This past winter’s deer hunting season set new records. Iowa hunters killed 182-thousand deer this past season. That’s 42-thousand more deer than were “harvested” the previous season. State officials say more “antlerless deer” are being shot — that means more does or female deer. Richard Bishop of the Department of Natural Resources says this is the first year more does than bucks have been killed in Iowa. Hunters snapped up nearly all of the 53-thousand permits for does; even more will be offered next year. Bishop says it’ll take another three years of record deer “harvests” before the state’s deer population will reach the level state officials are aiming for. Bishop says landowners willing to allow hunters on their property are key to helping reduce the deer population.
