Hunter
01/08/26
The City of Iowa City says they will file a request with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to allow sharpshooters to return for a controlled deer hunt.
The Gazette reports a year and a half into its five-year deer management plan, Iowa City is continuing to work toward a target deer population of 25 animals per square mile. But a drone survey — and reports from residents — on the north side of the city shows there are nearly 100 deer per mile.
Iowa’s Natural Resource Commission, the state board that reviews deer management plans, rejected the city’s request to be allowed to conduct a sharpshooting season in 2024. Rather than allow the sharpshooting season that year, the commission directed the city to continue with its urban bow hunt program and collect additional data on deer population before requesting another sharpshooting season in 2026.
A scheduled aerial survey in 2024 coordinated with the DNR had to be scrubbed due to inclement weather, so the Natural Resource Commission had to use outdated data. The city decided to add an aerial drone survey in 2025 and will do so again this year. The plan to make a sharpshooting request to the NRC this spring.
The last time sharpshooters were contracted during the 2019-2020 season, 500 deer were harvested.
City officials said they are continuing their non-lethal deer management strategies, which include public information on fencing, repellent, landscaping and driving reminders to avoid deer collisions.
A link to the Gazette article is available with this story at 1630 KCJJ dot com and the KCJJ app.