(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R reports the number of deer taken in the early archery and other seasons was down about five percent leading into the first gun season. The D-N-R’s Pete Hildreth says early gun totals are looking good. “During the first four days of the 2024 gun one seasons. So that’d be December 7th through the 10th, we had approximately 24-thousand-600 deer harvested and reported statewide,” Hildreth says. He says that’s a slight increase.

“That is a four percent increase of the season prior, and about two and a half percent higher than the five year average,” he says. Hildreth is the Conservation and Recreation Division administrator, and spoke during the Natural Resources Commission meeting. He says hunters in eastern Iowa have seen the best success.

“Eastern Iowa is showing strong harvest rates relative to past years, whereas much of western Iowa is lagging considerably,” he says. Hildreth says the lower deer totals in western Iowa are due to the impact of Epizootic Hemmorrhagic Disease or E-H-D on deer. Hildreth says they confirmed another disease in three new counties during the first shotgun deer season. Davis, Wapello and Shelby counties all had deer samples that tested positive for chronic wasting disease for the first time.

There are now 26 of the 99 counties with confirmed C-W-D cases, and 14 of those counties have only one confirmed case. “Unfortunately, nine of those counties with one detection have come online just since 2023, meaning that C-W-D is moving across our landscape, but not necessarily taking root,” Hildreth says.

The second gun deer season starts on Saturday.