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Two deer grazes for breakfast in a front yard along East Ridgewood Drive in Cedar Falls. (RICK CHASE/ COURIER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Deer debate: Panel mulls how -- or if -- Iowa should control whitetail numbers
By DENNIS MAGEE, Courier Regional Editor
WAVERLY --- The property features a house, a few tillable acres, a bit of up-and-down terrain and mature trees with trunks more than 2 feet wide. Older, taller examples of oak, hickory and ash create a canopy, blocking sunlight and limiting growth in the understory.
Before buying the 80 acres in 1987, Merwin Briggs remembers hearing a warning.
"'Don't depend on getting any apples off these trees.' ... I realized deer were a problem, but I didn't realize how much," Briggs says.
His land is adjacent to Camp Ingawanis in rural Bremer County, 650 acres of wooded hills along the Shell Rock River owned by the Winnebago Council of the Boy Scouts of America. A small housing development popped up west of Briggs' place, but hills, trees and fields dominate on the north and east.
The area is prime real estate for the state's largest forms of wildlife. Briggs says his land supports more wild turkeys than rabbits, and neighbors report seeing herds of whitetail more than 100 strong.
"That's a very common story," he says.
A recent 15-minute drive on his Gator kicks up eight deer. They bound away through the trees, but are unlikely to go far.
Briggs says he has waged a private battle for two decades, replanting trees nipped by deer and, more recently, building wire cages around seedlings. He gave up on some plants, and his garden now features vegetables the deer seem to overlook, like muskmelon.
"What I've got out here, I got despite the deer," he says.
State Sen. Dennis Black, D-Newton, hears similar war stories frequently.
"I know one person who has hit six deer with six different automobiles," he says.
Black introduced legislation creating the Iowa Deer Study Advisory Commission, which Gov. Chet Culver signed into law in April. The group met for the first time this month in Ames.
Members, appointed by the governor, represent a wide range of interests, ranging from bow hunting to the insurance industry to tree farms. Participating organizations include the Sierra Club, the Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Meat Processors Association and Iowa Nursery & Landscape Association. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Economic Development, Iowa Department of Agriculture, Iowa Senate and Iowa House also are represented.
"I wanted a group of people that had an interest in deer population dynamics, every aspect imagined," Black says.
The commission is supposed to collect data, analyze the information, debate the significance and make recommendations. According to the law, topics can include the economic impact and value of Iowa's deer herd, public opinion, affects on crop production and the status of existing management practices.
The group's goal is to determine "a socially acceptable deer population," balancing the needs of backyard gardeners, hunters and others affected by the size of the state's whitetail herd.
The commission is required to submit its final report to Gov. Culver and the Legislature by Jan. 10. At least in theory, that means the group could make suggestions to alter fundamentally how the state manages its deer population.
Opposing views
Black has already reached his conclusion.
"We need to literally shoot thousands of extra does," he says.
"Every year we pass legislation endorsed by the insurance industry and Farm Bureau and hunting groups, and yet we continue to have a burgeoning deer population that never seems to come under control," Black adds.
Evidence is no farther away, he says, than the view out a window in his son's home. The property is adjacent to the Des Moines River, and two deer are working their way across an open space as Black speaks.
"I'm right now in the middle of Des Moines. I can see the Capitol," he says.
Not so fast, says Tom Lichtfield, the DNR's deer biologist, and Randy Taylor, president of the Iowa Bowhunters Association and a member of the commission.
"I've read many times about 'Iowa's burgeoning deer herd,' and that's simply not true," Lichtfield says.
Iowa supports up to 500,000 deer. Lichtfield notes the number is an estimate based on aerial surveys and scientific models.
"Wildlife is very, very hard to census," he says.
Another question, he says, is more to the point: What direction is the number moving?
"The most important thing is: What is the population trend? ... Statewide in Iowa, the population is declining," Lichtfield says.
The most basic question --- does Iowa have a 'deer problem' --- is difficult to answer precisely.
"It depends on where you are standing. You can't judge the world by the piece of ground your standing on," Litchfield says.
DNR officials divide the state into 20 wildlife management units and track the herd accordingly. Litchfield says in eight of the units the deer numbers are at or near established goals. In nine other units, the herd is declining and will reach the DNR's goals.
That leaves three of the DNR's wildlife management units, representing 15 counties, where larger harvests are needed, Litchfield says. The swath begins with Jasper and Marion counties in the state's midsection and stretches west to Woodbury, Monona and Harrison counties along the Missouri River.
"Now, there could be a place in those counties where a person could truly say the deer herd is out of control," Litchfield says.
He points to cities, natural areas and private woodlands whose owners limit hunting.
"By and large, our deer herd is very healthy," Lichtfield says. "Socially, it's imbalanced."
Which means the animals are infringing on the interests of others, including motorists, gardeners, insurance agents and Christmas tree farmersc to a degree they will not tolerate.
Litchfield says the agency's goal is to return the herd to the 1990s level. That would put the figure between 170,000 to 200,000 animals.
The DNR has procedures to help those who can prove deer are damaging their property.
Officials recently tweaked the so-called depredation program, and Taylor says the changes cut down on paperwork. The DNR also went from two to five full-time staff members assigned to the program.
One course of action is depredation licenses, which entitle farmers and others to line up hunters to ply their trade against does on specific acres. Another option is a shooting permit, which allows the producer to kill deer outside established seasons.
"The deer management programs the DNR has in place are working, and we've got to give it a little time to work," Taylor says.
Whitetail deer are native to Iowa, but the population was all but wiped out by the 1880s. Officials closed the hunting season in 1898 so the herd could grow. By 1953 numbers could once again support a harvest. Hunters killed 4,000 deer that year, according to the DNR.
In 2007, hunters purchased about 389,000 licenses. Of those, more than 156,000 were for antlerless deer. As a result, hunters in Iowa last year harvested slightly more than 146,000 deer, according to DNR statistics. Officials estimate 63 percent were does.
Population
Taylor concedes some areas of the state host too many deer.
"The DNR lost control of the herd in some places. ... I would never stand anywhere and tell anyone that we don't have a deer problem," Taylor says.
But a blanket solution isn't appropriate. Some counties could support more deer, while others, like Johnson and Linn, probably have too many.
Where hunters are allowed to draw a bowstring or squeeze a trigger also limits the DNR's ability to control the deer population, Taylor says.
"In some counties they could give away 10,000 doe tags and it wouldn't make any difference because you don't have access," he says.
Briggs, the landowner in Bremer County, argues in reality the procedures do little to reduce the deer population. He says the DNR made 40 depredation tags available in his area, but he has had a problem finding hunters willing to shoot a doe.
"That is exactly the situation: Most of the depredation tags are not filled," Briggs says.
"Hunters are volunteers, volunteer predators," he adds.
Black acknowledges a problem with existing programs. At the same time, he believes hunting is the only workable solution.
"The problem is, pure and simple, bucks do not have babies. And yet people, by and large, prefer to shoot bucks," he says.
"That's how you get rid of the deer: You've got to shoot the does, and that will reduce the population," Black adds.
Economics
Dollars are at stake on both sides of the issue.
According to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, all types of hunting added more than $137 million in retail sales and more than $214 million in economic activity in Iowa in 2006. Hunting that year also generated more than $30 million in local, state and federal tax revenues, supported more than 2,900 jobs and accounted for more than 2 million recreation days.
According to a DNR survey of hunters, the overwhelming target of choice was deer. Pheasant were a distant second.
On the flip side, deer are also responsible for drains on the the economy.
Ace Hendricks of Decorah represents the Iowa Woodland Owners Association on the deer commission. He owns 40 acres of trees in Winneshiek County.
Hendricks, a cow-calf producer, has dozens of oaks no more than 18 inches tall, stunted for a decade by hungry deer.
"In 10 years, they should be 10 to 15 feet tall, depending on the site," he says.
Trees surrounded by wire cages or netting reached 6 feet in a couple of years.
Protecting the trees is a chore, however,. Hendricks says he spent about 50 hours on the project last year and about $1,000 so far.
"It's very expensive and time-consuming," he says.
Hendricks hunts with a bow and shotgun but doubts he is having much effect on the deer population. He knows about the state's depredation program and shooting permits and intends to pursue that course.
"We keep trying to whittle the number down, but it just seems overwhelming. If you take three out, it just doesn't seem like very many," he says.
Public safety
According to the Scott Falb of the Iowa Department of Transportation, motorists reported 8,027 deer-vehicle collisions in 2007. Those produced 468 injuries and killed two people in cars and 10 people riding motorcycles.
The previous record for deer-cycle fatalities was eight in 2006, Falb said. For comparison, Iowa recorded only 18 such fatalities in the decade prior to 2006.
However, not every motorist's encounter with a deer enters the books. Falb also tracks deer carcasses collected on roadways. Between 11,000 to 13,000 dead deer are picked up annually.
Overall, Falb said members of the commission won't find any glaring statistics in his numbers.
"There may be a very slight upward trend in total crashes involving deer ... but it's small enough that we could also attribute it to better reporting," Falb said.
Figures for the estimated number of miles driven in Iowa and registered vehicles in the state are near their averages for the past decade. The distribution of deer-vehicle collisions is spread evenly across the state.
"Deer are mobile and they get around a lot, and where (drivers) hit them depends on what is going on in the area," Falb said.
He notes nearby states record far more deer-vehicle crashes each year.
"Where we have 8,000, Wisconsin probably has somewhere in the range of 24,000. ... Michigan has closer to 44,000 or 45,000," Falb said.
Dana Chittick works for Grinnell Mutual Insurance as a government affairs analyst and represents the Iowa Insurance Institute on the commission.
Beyond the obvious --- the insurance industry would like to reduce the number of car-deer incidents in Iowa --- Chittick says she has no set agenda going in. Should others on the commission agree a smaller herd would be beneficial, how to get to that goal remains an open question.
"Everyone is trying to work together to promote, like they said, 'a socially acceptable deer population,'" Chittick says.
Taylor, the bowhunters representative, is somewhat concerned the commission's conclusions may rely too heavily on opinion and anecdotal evidence.
"I am hoping that we base all our decisions on biology and scientific deer management practices," he says.
In that regard, he is willing to accept DNR recommendations.
Jean Eells with E Resources Group in Webster City is facilitating the meetings and acknowledges many established positions among commission members. She also notes "a very sincere group of really engaged people" who she says will seek common ground on a complex issue.
"I think the group can really come up with what they feel best fits the needs of Iowa," Eells says.
Meeting the Jan. 10 deadline for its report will be a challenge, Chittick says. The commission has four meeting dates set, but may need more.
She predicts the commission will reach conclusions and make recommendations as required.
"I think we all take this very seriously. We all know how important deer are to the state of Iowa."
Contact Dennis Magee at (319) 291-1451 or dennis.magee@wcfcourier.com.
Before buying the 80 acres in 1987, Merwin Briggs remembers hearing a warning.
"'Don't depend on getting any apples off these trees.' ... I realized deer were a problem, but I didn't realize how much," Briggs says.
His land is adjacent to Camp Ingawanis in rural Bremer County, 650 acres of wooded hills along the Shell Rock River owned by the Winnebago Council of the Boy Scouts of America. A small housing development popped up west of Briggs' place, but hills, trees and fields dominate on the north and east.
The area is prime real estate for the state's largest forms of wildlife. Briggs says his land supports more wild turkeys than rabbits, and neighbors report seeing herds of whitetail more than 100 strong.
"That's a very common story," he says.
A recent 15-minute drive on his Gator kicks up eight deer. They bound away through the trees, but are unlikely to go far.
Briggs says he has waged a private battle for two decades, replanting trees nipped by deer and, more recently, building wire cages around seedlings. He gave up on some plants, and his garden now features vegetables the deer seem to overlook, like muskmelon.
"What I've got out here, I got despite the deer," he says.
State Sen. Dennis Black, D-Newton, hears similar war stories frequently.
"I know one person who has hit six deer with six different automobiles," he says.
Black introduced legislation creating the Iowa Deer Study Advisory Commission, which Gov. Chet Culver signed into law in April. The group met for the first time this month in Ames.
Members, appointed by the governor, represent a wide range of interests, ranging from bow hunting to the insurance industry to tree farms. Participating organizations include the Sierra Club, the Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Meat Processors Association and Iowa Nursery & Landscape Association. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Economic Development, Iowa Department of Agriculture, Iowa Senate and Iowa House also are represented.
"I wanted a group of people that had an interest in deer population dynamics, every aspect imagined," Black says.
The commission is supposed to collect data, analyze the information, debate the significance and make recommendations. According to the law, topics can include the economic impact and value of Iowa's deer herd, public opinion, affects on crop production and the status of existing management practices.
The group's goal is to determine "a socially acceptable deer population," balancing the needs of backyard gardeners, hunters and others affected by the size of the state's whitetail herd.
The commission is required to submit its final report to Gov. Culver and the Legislature by Jan. 10. At least in theory, that means the group could make suggestions to alter fundamentally how the state manages its deer population.
Opposing views
Black has already reached his conclusion.
"We need to literally shoot thousands of extra does," he says.
"Every year we pass legislation endorsed by the insurance industry and Farm Bureau and hunting groups, and yet we continue to have a burgeoning deer population that never seems to come under control," Black adds.
Evidence is no farther away, he says, than the view out a window in his son's home. The property is adjacent to the Des Moines River, and two deer are working their way across an open space as Black speaks.
"I'm right now in the middle of Des Moines. I can see the Capitol," he says.
Not so fast, says Tom Lichtfield, the DNR's deer biologist, and Randy Taylor, president of the Iowa Bowhunters Association and a member of the commission.
"I've read many times about 'Iowa's burgeoning deer herd,' and that's simply not true," Lichtfield says.
Iowa supports up to 500,000 deer. Lichtfield notes the number is an estimate based on aerial surveys and scientific models.
"Wildlife is very, very hard to census," he says.
Another question, he says, is more to the point: What direction is the number moving?
"The most important thing is: What is the population trend? ... Statewide in Iowa, the population is declining," Lichtfield says.
The most basic question --- does Iowa have a 'deer problem' --- is difficult to answer precisely.
"It depends on where you are standing. You can't judge the world by the piece of ground your standing on," Litchfield says.
DNR officials divide the state into 20 wildlife management units and track the herd accordingly. Litchfield says in eight of the units the deer numbers are at or near established goals. In nine other units, the herd is declining and will reach the DNR's goals.
That leaves three of the DNR's wildlife management units, representing 15 counties, where larger harvests are needed, Litchfield says. The swath begins with Jasper and Marion counties in the state's midsection and stretches west to Woodbury, Monona and Harrison counties along the Missouri River.
"Now, there could be a place in those counties where a person could truly say the deer herd is out of control," Litchfield says.
He points to cities, natural areas and private woodlands whose owners limit hunting.
"By and large, our deer herd is very healthy," Lichtfield says. "Socially, it's imbalanced."
Which means the animals are infringing on the interests of others, including motorists, gardeners, insurance agents and Christmas tree farmersc to a degree they will not tolerate.
Litchfield says the agency's goal is to return the herd to the 1990s level. That would put the figure between 170,000 to 200,000 animals.
The DNR has procedures to help those who can prove deer are damaging their property.
Officials recently tweaked the so-called depredation program, and Taylor says the changes cut down on paperwork. The DNR also went from two to five full-time staff members assigned to the program.
One course of action is depredation licenses, which entitle farmers and others to line up hunters to ply their trade against does on specific acres. Another option is a shooting permit, which allows the producer to kill deer outside established seasons.
"The deer management programs the DNR has in place are working, and we've got to give it a little time to work," Taylor says.
Whitetail deer are native to Iowa, but the population was all but wiped out by the 1880s. Officials closed the hunting season in 1898 so the herd could grow. By 1953 numbers could once again support a harvest. Hunters killed 4,000 deer that year, according to the DNR.
In 2007, hunters purchased about 389,000 licenses. Of those, more than 156,000 were for antlerless deer. As a result, hunters in Iowa last year harvested slightly more than 146,000 deer, according to DNR statistics. Officials estimate 63 percent were does.
Population
Taylor concedes some areas of the state host too many deer.
"The DNR lost control of the herd in some places. ... I would never stand anywhere and tell anyone that we don't have a deer problem," Taylor says.
But a blanket solution isn't appropriate. Some counties could support more deer, while others, like Johnson and Linn, probably have too many.
Where hunters are allowed to draw a bowstring or squeeze a trigger also limits the DNR's ability to control the deer population, Taylor says.
"In some counties they could give away 10,000 doe tags and it wouldn't make any difference because you don't have access," he says.
Briggs, the landowner in Bremer County, argues in reality the procedures do little to reduce the deer population. He says the DNR made 40 depredation tags available in his area, but he has had a problem finding hunters willing to shoot a doe.
"That is exactly the situation: Most of the depredation tags are not filled," Briggs says.
"Hunters are volunteers, volunteer predators," he adds.
Black acknowledges a problem with existing programs. At the same time, he believes hunting is the only workable solution.
"The problem is, pure and simple, bucks do not have babies. And yet people, by and large, prefer to shoot bucks," he says.
"That's how you get rid of the deer: You've got to shoot the does, and that will reduce the population," Black adds.
Economics
Dollars are at stake on both sides of the issue.
According to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, all types of hunting added more than $137 million in retail sales and more than $214 million in economic activity in Iowa in 2006. Hunting that year also generated more than $30 million in local, state and federal tax revenues, supported more than 2,900 jobs and accounted for more than 2 million recreation days.
According to a DNR survey of hunters, the overwhelming target of choice was deer. Pheasant were a distant second.
On the flip side, deer are also responsible for drains on the the economy.
Ace Hendricks of Decorah represents the Iowa Woodland Owners Association on the deer commission. He owns 40 acres of trees in Winneshiek County.
Hendricks, a cow-calf producer, has dozens of oaks no more than 18 inches tall, stunted for a decade by hungry deer.
"In 10 years, they should be 10 to 15 feet tall, depending on the site," he says.
Trees surrounded by wire cages or netting reached 6 feet in a couple of years.
Protecting the trees is a chore, however,. Hendricks says he spent about 50 hours on the project last year and about $1,000 so far.
"It's very expensive and time-consuming," he says.
Hendricks hunts with a bow and shotgun but doubts he is having much effect on the deer population. He knows about the state's depredation program and shooting permits and intends to pursue that course.
"We keep trying to whittle the number down, but it just seems overwhelming. If you take three out, it just doesn't seem like very many," he says.
Public safety
According to the Scott Falb of the Iowa Department of Transportation, motorists reported 8,027 deer-vehicle collisions in 2007. Those produced 468 injuries and killed two people in cars and 10 people riding motorcycles.
The previous record for deer-cycle fatalities was eight in 2006, Falb said. For comparison, Iowa recorded only 18 such fatalities in the decade prior to 2006.
However, not every motorist's encounter with a deer enters the books. Falb also tracks deer carcasses collected on roadways. Between 11,000 to 13,000 dead deer are picked up annually.
Overall, Falb said members of the commission won't find any glaring statistics in his numbers.
"There may be a very slight upward trend in total crashes involving deer ... but it's small enough that we could also attribute it to better reporting," Falb said.
Figures for the estimated number of miles driven in Iowa and registered vehicles in the state are near their averages for the past decade. The distribution of deer-vehicle collisions is spread evenly across the state.
"Deer are mobile and they get around a lot, and where (drivers) hit them depends on what is going on in the area," Falb said.
He notes nearby states record far more deer-vehicle crashes each year.
"Where we have 8,000, Wisconsin probably has somewhere in the range of 24,000. ... Michigan has closer to 44,000 or 45,000," Falb said.
Dana Chittick works for Grinnell Mutual Insurance as a government affairs analyst and represents the Iowa Insurance Institute on the commission.
Beyond the obvious --- the insurance industry would like to reduce the number of car-deer incidents in Iowa --- Chittick says she has no set agenda going in. Should others on the commission agree a smaller herd would be beneficial, how to get to that goal remains an open question.
"Everyone is trying to work together to promote, like they said, 'a socially acceptable deer population,'" Chittick says.
Taylor, the bowhunters representative, is somewhat concerned the commission's conclusions may rely too heavily on opinion and anecdotal evidence.
"I am hoping that we base all our decisions on biology and scientific deer management practices," he says.
In that regard, he is willing to accept DNR recommendations.
Jean Eells with E Resources Group in Webster City is facilitating the meetings and acknowledges many established positions among commission members. She also notes "a very sincere group of really engaged people" who she says will seek common ground on a complex issue.
"I think the group can really come up with what they feel best fits the needs of Iowa," Eells says.
Meeting the Jan. 10 deadline for its report will be a challenge, Chittick says. The commission has four meeting dates set, but may need more.
She predicts the commission will reach conclusions and make recommendations as required.
"I think we all take this very seriously. We all know how important deer are to the state of Iowa."
Contact Dennis Magee at (319) 291-1451 or dennis.magee@wcfcourier.com.
 |
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4260 wrote on Oct 6, 2008 10:43 AM: