(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be presenting new proposed deer hunting regulations for portions of Western Iowa, that are intended to allow the deer herd to recover from a major sustained decline throughout the region for the past 15 years.

Proposed regulations will be presented and discussed at three public meetings: May 19, in Denison, at Yellow Smoke Park Lookout Shelter; May 20, in Hinton, at Dennis L. Sohl Center; and May 21, in Sioux Center, at Sandy Hollow Lodge. The meetings begin at 6:30 p.m.

“Hunters have an opportunity to provide support or concern for these proposals to help guide our path forward,” said Jace Elliott, state deer biologist with the Iowa DNR. “Deer hunting is one of Iowa’s most recreationally and economically important traditions. Our goal is to manage deer numbers at a level that is acceptable to our citizens and that supports a quality hunting experience.”

The Iowa DNR held eight meetings in Western Iowa last July to address the sustained decline in deer population in that region. Attendees were provided with information on the population decline, impacts of disease, changes in land cover and high doe harvest over the past decade, and were surveyed for their satisfaction of the local deer density, current antlerless harvest restrictions, support for further harvest restrictions and more. The results from the survey guided the new proposed regulations.

This is the second phase of the Western Iowa deer initiative where the Iowa DNR will present specific proposed regulations for the region, different from anything done in the past, and gauge the support and tolerances of the hunters.