]

I know Mr. Farm Bureau and he is just reflecting the attitudes an policies of his members. They also happen to own the majority of the land that deer reside in. In general Ag land owners (Farm Bureau members) want the deer population reduced. Some will do their part by harvesting does and taking advantage of free landowner tags. Many however, do not hunt and especially don't want a bunch of hunters with high powered rifle running around their property. So, as was brought out very clearly by Bowmaker, the rifle hunters will be concentrated on public land. I think that should this rifle season happen that we ask the DNR to survey not only doe harvest, but where was it harvested (public or private). If the landowners want to reduce deer populations then they should do their part and have it happen on thier land. If there is too much pressure on public land then the DNR has the power to restrict that.