Iowa biologists estimate some 300,000 to 400,000 deer roam Iowa today compared to the 1930's when they were virtually non-existent in the state..............Even though hunting season kill #'s have dipped slightly in recent years, about 100,000 Whitetails have been taken annually over the past decade...........Estimates are that there are still some 30 deer per square mile, far north of the 6 to 12 per square mile that frontiersmen in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries encountered in this land..........Outside of man, Iowa no longer harbors true Deer predators with wolves and pumas absent from the environment..........A recovering Bobcat and Coyote population are not threats to the deer in Iowa............It is disturbing to read newspaper reporters insinuating that there are not enough deer in Iowa--------------Far too many browsers by any serious minded person seeking optimum diversity and habitat health for the Buckeye state

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A history of Iowa's deer population

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September 13, 2010 12:34 pm

Iowa's deer population wasn't always so abundant, said Larry Stone, author of "Whitetail: Treasure, Trophy or Trouble?"

"By the beginning of the 20th century, they were almost non-existent," he said. "In the 1930s you were lucky if you saw one deer in your lifetime."

In fact, renowned wildlife biologist Adlo Leopold predicted in 1933 that the only way Iowa's deer population would rebound was to protect them in a sanctuary.

The decimation of the turn-of-the-century deer population was due primarily to farming, harsh winters and unregulated hunting. In 1933, the Iowa Legislature overhauled how the State took care of it environment. These measures led to the creation of state parks, county conservation offices and , ultimately, better habitats for deer.

The deer population took off faster than anyone expected, and 20 years after those first efforts the first hunting season opened to cull the burgeoning population.

But, even then, the deer population was drastically lower than today. In 1953, an estimated 13,000 of the animals made their home in Iowa. Today that number is close to 470,000. A report by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources notes that if left unchecked, the deer population could double in as little as three years.

--- Laura Reede

Iowa deer harvest in 2013 falls below 100,00

16 hours ago  •  The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — The number of deer taken by hunters in Iowa last year fell below 100,000 for the first time since the mid-1990s. It's the eighth straight year the deer harvest has declined in Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says hunters reported 99,406 deer for the 2013 season, a decline of 14 percent from 2012 and 34 percent from the high in 2006. The 2012 deer harvest was 115,606.

The harvest data will be considered when the department begins discussing hunting seasons later this winter.
Deer hunters purchased 359,956 licenses last year, nearly 18,500 fewer than in 2012.