Deer Hunting Licenses On Sale August 15th

Date posted - August 14, 2012

We’re still a month out from Iowa’s earliest deer seasons but that doesn’t stop the planning as deer hunters mix and match seasons, their days off and which tags to buy. With a couple significant changes this season, however, many hunters will have to make adjustments.

That scramble begins August 15th. That’s the first day residents can purchase deer tags. With a short supply of early muzzleloader licenses (only 7,500 available), they have been snapped up in just a few days over the last six years.

This year hunters purchasing early season muzzleloader licenses won’t be hunting during the shotgun season, on the antlerless-only tags. The other major change is the number of county-specific antlerless tags available. Those quotas grew through the 2000s, with pressure to harvest more does. Hunters did the job across most of the state. Lower antlerless quotas now reflect it.

Hunters still can purchase one any deer gun season tag and fill in with various combinations, using the 119,000 available antlerless tags for the seasons they are hunting while they last. Those county quotas, though, may be filled sooner. Iowa’s south central and southeastern two tiers of counties still have strong antlerless allotments. Another option is the various urban, park or special hunt zones.

As always, if you qualify as a landowner/tenant, your options are more flexible. Reduced fee tags are available, across the seasons, on your farm property.

Two lesser changes are elimination of the Thanksgiving weekend antlerless season and reducing the late January a week early.