Controlling the deer population

With Iowa’s shotgun season for white-tailed deer underway, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources estimates that over 10,000 hunters will take part in two seasons; the first season ran Dec. 6-10 and the second runs Dec. 13-21.

Between the two seasons, it is expected that hunters will harvest between 55-60,000 deer, about 50-60% of the state’s total deer harvest. Reports from the fall youth, disabled hunter, archery and muzzleloader seasons reported 28,600 deer harvested.

“We’ve had a strong harvest in eastern Iowa, which has offset a lower deer harvest in western, central, southern and northwestern regions of the state,” Jace Elliott, state deer biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said. This is on track with the 2024 harvest at roughly the same time. “We are getting reports of low deer numbers in central and western Iowa in the wake of severe hemorrhagic disease impacts from 2024 and 2023. Hunters are encouraged to reach out to our wildlife staff and conservation officers to discuss what they are seeing in the field.”

As of Monday, the IDNR’s deer and turkey harvest report shows 2025 harvest numbers for Clarke County at 270 does, 14 doe fawns, 368 antlered bucks, 46 button bucks and three shed antler bucks for 701 deer. Statewide, total deer harvested at 48,533 as of Monday’s reporting.

In 2024, there were 685 does, 42 doe fawns, 608 antlered bucks, 128 button bucks and 11 shed antler bucks for a total of 1,474 reported in Clarke County. Statewide 2024 totals showed 101,284 total deer harvested.

Deer density report

In 2024, the Iowa DNR released its first white-tail deer density report by county level. The report came about after a 2022 law assigned the IDNR and Iowa Department of Transportation, along with representatives of the Iowa Insurance Division and Iowa State University, to complete such a study and submit it every three years. The 60-page report found that,

“Iowa has a healthy deer herd that recovered from population lows around 1900 and now fluctuates annually in response to available habitat, the prevalence of disease and harvest patterns. We used the most recent spotlight survey data to estimate county-specific deer densities during 2023, which were highest in south-central and northeastern Iowa and lowest in a broad region across western to north-central Iowa. Not surprisingly, counties with the highest densities were in areas with the best deer habitat.”

Eighty-seven counties showed stable or declining trends since 1996 with 12 showing increasing trends in the deer population.

Once an abundant species in Iowa, over-hunting and changes in landscape led to a massive decline in white-tailed deer, so much so that deer season was closed in the state in 1898. Work began to re-establish white-tailed deer in Iowa, with numbers in 1936 showing between 500-700 deer.

As the deer population grew, so did the incidents of deer colliding with vehicles and deer season as it is seen today began December 1953; 4,000 deer were harvested that season. The deer population surpassed the 100,000 mark in 1996.

The early 2000s saw a statewide harvesting strategy introduced as deer numbers continued to grow, relying on the harvesting of does and additional county antlerless licenses. Sales of those additional county licenses fluctuate with decreases seen in year when the deer population is more managed v. years when it isn’t.

Increases in sales have mostly been seen in central and northern Iowa where the deer population has recovered.

County numbers

At the county-level, the density report shows estimates for deer per square mile and deer density in relation to deer habitat quality from 2022-24.

In Clarke County, the number of estimated deer per square mile is 26, with a higher habitat sustainability. Neighboring Union County shows 24 deer per square mile and Lucas County 21 deer per square mile, while Decatur County shows 36 deer per square mile. The two counties directly above Clarke - Madison and Warren - show 47 and 33 deer per square mile respectively. In terms of suitability, Lucas and Decatur fall in the same level as Clarke with Warren slightly lower and Madison and Union lower still.

The lowest deer per square mile occurs in Ida County with just two, and all counties along the Missouri River except for Monona with single-digit numbers. Madison County is the highest followed by Appanoose with 40.

When it comes to habitat suitability, Clayton County in northeastern Iowa on the Wisconsin border ranks highest while counties to the north of Interstate 80 and west of Interstate 35 are on the lower end.

Graphs prepared for each of Iowa’s 99 counties also show the estimated white-tailed deer population relative to 1996 up to 2023; Clarke County is grouped in the Rathbun area of the Iowa Wildlife Management Unit for the purposes of density trends along with Appanoose, Lucas, Monroe and Wayne counties. Populations were estimated using the antlered buck harvest, bow hunter survey, crash data and spotlight survey, which is the survey used by the Iowa DNR to monitor population of various animals.

In Clarke County, number from the bow hunter survey began in 2005. They dipped briefly before climbing dramatically to a peak in 2015 and have slowly declined since. The antlered buck harvest has slowly increase while crash data survey has times of peaks and lows though remain close to the baseline before tapering off around 2020. The spotlight survey shows nominal change from 2007-09 before taking a huge increase from 2010 to 2017 followed by a large decrease back down. Similar jumps in the spotlight survey can be seen in Decatur, Madison and Union counties.

It is noted in the report that exact numbers for wildlife is rarely feasible.

The cost of deer

An economic analysis of white-tailed deer showed a minimum tangible value in Iowa of $181 million per year, with the cost of deer v. vehicle collisions at $129 million per year. An additional $10,000 is added each year for deer v. aircraft collisions - these collisions are associated with airport runways.

“Crop damage related only to lost grain is estimated at $5.2 million per year (approximately 0.31% of harvested production),” the report stated. “Our work estimated that specialty crop losses are $3.4 million annually with an additional $832,000 spent on deer management at these farms. Lastly, deer populations in Iowa experience losses due to Chronic Wasting Disease and Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, both of which are management concerns.”

The report estimates that deer hunting generates over $400 million a year in direct, indirect and induced economic benefits plus approximately $60 million in local, state and federal taxes.

A four-year average, from 2020-23 looked at the economic value of hunting licenses, venison and meat processing. For deer licenses, the average was $12.1 million, venison $24.5 million and meat processing $6.1 million.

“From a recreational standpoint, deer are arguably the most important and economically valuable wildlife species in Iowa, and a key aspect of Iowa’s tourism-oriented approach to economic development,” the report noted.

Of the approximate $129 million in collisions caused by deer each year, total approximate costs for type of collision break down to: human injury, $32.8 million; human fatality, $51 million; vehicle damage cost per collision, $37 million; towing and temporary car rental, $2.2 million; emergency services, $821,000; carcass removal and disposal, $2.3 million and value of deer involved in collisions, $9.1 million. The report could not conclude if deer v. train collisions had ever caused an reported damage to a train, train infrastructure or human injury in Iowa.

In analyzing crash data from the Iowa DOT from 2014-2023, the report found a 10-year average of fatal crashes to be 3.47, suspected serious injury crashes 32.04, suspected minor injury crashes 114.04, possible/unknown injury crashes 179.55, total injuries 355.63 and property damage only 7,173.35.

Chronic wasting disease

Deer seasons aren’t just important for controlling the deer population in Iowa, but also for hunters to collect samples of deer tissue to monitor for chronic wasting disease (CWD). According to the IDNR, CWD is a disease that “can affect wild and captive cervids (deer, elk, moose and caribou) in Iowa and is transmitted by a misfolded prion protein shed in saliva, nasal secretions and other excreta.”

Since 2002, the IDNR has tested 111,391 wild deer for CWD with the first positive detection in 2013. Since that time, there have been 541 total confirmed CWD-positive wild deer found in 31 Iowa counties. As of Dec. 2, there have been 24 positive CWD cases reported in the 2025-26 surveillance year.

According to a CWD map, Wayne and Appanoose counties have had high amounts of CWD-positive wild deer, as have counties in the northeastern corner of the state - Winneshiek, Allamakee, Fayette and Clayton - with Jackson and Dubuque counties also showing higher concentrations of CWD-positive deer.

The IDNR sets collection targets for deer samples to be collected and tested each season.

In Clarke County, the 2025-26 point target is 90 and thus far seven have been collected. Some counties have higher quotas depending on their proximity to confirmed positive locations, or the presence of CWD in the area. Submitting tissue samples in each county is free until the quota is filled. After that, hunters can pay a fee to have deer samples tested. Both the quota and information on how to submit tissue samples can be found on www.iowadnr.gov.

Hunters can reach out to their local DNR unit for more information. Clarke Countians should contact Heath VanWaus in the Rathbun Wildlife Management Area at (641) 203-6179.