Old Buck
Life Member
Interesting question. You can find the answer in a book called A Country So Full Of Game by Dr. James Dinsmore, an animal ecology professor at ISU in Ames. You can order the book at http://www.uiowa.edu/uiowapress/dincouso.htm.
It is a great resource for anyone wanting more information on the history of wildlife in Iowa and well worth the money.
Briefly, our current deer herd came from three different captive herds. One group kept in SW Iowa escaped from a pen in 1894. They were initially from Nebraska.
A second herd was kept at a state game farm near Ledges State Park near Boone. Some of the breeding stock came from Iowa and a few came from Minnesota. Some were released and others escaped starting a herd along the Des Moines River.
A third herd was started in SE Iowa when 60 deer escaped from a private herd held near Keota.
The Iowa Conservation Commission moved deer from these herds to repopulate other areas. Also wild deer moved in from Wisconsin, Minnesota and probably other adjacent states.
I also recall a conversation with Lee Gladfelter, long time Iowa deer biologist, who we lost in a tragic auto accident a number of years ago. He believed that states that had a gun season during rut, such as Missouri and Nebraska, in the long run suffered a loss of quality in the bucks. He was also convinced that not having the gun season during rut did much to explain the quality of bucks in Iowa.
In Iowa we are fortunate to have great nutrition, genetics and (usually) mild winters. The only thing keeping us from having a lot more record class bucks in Iowa is age structure. Fortunately progress is being made in this area also as more and more hunters are shooting does to eat and passing on young bucks so they get a chance to grow.
It is a great resource for anyone wanting more information on the history of wildlife in Iowa and well worth the money.
Briefly, our current deer herd came from three different captive herds. One group kept in SW Iowa escaped from a pen in 1894. They were initially from Nebraska.
A second herd was kept at a state game farm near Ledges State Park near Boone. Some of the breeding stock came from Iowa and a few came from Minnesota. Some were released and others escaped starting a herd along the Des Moines River.
A third herd was started in SE Iowa when 60 deer escaped from a private herd held near Keota.
The Iowa Conservation Commission moved deer from these herds to repopulate other areas. Also wild deer moved in from Wisconsin, Minnesota and probably other adjacent states.
I also recall a conversation with Lee Gladfelter, long time Iowa deer biologist, who we lost in a tragic auto accident a number of years ago. He believed that states that had a gun season during rut, such as Missouri and Nebraska, in the long run suffered a loss of quality in the bucks. He was also convinced that not having the gun season during rut did much to explain the quality of bucks in Iowa.
In Iowa we are fortunate to have great nutrition, genetics and (usually) mild winters. The only thing keeping us from having a lot more record class bucks in Iowa is age structure. Fortunately progress is being made in this area also as more and more hunters are shooting does to eat and passing on young bucks so they get a chance to grow.