IA DNR: Hunter Education

The annual gathering of friends and family for the opening of Iowa pheasant hunting season is rich with tradition for more than 100,000 hunters who will be dotting the landscape in their familiar blaze orange hats, vests and jackets at 8 a.m., Oct. 25.

As the anticipation of opening weekend gathers steam, hunters are encouraged to share their traditions with someone new.

“We would like our hunters to expand their group and bring in a new hunter this year,” said Megan Wisecup, recreational safety programs supervisor with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Personally inviting someone new to participate has shown to be a successful method of recruiting new hunters.

Part of the hunting tradition is to hunt safely. Wisecup advised hunters to brush up on their safety tips and to check out their blaze orange before opening morning arrives. Blaze orange can fade over the years and become ineffective and not compliant with the law.

“There will still be a lot of standing corn in the field so hunters should wear a blaze orange hat or cap to help them be seen by others,” she said. “The top pheasant hunting incidents all are related to not being seen. The shooter swings on a rooster, the victim is out of sight of the shooter or the rooster flew between the shooter and the victim. We are encouraging hunters to wear more blaze orange than the minimum required. The purpose of the blaze orange is to be seen.”

The law requires hunters to wear at least one of the following articles of visible, external apparel with at least 50 percent of its surface area solid blaze orange: hat, cap, vest, coat, jacket, sweatshirt, shirt or coveralls.

Wisecup also said that hunters should stay in communication with each other and to stay in a straight line while pushing a field. “We have investigated a number of incidents where hunters have been in a semicircle and had been shooting towards one-another,” she said.

These issues should be discusses as part of the hunting plan that spells out how the hunt will take place, each person’s role in the hunt and where each person will be at all times.

“With so much corn still in the field, visibility will definitely be an issue. I would suggest hunters talk to the landowner to see if anyone else has permission to hunt the ground and if so, when they will be there,” Wisecup said.

Other safety tips include making sure when traveling from spot to spot that hunters unload and case their guns. Hunters are also reminded that if they shoot a bird and it goes down across a fence to land where they do not have permission to hunt, they can legally retrieve the bird, but they must leave their gun behind and take the most direct route in and out of the property. Wisecup suggested hunters unload their gun before they leave it behind to prevent the gun from unintentionally going off.

Hunter Education Classes
There are a few hunter education classes still remaining in October and November but time is running out. There is a listing on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has a listing on its website www.iowadnr.gov. Click on Courses on the Safety Education / Courses link in the navigation column on the left side of the page.

“All of the volunteer instructors are hunters too, and they want to get out in the field and share the hunt,” Wisecup said.

Pheasant Hunting Incidents
2007: 3 total incidents, of which 2 were personal injuries
2006: 4 total incidents, of which 4 were personal injuries
2005: 16 total incidents, of which 16 were personal injuries
2004: 5 total incidents, of which 5 were personal injuries

Media Contact: Megan Wisecup, recreational safety programs supervisor, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 515-281-8652.

Iowa Open to Disabled Deer Hunting Youth

A new Iowa law will promote many more nonresidents, age 21 years and younger and who are disabled or terminally ill, to hunt deer and turkey in the state.

There are a growing number of national and community organizations that cater to disabled young hunters, such as Make A Wish, Special Youth Challenge and Hope Outdoors. They recruit youngsters across the nation to hunt, fish and enjoy outdoor experiences under carefully planned and volunteer-supported outings. Where costs become obstacles to the youth, the organizations often help them with expenses.

There is no limit to the number of these Iowa licenses, although each person can have only one deer and one turkey license per year. The nonresidents must have a physician’s certificate of disability or terminal illness, the application form for which is available from the DNR at 515-281-5918. These new nonresident licenses cost the same as regular nonresident deer and turkey licenses.

The new law was championed by Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Buena Vista and Sen. David Johnson, R-Osceola after being asked by representatives from Special Youth Challenge (SYC). A director of SYC, Phil Driver of Linn Grove, said his group of more than 100 volunteers last year raised $25,000 to take about 25 disabled youth on various hunts. Only three of those were nonresidents but he has already had seven nonresidents apply this year.

The new national director of Hope Outdoors is Aaron Volkmar of Boone. Volkmar is in the first year of a three-year effort to develop a state-of-the-art facility in southern Iowa for up to 40 disabled youth hunts per year. Volkmar, who is also owner of TNT The Outdoor Explosion television show that will debut next year, is anxious to involve national celebrities and use his TV show to share the kids’ experiences and promote similar involvement around the country.

For more information, contact: Ross Harrison, ross.harrison@dnr.iowa.gov, 515-281-5973

Permanent Blinds No Longer Allowed on the Iowa Side of the Mississippi River Pools 14 and 15

BRIGHTON, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will be enforcing rules in September that ban permanent duck hunting blinds from the Iowa side of the Mississippi River Pools 14 and 15, and require duck decoys be removed from the area between one hour after sunset until midnight of each day.

Permanent duck blinds have been allowed in this area as a long-standing tradition, but it is contrary to Iowa rules that consider much of the Mississippi River to be a public hunting area.

Public hunting areas do not permit blinds and decoys from one hour after sunset until midnight each day. This rule will be enforced on these pools like it is elsewhere, said Don Pfeiffer, supervisor with the DNR’s wildlife bureau for southeast Iowa.

Enforcement of the existing rule will coincide with the implementation of no permanent blinds on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge upriver from Princeton, Iowa. The refuge will not permit permanent structures on their land in Pool 14 beginning this fall.

For more information, contact Donald Pfeiffer at 319-694-2430.