Deer hunters had record success in Iowa during the 1999-2000 season. More than 121-thousand deer were taken with guns or bows and arrows. Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Bureau Chief Richard Bishop says the record harvest is due to good weather and the accuracy of shotgun hunters which was 65-percent. Shotgun hunters make up the majority of those who go after deer in Iowa. Bishop says they had some special hunts this year, too.Bishop says while the special hunts are successful, they don’t add a lot to the total number of deer harvested in the state. Bishop says Iowa is doing a good job of keeping the deer population under control.Some urban areas of Iowa have problems with deer which forage on gardens, trees and flowers — causing headaches for homeowners. Bishop says there’s no easy solution to curbing the deer that make a buffet out of plants in urban areas.Even if they trim the deer herd in those areas, the remaining deer will still cause problems. Bishop says homeowners have to look to things like bigger fences and materials designed to repel deer.
