The University of Iowa is going to let someone kill deer on campus for the first time this winter. The city of Iowa City has hired a professional for six of the last seven years. The D-N-R says deer kills used to be a way to lower the population, but in Iowa City they are now used to maintain the number. And for the first time ever deer maintenance will take place on the university campus.
Iowa City resident Nancy Perkins lives in the area where the deer will be hunted. “They’re running through the yards, ” Perkins says, ” They stand in our window and munch on things.” The deer also make it onto the Finkbine Golf Course. It is a place where some people tee off while others walk around the links.
Iowa City resident Jim Kerr has seen the deer on the golf course, but is concerned about having a hunter with a gun on the course. Kerr says,“I’ve come real close to them jogging, yeah the sharp shooters would be a concern.” Perkins on the other hand says getting rid of some of the deer would be a relief. Perkins says, “We don’t have any problem with it. I don’t think anyone in our neighborhood really does.”
The D-N-R will let the deer kill total 152 antlerless deer. A D-N-R official says killing does controls the population better than by killing bucks. That is because a doe will give birth to two fawns in the spring. Killing one doe is actually considered three deer, while a buck is considered one. The city will spend about 57-thousand dollars just on the deer kill alone. The deer meat will eventually go to charities in Johnson County.