Iowa hunters have so far reported harvesting more than 22,000 deer. Pete Hildreth is the Conservation and Recreation Division Administrator at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Northeast Iowa’s Clayton County has seen the most activity thus far, as 799 deer have been harvested there. At the other end of the scale, hunters in Northwest Iowa’s Ida County have harvested just five deer so far this year. Hunting seasons for youth and disabled deer hunters ended October 5th and the early muzzleloader season ran from October 11th through the 19th. The early season for deer hunters using a bow and arrow ends December 5th. And Hildreth points out the first shotgun season starts soon.
Deer are typically on the move during breeding season, which begins in mid-October and runs through mid-January, however state officials say peak activity occurs during the first three weeks of November. Numbers provided by the DNR show 79 deer have been harvested so far this fall in Kossuth County. The fall hunting seasons for wild turkey are also underway and as of this week show hunters have reported harvesting 245 turkeys. You can check out the latest numbers here.
