Iowa’s archery deer hunting season begins Oct. 1

An estimated 60,000 hunters will be heading to the timber in the next few weeks as Iowa’s archery deer season gets underway Oct. 1. With some careful planning and scouting, hunters can capitalize on the predictable behavior of deer in the early fall. 

“Early season deer strategy is usually pretty straightforward—find the feeding areas and you’ll find the deer,” said Jace Elliott, deer research specialist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “Acorns, which are high in both carbohydrates and fats, are becoming a major food source that hunters would be wise to target in the early archery season.”

Statewide, the acorn crop appears promising. Hunters should focus on species within the white oak family, which are typically among the first to drop their acorns. However, acorns of red oak species, which are slightly less preferred by deer due to a higher acid content, can still make up a sizable portion of a deer’s daily diet and should not be overlooked.

With drier than average conditions during the growing season, many crop fields are on schedule for harvest early in the archery season. This will create more daytime deer activity in places archery hunters tend to target, such as timber stands and wooded edges.

Deer will begin changing their daily behavior as the breeding season, or rut, approaches in late October and November.

“The rut is when a lot of our hunters fill their tag on a buck,” Elliott said. “Rutting bucks can be found moving at all times of the day in search of a doe, which means putting a lot of time in the stand can pay off in a big way during this time of year.”

No matter the time of season, look for new signs of deer activity, like tracks, droppings, rubs or scrapes, to help with stand location and maximize time in the woods. 

Iowa deer population slightly increasing

The results of Iowa’s annual spring spotlight survey indicate the population has slightly increased over the last couple years, said Elliott, who coordinates the project. 

“Our estimates can be variable from year to year, but we observed about 4 percent more deer during the 2021 survey compared to in 2019,” he said. “So far, 2022 has been a relatively minor year for epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) compared to the last couple years. We’re hopeful that this will help deer populations recover in regions of Iowa that experienced more major outbreaks in years prior.”

He said the deer data shows statewide trends are stable to slightly increasing, which means opportunities to fill the freezer persist in every part of Iowa.

Bowhunters hunt a lot

Bowhunters fall on the avid range of the participation scale. Based on the annual bowhunter survey, they go out an average of 13 trips per year and spend an average of 3-1/2 hours per trip. They tend to be more selective and harvest fewer does than other regular deer seasons.

Bowhunters get the privilege of hunting during the breeding season, or rut, when adult bucks tend to be very active and vulnerable to harvest during daylight hours. However, this privilege comes at a cost—responsible bowhunters must spend countless off-season hours practicing and fine-tuning their weapons to make ethical shots when the opportunity comes. Despite being required to use more primitive weapons than deer hunters in the muzzleloader or regular firearm seasons, about 35 percent of Iowa deer hunters participate in the archery season, which contributes about 20-25 percent of the overall deer harvest each year.

CWD sampling

While chronic wasting disease sample collection is often associated with the firearm seasons, the Iowa DNR does collect deer tissue samples during bow season as part of its statewide annual effort to monitor for the fatal disease.

“Submitting a deer during the archery season is the best chance to take advantage of the free testing we offer before county quotas are reached,” Elliott said. “Samples submitted in the early season also tend to have the speediest turn-around for test results, before the diagnostics lab gets bombarded with samples from the firearm seasons.” 

The DNR has a goal of collecting a minimum of 15 samples from each county, with higher quotas assigned to counties where the disease has been found in wild deer or have high risk of the disease due to adjacent counties with positive animals.  Hunters willing to provide a sample are encouraged to contact their local wildlife biologist to arrange for the collection.

In the event that the county quota has been filled, or if the hunter is interested in testing a fawn or other nonpriority deer, hunters may choose to pay for their own test through a new partnership with the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

Hunters will need to contact their local wildlife staff and ask how they can get their deer tested through the new hunter submitted option. The DNR will collect and submit the sample on their behalf. There is a $25 fee for the laboratory to run the test. Results should be available within 2-3 weeks.

Changes to deer seasons

• The antlerless deer quota has been adjusted in 17 counties.
• The Population Management January antlerless-only season will be offered in Allamakee, Winneshiek, Decatur, Appanoose, Monroe and Wayne counties if the number of unsold antlerless licenses on the third Monday in December exceeds 100 tags. This season allows the use of any legal method of take, including shotguns, handguns, muzzleloaders, bows, crossbows, and center-fire rifles .223 and larger.
• The Excess Tag January antlerless-only season is new to the 2022-2023 season and will be held in any county that still has unsold county antlerless tags by January 10. Only centerfire rifles .223 caliber and above are allowed during this season.

Deer donation program

The Iowa DNR, the Food Bank of Iowa and 29 meat lockers are participating in the Help Us Stop Hunger program for 2022. Hunters are encouraged to contact a participating locker before they harvest a deer to see if the locker has any additional drop off instructions.

Hunters may also sign up as a deer donor with the Iowa Deer Exchange at www.iowadnr.gov/deer then scroll down to Iowa’s Deer Exchange Program link. There, donors can provide their information on what they are willing to donate. The database creates a map and table with information deer donors and deer recipients can use to get connected. Nearly 450 participants have registered so far. There is no cost to participate. It is illegal to sell wild fish and game in Iowa.

Be sure to report your harvest

Hunters who harvest a deer are required to report their harvest by midnight on the day after it is tagged or before taking it to a locker or taxidermist. The hunter whose name is on the transportation tag is responsible for making the report. If no deer is harvested, no report is necessary.

Successful hunters have the option to report the harvest by texting the registration number to 1-800-771-4692 and follow the prompts, through the Go Outdoors Iowa app, online at www.iowadnr.gov, by phone at the number listed on the tag, or through a license vendor during their regular business hours.

Phone use while hunting

Reminder to hunters that the use of cellphones, one or two-way radios to communicate the location or direction of game or furbearing animals or to coordinate the movement of other hunters is prohibited.

Outside of very few and specific exceptions, modern technology, including social media and instant messaging apps, is not allowed to assist with the hunt.

Hunters are encouraged to keep their phone on their person and not in a backpack for safety reasons.

Don’t Veer for Deer

The combination of dropping temperatures and crop harvest across Iowa will likely get deer moving early this year. With the peak of the deer breeding activity still more than a month away, drivers need to remain vigilant with their defensive driving skills.

“Deer can be unpredictable when it comes to roadways, so don’t assume that a deer won’t jump out in front of your vehicle just because it sees you,” explains Elliott. “This is the time of year when a lot of deer crashes happen, and many of those could have been avoided by a few simple precautions. Always keep your eyes on the road and maintain an appropriate speed. If a deer jumps onto the roadway, don’t veer or try to avoid it, but brake firmly while staying in your lane.”

If a deer is spotted in a ditch or roadside, drivers should always assume there are others nearby and drive accordingly, Elliott said.

Bowhunters encouraged to practice the ABCs of tree stand safety

Tree stand incidents can happen to deer hunters regardless of skill level or experience and result in serious injury or even death. Unfortunately, in nearly every case, these incidents were preventable.

To help prevent injuries, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is encouraging hunters to practice the ABC’s of Tree Stand Safety.

• Always remove and inspect your equipment
• Buckle on your full-body harness
• Connect to the tree before your feet leave the ground

“Hunters should take tree stand safety seriously, every time you hunt from, hang, or move a tree stand. By performing these three simple steps and properly using a haul line, tree stand users can virtually eliminate their risk of falling to the ground as the majority of falls occur outside the stand,” said Jamie Cook, hunter education administrator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “Hunters should also keep their phone on their person in case of emergency. We’ve had people get injured falling out of tree stands and their phone is in their backpack and not accessible to them.” 

Boone Forks Wildlife Area offers rugged outdoor experience in north central Iowa

The confluence of the Des Moines and Boone rivers has been attracting visitors since before Iowa was a state. Today, its home to the 4,600-acre Boone Forks Wildlife Area – a popular spot for hunting, hiking, paddling, fishing and birding in Webster and Hamilton counties.

Don’t be fooled by its location. It’s not pancake flat like the rest of north central Iowa – in fact, plan to shut off the cell phone because service here is spotty, at best.

“The typography takes a lot of people off guard,” said Josh Gansen, wildlife biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Saylorville Unit. “If you hike the area, you know you’ve done something and by the time you’re done, you’re done.”

The two rivers are a major attraction to Boone Forks, drawing paddlers and anglers alike, and once they enter the boundary of the wildlife area, camping is allowed on the riverbanks and sand bars of both rivers. It was designated as one of five protected water areas in Iowa, and one of the goals from REAP in 1985 was to maintain the natural and scenic qualities of the Boone River Valley.

If remote camping is too rustic, Hamilton County’s Bells Mill campground is on the Boone, just upstream from the confluence.

There is excellent fishing for channel catfish, flathead catfish, walleye and smallmouth bass, and improved access thanks to a new boat ramp on the Boone, near the confluence. Three state record fish in the ****** family were caught near here and with the removal of the two dams in Fort Dodge, fish can now move freely up and down stream.

There is good river access from the gravel road for about a mile starting near Hwy. 175, and running north, which coincides with the river channel moving towards the western bank.

Away from the river, Boone Forks is primarily rolling hills covered in timber with pockets of prairie scattered about. Visitors take note – it’s not once giant connected piece of land, but rather multiple areas of varying sizes – some adjoining, some not, that collectively is Boone Forks. Those unfamiliar with the area should bring a map to avoid wandering on to private land. It was developed over time in partnership with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Pheasants Forever, the Wild Turkey Federation and others.

Gansen said their management plan is to convert certain open fields that are surrounded by timber into trees over the next five years. These fields are scattered around the area and vary in sizes from five acres up to 20. The locations are not ideal for prairie because it would be a constant battle with tree encroachment.

The fields will be planted with a mix of black, red, white and burr oaks acorns, walnut and hickory nuts from the State Forest Nursery in Ames. The seed mix would depend on the site – high and dry versus flood-prone. These plantings will receive three years of maintenance, be treated with herbicide to reduce competition from vegetation, then left to grow.

“It’s open fields with full sunlight where we can grow highly desirable, mast producing trees,” said Gansen. “Oaks need sunlight to grow and we’re starting with bare ground on these small fields. It’s a good management tool here.”

Considered home to one of the richest woodland bird species areas in the state, the Boone Forks Wildlife Area is part of the Boone Forks Woodland Bird Conservation Area (BCA), supporting crucial habitat for birds during migration, providing both feeding and roosting areas and helping to sustain migrants as they move between winter and summer habitats.

With nesting evidence for more than 130 bird species and at least 115 additional bird species during migration, the Boone Forks Woodland BCA is an area of especially high bird diversity.

Located an easy drive from Ames, Iowa State University sends students studying natural resources here for field experience looking at forest management and monitoring the beetle released to battle purple loosestrife.

The area is important to other wildlife species as well.

The Multiple Species Inventory and Monitoring team surveyed the Boone Forks Wildlife Area in 2010 and confirmed the presence of a number of species of concern or in conservation need, including the gray fox, southern flying squirrel, wood thrush, yellow-billed cuckoo, spiny softshell turtle, copes gray treefrog, red-shouldered hawk, Harris’s sparrow, Carmine shiner, the slenderhead darter and more.

It is also home to a good population of deer and wild turkey. Gansen receives a number of calls from non-residents inquiring about the deer herd. It’s in zone 2, which, for nonresidents, is easier to draw an any-deer tag, than, say, in zone 4, 5 or 6.

History at every turn

An old ski lodge was near Skillet Creek before being dismantled eight years ago. The lodge still had skis and an old chair lift. On the Boone River, Bells Mill and Tunnel Mill, just upstream from Boone Forks, were mills for grain and considered big landmarks in the 1800s.

Vegors Cemetery was established a few years after Iowa became a state. It contains a large white monument to Mrs. Jno H. Lott, the first white settler in Webster County, who died in 1849. The cemetery also has Indian mounds and graves of settlers dating back to the middle 19^th century. It is a private inholding in the public area.

Cemeteries area often home to remnant prairie which is the case with the Vegors Cemetery. Stiff goldenrod and side oats gramma are growing near the scattered headstones. A hatching bald eagle can be heard calling to its parents.