Wildlife Damage Management

The DNR is responsible for managing Iowa's wildlife for all of Iowa's citizens. One of the DNR's responsibilities is to provide private landowners with the guidance and assistance they need to effectively deal with wildlife damage.

How do I get started?
A wildlife biologist with the DNR can answer many of your questions and provide technical advice on how to deal with crop damage. Please contact your local depredation biologist,*.pdf.

What kind of help can I get?
Once you have contacted the depredation biologist for your area they will visit your property with you to evaluate the extent of the wildlife damage and work with you to find a solution to reduce or stop the damage. This could include:

• Providing technical advice on how to exclude or deter the animals causing damage.
  
  
• Alternative horticulture or silviculture practices that would minimize the level of damage.
  
  
• Working with neighbors to keep wildlife populations at acceptable levels.
  
  
• Recommendations to increase hunting pressure and take more antlerless deer within existing seasons.
  
  
• Providing extra deer depredation licenses for hunters who hunt your property.
  
  
• Providing you (the landowner or tenant) or your designee with permits to shoot deer outside of existing seasons (all deer taken must be recovered and processed for consumption).

To qualify for extra deer depredation licenses or shooting permits the landowner or tenant must enter into an agreement with the DNR that outlines the goals and timeframe in which deer numbers will be reduced and how normal hunting practices will be used to keep deer numbers at desired levels.

Deer Hunter Registry (Hunters for Farmers) The Deer Hunter Registry is a list of antlerless deer hunters who have expressed an interest in helping landowners meet their harvest goals. These goals are specified in management agreements with the Iowa DNR, and some landowners may need additional hunters to assist them with these harvest goals. Hunter contact information is provided to landowners who request this information, and landowners have the option to contact any or all hunters on their list. NOTE: Hunters who register may, or may not, be contacted by a landowner. All contact is initiated solely by the landowner, and landowners have the right to grant or refuse permission to any hunter. Conscientious deer hunters who are willing to harvest antlerless deer are encouraged to register. Register online: http://programs.iowadnr.gov/deerdepredation/pages/Main.aspx

Wildlife Depredation Landowners worried about exessive damage from wildlife seek help from the DNR. Windows Media - Dial-up Connection, 10MB Windows Media - Broadband Connection, 30MB

	*.pdf
How to Contact the Depredation Biologist in Your Area
Wildlife Damage Identification
- Identifying Crop Damage, 21MB
- Identifying Tree Damage, 2MB
- Techniques to Reduce Damage, 9MB
Wildlife Damage Management - Options for Producers
Wild Turkey and Crops: Identifying Crop Depredation
Deer Management Zone Procedures (City Administration Guidelines)

Other Sources of Wildlife Damage Management Information and Assistance:

• Local Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators
  A listing of nuisance wildlife control operators in Iowa. This listing is for information purposes only; inclusion in this listing does not constitute an endorsement by the Iowa DNR.
  
  
• USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services - IOWA
  
  
• Iowa State University Extension
  
  
• Trapping Best Management Practices
  (International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies - Furbearer Resources Technical Workgroup)
  
  
• Wildlife Damage Control Manual
  (University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service publication)
  
  
• University of Nebraska Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management