Iowa expects positive gun deer hunting season

Iowa’s most popular deer hunting seasons are just around the corner, when roughly 100,000 hunters take to the timber for the long-awaited gun seasons. Iowa’s first gun season is Dec. 7-11. Second gun season is Dec. 14-22. Last year, hunters reported around 60,000 deer during these two seasons, which is more than half of the total deer harvested for all seasons, and wildlife experts are forecasting a similar harvest. So far this fall, youth, disabled hunter, early muzzleloader and archery hunters have reported more than 25,000 deer through the harvest reporting system, which is about the five-year average. Results of the recently completed deer hunter survey found that gun season hunters are divided evenly in how they pursue the deer. About half participate in traditional deer drives, while the other half prefer to hunt from stationary position, and 80 percent of respondents indicated they are satisfied with the overall deer hunting experience.