Fishing is more popular in Iowa now than ever before and state officials are hoping to keep riding that wave by luring more people to the sport with free fishing tomorrow through Sunday. Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa DNR’s Fisheries Bureau, says Iowans can try fishing without having to buy a … [Read more...]
Program for new deer hunters now taking registrations
Registration is now open for the Field To Fork Deer Hunting Program which takes Iowans with zero hunting skills and teaches them to use a compound bow to hunt and kill white-tailed deer. Jamie Cook, the program's coordinator with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says students will also … [Read more...]
Dubuque County bobcat season on hold, Delaware, Jones County approved
The Iowa Natural Resources Commission approved adding bobcat seasons in Delaware and Jones Counties in northeast Iowa counties Thursday -- but Dubuque County was removed from the proposed new bobcat zones. The DNR's Todd Bishop says 20 of 23 comments in Dubuque County were against adding the … [Read more...]
Bill calls for study of Iowa deer herd’s impact on property, car wrecks
A bill that has cleared the Iowa Senate would set up a new January hunting season for deer, but only in counties where all the state licenses for harvesting antlerless deer were not sold. The bill would let deer hunters use long-barrelled rifles during that period. "The purpose of this season is … [Read more...]
Restoration of lake at Geode State Park almost complete
The multi-million dollar lake bed restoration project at Geode State Park in southeast Iowa is almost finished and the lake will reopen, once the spring rains fill it back up. Longtime area resident Robert Morrison loves to fish and says Geode was his favorite spot. "I took my grandson fishing … [Read more...]
Senator proposes hunting regulation changes, to thin deer herd
Senator Ken Rozenboom of Oskaloosa says the deer population is too large in some areas of the state and it's time to change some of the state's hunting regulations. "In Appanoose County...the DNR's target was to have 2,700 deer taken this past year," Rozenboom says, "but only 2,200 were taken, so … [Read more...]
Testing finds 21 new CWD cases in deer
The Iowa DNR reports several new cases of chronic wasting disease in test samples submitted from wild deer this hunting season. Tyler Harms leads the program that tracks the disease in deer. He says they tested around 6,000 deer and found 21 new positive deer, and most of the positives came from … [Read more...]
Proposal expands bobcat trapping to 3 more counties
The Iowa Natural Resources Commission has given the go-ahead for an expansion of the bobcat hunting zones in the state. DNR wildlife specialist Vince Evelsizer says the proposal will expand the bobcat harvest into three counties. "Dubuque, Delaware, and Jones Counties. The reason for that is … [Read more...]
Changes proposed for deer harvest limits in several counties
The state Natural Resources Commission has given preliminary approval to some changes in deer hunting regulations that will impact several counties. The DNR's Tyler Harms says general deer licenses are being reestablished for all seasons in Hamilton, Webster, and Wright counties. "For the past … [Read more...]
Sales of hunting and fishing licenses increase across the board
The Iowa Natural Resources Commission got a report on the record increases in the sale of hunting and fishing licenses during their meeting Wednesday. The Conservation and Recreation Administrator for the DNR, Pete Hildreth, gave a report that started with fishing licenses. "We had 439,760 … [Read more...]