DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Natural Resources Department says three people were shot during hunting accidents over the weekend, while another was injured today (Monday). All four men are expected to survive their wounds.

The latest incident was reported this (Monday) morning, when a Fort Dodge man suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound while hunting deer in Webster County. 36-year old Michael Ziemann,  was preparing to take a shot at a deer with a .44 magnum handgun when the gun went off and the bullet when down through his right leg.  Zieman was hunting with two other people at the Brushy Creek wildlife area when the incident occurred shortly after 7-a.m. DNR Recreational Safety Officer Jeff Barnes said Ziemann was wearing heavy gloves at the time which caused him to activate the trigger. Barnes warns “Hunters need to be aware, particularly during cold weather, of the effects heavier clothing may have.”

Ziemann was transported to Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge by other members of his hunting party where he was being treated for what was believed to be a non-life threatening injury. The DNR says a Grinnell man shot himself in a foot during a hunt in Page County on Saturday. 35-year old Benjamin Parker‘s gun fired after it got tangled in some bags he was carrying.Parker was taken to a Des Moines hospital. His injuries were not believed to be life threatening.

Also Saturday, an Altoona man was injured in Lucas County. The department says 25-year old Ryan Mills was shot when a deer ran between him and other people in his hunting group. The department says 38-year old Thomas Burns, of Waterloo, was shot on Sunday while hunting in Appanoose County. Burns was shot when another person in his group shot at a running deer.

Rural Iowans may hear the distant pop of shotgun blasts from the forests and fields this (Saturday) morning as the state’s shotgun deer hunting season opens. Iowa D-N-R deer biologist Tom Litchfield says he’s expecting about 60-thousand hunters for this first season. Litchfield says the two shotgun seasons on deer are Iowa’s most popular hunting seasons, when the most hunters are hunting and when the majority of deer are harvested. Up to 60-percent of the state’s deer are harvested in the two seasons. The first season runs today (Saturday) through December 7th and again from December 10th through the 18th. Litchfield says there will be plenty of targets.

He says the deer population was around 450-thousand pre-season while this spring, the numbers were around 290-thousand post-season. Litchfield says there will be no changes in hunting regulations for this deer season and he says the hunting will be good or more challenging, depending on where you go in the state.

He says hunters in northwest and north-central Iowa should see similar deer numbers compared to last year, though populations elsewhere may be down. Overall, Litchfield says the Iowa deer population has fallen about 12-percent compared to a year ago. Learn more at: “www.iowadnr.gov”.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

w/ Max Dirks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

w/ Kate Olsen

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A cow owned by a southwest Iowa farmer has given birth to a trio of calves. The rare event occurred on a farm owned by Max and Harriet Griffey, of rural Farragut. According to experts, the odds of a beef cow giving birth to triplets is 1-in 100,00. Another rarity: the cow on the Griffey farm is nursing the calves by herself.

The two male and female calves are doing well, according to Griffey, and at three-weeks of age, are beginning to eat some grain and hay. Griffey told the Omaha World-Herald he’s been raising livestock for over 45-years, and it’s the first set of triplets he’s had delivered by a cow. The same cow, has previously given birth of twins, on more than one occasion.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Kansas-based company has bought the Beatrice, NE., Biodiesel plant in southeast Nebraska for $5 million. Flint Hills Resources LLC submitted the only bid at the bankruptcy auction Tuesday in Lincoln. Flint Hills is a subsidiary of Koch (cohk) Industries Inc. Construction of the $52.5 million plant began in August 2007, but it never started operations. Bankruptcy was declared in 2008. Among Flint Hills’ other operations, it has ethanol plants in four Iowa communities: Fairbank, Iowa Falls, Menlo and Shell Rock. A Flint Hills spokesman declined to release other details of the acquisition or Flint Hills’ plans for the plant.Flint Hills is based in Wichita, Kan.

The Iowa DNR expects that nearly 90,000 hunters will be heading to the woods and fields during Saturday’s opening day for first shotgun season. Iowa’s shotgun deer seasons are the most popular among hunters and account for more than half of all deer harvested.  Although hunters will still have good hunting opportunities they can expect to find fewer deer across much of the state. They may need to hunt a little longer this year to be successful. 

“Deer numbers in many areas are near the department’s objective and we are now encouraging hunters to be more selective with their harvest,” said Dale Garner, the DNR’s wildlife bureau chief. “We have been hearing complaints from hunters that they are not seeing the number of deer that they had in the past and some are voicing their concerns that the herd reduction may have gone too far,” he said.  “My advice to those hunters is to work with the landowner to see if the deer population is at a desirable level and adjust the local doe harvest accordingly.”

With the crop harvest being completed, good habitat conditions and a favorable weather forecast hunting conditions should be excellent in most of the state. However, in western Iowa, hunters may find that the summer-long Missouri River flooding has changed the deer distributions so they may need to adjust where they hunt. 

Safety First

Blaze orange is required for hunters participating in the shotgun hunts and party hunting is legal. Hunters using blinds during the shotgun seasons are reminded that they are required to display at least 144 square inches of blaze orange that is visible from all directions (see p. 23 of the 2011 Hunting Regulations for more information). 

Report Your Harvest

All deer taken must be reported using the harvest reporting system by midnight the day after the deer is recovered.  Accurately reporting the harvest is an important part of Iowa’s deer management program and plays a vital role in managing deer populations and future hunting opportunities. 

For hunters with Internet access, the online harvest reporting is the easiest way to register the deer. Hunters can report their deer online at www.iowadnr.gov, by calling the toll free reporting number 1-800-771-4692, or at any license vendor.  

Tagging Antlered Deer

Hunters are reminded that antlered deer must have the transportation tag attached to the antler’s main beam, either at the base or between two points. 

Season

First shotgun season is Dec. 3-7. Second shotgun season is Dec. 10-18. Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. 

Youth Season Tags

Youth season hunters with an unfilled “any-deer” license from the youth deer season who did not harvest a deer are eligible to hunt during one of the two shotgun seasons. However, the youth hunter must follow the weapons restrictions that are in place during the season and be under the direct supervision of a licensed adult. A youth must harvest and tag their own deer.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say the bobcat quota has been filled and the season is closed, as of 11 a.m., today (Monday). There is a grace period for trappers to report any animals to a conservation officer and receive their proper tags.  The grace period officially ends at midnight Nov. 29th.  The grace period only applies to trappers to allow time to move their traps from areas likely frequented by bobcats.  Hunters are not allowed a grace period. 

Bobcats trapped after the grace period must be turned over to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

w/ Denny Heflin

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says hunters can still purchase a deer tag in many counties for the November antlerless hunt that begins on Friday. D-N-R state deer biologist, Tom Litchfield, says it the season is available in 41 counties. “It has mixed popularity throughout the state, some hunters really like it, and some hunters hate it,” Litchfield says. The season was added as a temporary season to take a few extra antlerless deer. The number of antlerless tags available in each county depends on the deer population.

He says the objective established in 2003 was to return the deer herd to levels of the mid to late 1990’s, and as counties reach those goals, then it takes less of a doe harvest to maintain the numbers. Shotguns, handguns, muzzleloaders and bows may be used. There are some special rules that apply to this hunt. Litchfield says the licenses are only valid on private land as that is where the bulk of the remaining “high density” deer populations are. Litchfield says there are still some areas that need to drop the deer herd numbers.

He says from approximately south-central Iowa into south-western Iowa into the Loess Hills and scattered counties in central Iowa. Litchfield says there are some counties in southeast Iowa that could be hunted, but the need isn’t there like it has been in the past. He expects the overall deer harvest to be down five to six percent this year. Hunters reported taking just over 127-thousand deer in all hunts last year — which was down about seven percent. The November season ends Sunday (November 26). The regular shotgun deer season will begin in December.

(Radio Iowa)