Deer firearm season opens Saturday

(File Photo)

The first round of shotgun-season deer hunters will be heading into Iowa's wooded areas at sunrise Saturday morning. This year's two seasons -- scheduled Dec. 5-9 and Dec. 12-20 -- are expected to once again attract a large crowd.

Part of the state's hunting draw is its large buck deer with antlers.

"That's because of our unique seasons the way we have it," said Gary Biederman, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources conservation officer. "We're one of the few states that doesn't allow gun hunting during the deer breeding season, or what they call the rut, which allows our deer to grow older and produce larger antlers. .. So, Iowa is one of the best states in the whole country to have a chance at harvesting a large buck."

But before a person can purchase a hunting license in Iowa, he or she needs to pass a hunter safety class, and then show proof of it with a hunter safety certificate. This rule applies to anyone born after 1972.

Biederman, who's been an area conservation officer since 1980, will be among deer hunters situated throughout the area during both seasons this month. He'll be making sure that they have all the appropriate licenses at hand and are wearing the proper hunter orange.

"Which means they have to have at least a vest on and it has to be solid orange. It can't be camouflage orange or a pheasant hunting vest that has brown on it. The law says it has to be solid orange," he said. "I also like to see them wearing caps because that sets them above the grass. But, the law says they have to have at least a vest."

However, individuals who decide to hunt the immediate area will more than likely find less deer this year.

"I strongly believe the deer population is down, because I am a bow hunter and I've sat out in the woods and I haven't seen the number of deer that I have in the past few years," Dan Heissel, the Clay County Conservation director, said. "I've been out the last four nights and haven't seen a deer. That's unusual, because usually you see a lot of does moving through. And, being the tail end of the rut, there still should be some bucks chasing some does. So, in the areas that I've been hunting, I feel that the deer population is down."

The state's antlerless deer tag program has helped to achieve a reduction in the herd.

"I think the program has worked like the DNR wanted it to," Heissel said. "But, right now with a combination of things, I think we've got it to a point where I personally feel that we shouldn't have anymore antlerless tags up in this area because we also have the special tags where they go out and the depredation tags. Some of those areas need to be re-evaluated because our deer populations are way down."

Biederman, meanwhile, agreed with Heissel on the area's deer count being down based on the November roadkill and car-deer accident reports.

"We're getting to that point where I think even our DNR biologists say here in the northern and northwest parts of the state we need to start bringing the deer herd back a little bit," he said. "The roadkill information that we receive every year, car-deer accidents, is down again from last year -- which means the deer herd is still going down. And, it's a very good trend indicator on what the deer herd is doing. I normally have 20-30 car-deer accidents in the month of November, which is the worst month of the year, and I've only had about a dozen or so (in Clay County) this year."

"Because it'll be a little thinner out there, be selective in your deer," Biederman specifically advised hunters. "And, go to every effort to recover your deer."

For the last three years Iowa has had a program that requires hunters to register the deer they harvest within 24 hours, either online or by phone.

"That gives us good biological information on the harvest. It gives us sex of the deer and where they're harvested, so we know exactly what's going on in each county," Biederman said.

Besides having their guns cased properly and unloaded in the vehicle, hunters should know that they are not allowed to shoot from the road or road right of way in northern Iowa during shotgun and muzzleloader seasons.

"That means a person has to be across the fence, which means they should have permission beforehand. ... The No. 1 complaint I get every year (during shotgun season) is trespassing," the DNR conservation officer said.

If illegal or unsportsmanlike incidents are witnessed, both Biederman and Heissel encourage citizens to report them. While poachers may be turned in anonymously via the Turn In Poachers hotline, (800) 532-2020, Biederman noted he can also be reached directly at 260-1004. The sheriff's office may also be contacted.

"When they see something, the most important thing to do is to report it right away. Timeliness is everything," Biederman said.

"We're also law enforcement-certified and can handle the game laws," Heissel added. "So, if we do get called out, we will take care of the problem. Or, we'll take care of a problem if we see it on one of our areas."

But, the Clay County Conservation Director advised members of the general public wanting to take law enforcement matters into their own hands to not get involved directly.

"What we want them to do is take down license plate numbers, color of the car, description of the individual and as much information as they can without confronting those people. And then get that information to the appropriate law enforcement agency, whether it be the DNR if it's a game and fish violation. If Gary's not around, my office or the deputies can handle it. Or, if it is a criminal case, they need to be getting a hold of the sheriff's department or the police department," Heissel said. "We just want everybody to be safe, make sure of their target and make sure they're wearing their hunter safety orange. And, that they understand the rules, have permission from landowners and understand the property. That's where a lot of our trespassing problems are we run into, if somebody's not really sure where the property line is. It is the hunter's responsibility to know what the property boundaries are. Whether it be public hunting ground or private ground they're hunting on, they should know their boundaries and stay within those."

Over 3,000 deer in the state of Iowa will be checked this season for chronic wasting disease (CWD).

"To this date, we do not and have never had it in the state," said Gary Biederman, a local DNR conservation officer. "If it does get into the state, it will probably come through domestic deer or elk. If it's spread into the wild it will be because our deer have contacted those animals, probably through a fence. It's a contact spread disease. So, that's why we're checking it."

Concerns have been heightened because cases of CWD have been reported in Wisconsin. The transmissible neurological disease of deer and elk produces small lesions in the brains of infected animals. CWD is similar to mad cow disease in cattle and scrapie in sheep.

Biederman acknowledged that he and other DNR representatives will be asking hunters for their deer heads.

"We take the deer head and we're testing the brain matter," he explained. "And, it has to be on an adult deer, because it won't show up on a fawn."