Against all predictions, Iowa’s deer population is growing much faster thanexpected — and it’s growing larger than farmers would prefer. The latestdeer population study by the Department of Natural Resources finds thenumbers are going up sharply, which is confounding the experts. D-N-Rspokesman Ross Harrison can’t explain this spring’s bumper crop of deer,which is growing despite a large harvest of 120-thousand deer by hunterslast year and a long, cold winter. Harrison says the state will increase thenumber of deer hunting permits it issues later this year. Harrison says newhunting rules will be in place this fall that’ll result in more does beingtaken. That should help trim next year’s population but won’t do much tohelp Iowa farmers whose crops are being gobbled.
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