Official State of Iowa Website

Deer Hunting

  Hunting   >   Deer Hunting
White-Tailed Deer, Buck

Excess Tag January Antlerless Season

The Excess Tag January Antlerless-deer-only season will be available in all counties with unsold county antlerless tags at midnight on January 11, 2025. County specific license quota information is available in real time online (select 5 - Resident Antlerless Deer By County)

Licenses will be available beginning January 11, 2025 until quotas are filled. The season is open through January 19, 2025. Due to the compressed timeline, these licenses will not be available online. Only antlerless deer may be taken during the Excess Tag January Antlerless-only season.

If a county meets the qualifying criteria for a January Antlerless-only season, then Landowner/Tenant (LOT) tags will also be available for registered landowners/tenants for use on qualifying property within those counties. When/if the county antlerless quota runs out in any of these counties, LOT January tags will still remain available. LOT January Season tags will be available for purchase only from vendors in open January Season counties.

Qualifying counties for LOT tags: Adair, Adams, Allamakee, Appanoose, Clarke, Clayton, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Fayette, Guthrie, Jefferson, Lee, Lucas, Madison, Monroe, Ringgold, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Wayne, and Winneshiek.

Find more information on the January Seasons.

HUSH is a cooperative effort among Iowa deer hunters, the Food Bank of Iowa, meat processors and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

HUSH has two main goals:

  1. Help reduce the Iowa deer population
  2. Provide high-quality protein to needy Iowa citizens.
Thank you to all of the hunters who donated deer to the HUSH program during the 2023-2024 hunting season. 3,022 deer were donated, generating nearly 530,000 meals to Iowa's less fortunate!

Whether you're a deer hunter, a locker owner or volunteer in your community, there is a vital role you can play. As a hunter, consider buying extra antlerless-only deer permits to help reduce the deer population. By participating in HUSH, hunters can continue to hunt after they would normally stop and thus help reduce the deer population and provide high-quality venison for the needy in Iowa. You can donate any legally taken deer in Iowa, of any sex from any season. For the avid deer hunter in Iowa this presents itself as the perfect opportunity to hunt longer and have a direct impact in a local community. Hunters must be properly licensed to hunt deer. All deer licenses include a $1 per deer surcharge to fund the HUSH program. Participating lockers skin, bone and grind the meat into two-pound packages of pure venison. Local social service agencies distribute the venison to needy Iowa families in the area. The 35 lockers that participated received $95 for each processed deer. Find a locker near you:

The Iowa DNR partners with the Food Bank of Iowa and their affiliates throughout the state to make sure the venison is distributed to qualified Iowans. The Food Bank of Iowa receives $5 administrative cost for each deer distributed.

  • All deer hunters must have a deer permit to harvest deer, whether or not they donate the deer to HUSH. Donated deer must be tagged before being transported, just as any other harvested deer.
  • Any legally-taken, wild Iowa deer from any season and any sex may be donated at any one of the lockers shown on the HUSH Locker List map.
  • Hunters must donate the whole deer.
  • Deer must be field dressed; lockers prefer a clean carcass without mud on the hide.
  • Lockers also prefer the carcass not be frozen.
  • Deer hunters must fill out a Hunter HUSH Card at the locker for each deer being donated.
  • HUSH does not accept road killed deer.
  • Lockers cannot require hunters to skin or bone HUSH deer.
  • There is no additional fee to be paid at the locker.

If you have any questions, please email Stephanie.Lawrence@dnr.iowa.gov or call (515) 631-0234. Additional Information:

The Iowa Deer Exchange Program is a free online database where deer hunters willing to provide venison can connect with Iowans who want venison.

Hunters and those wanting to receive venison enter their contact information to the database and provide their location on a map. The location information will help you to connect with other program participants in your area.

Recipients choose the condition they want the meat when they register – boned out, field dressed, quartered, frozen, jerky /sausage or any, and in what amount. They also set the length of time their offer is open and may opt out at any time by contacting the Iowa DNR.

Once connected, the parties work out the details of the transfer. Donors are responsible for reporting the harvest and encouraged to properly care for the deer from the field to the recipient.

It is illegal to sell venison in Iowa.


For assistance with a previously submitted registration, please email deerexchange@dnr.iowa.gov

Deer Hunting in Iowa

The return of the white-tailed deer as a major game species in Iowa is a tribute to good landowner attitude and progressive management, research and enforcement programs. Likewise, responsibility for the future of deer in Iowa depends upon the cooperation of hunters and landowners, preservation of critical timber habitat, legislative support and continued professional management of the resource.

General Deer Information
A Review of Iowa's Deer Management Program

2023 Iowa Deer Hunter Survey



Hunter RegistryDoe Hunter Registry (Connecting Farmers with Hunters)
Healthy deer herd management requires doe harvest. Together we strive for a balance between recreational and viewing opportunities, ecological impacts, and the possible damages of white-tailed deer such as agricultural depredation or vehicle collisions. Hunting is the tool for deer population management specifically through antlerless deer harvest. The Doe Hunter Registry is a list of hunters that have expressed an interest in helping farmers and landowners meet their deer harvest goals.

If you are an ethical hunter that is willing to do your part and harvest more does, please sign up for the Doe Hunter Registry.

If you are a farmer that wants to increase doe harvest on your farm, get connected with hunters that can help. You can either register specifically as a farmer to be contacted or simply view the hunters that have signed up.

Remember: Private landowners retain the right to refuse access to property. Signing up for the Doe Hunter Registry does not guarantee access or hunting opportunity. It is the landowners responsibility to initiate contact. Please respect private property rights, be responsible advocates for hunting in the field, and report all deer harvest!


Iowa's Hunting Regulations

Deer Hunting Programs and Information

Firearms FAQs

Deer Hunting Season Dates

deer

We work hard to keep our calendar current, but always refer to the hunting regulation booklet for official, legal season dates.

 

2024 Seasons Season Dates License On-Sale Dates
Youth Season Sept 21 - Oct 6, 2024 Aug 15 - End of Season
Disabled Hunter (Requires a permit) Sept 21 - Oct 6, 2024 Aug 15 - End of Season
Archery Season, Early Split Oct 1 - Dec 6, 2024 Aug 15 - End of Season
Archery Season, Late Split Dec 23 - Jan 10, 2025 Aug 15 - End of Season
Early Muzzleloader (residents only) Oct 12 - 20, 2024 Aug 15 - End of Season (until quota is reached)
Late Muzzleloader Dec 23 - Jan 10, 2025 Aug 15 - End of Season
Gun, Season 1 Dec 7 - 11, 2024 Aug 15 - End of Season
Gun, Season 2 Dec 14 - 22, 2024 Aug 15 - End of Season
Nonresident Holiday Season Dec 24 - Jan 2, 2025 Dec 15 - End of Season (until quota is reached)

Shooting hours for all deer seasons are half-hour before sunrise to half-hour after sunset.

Find out more regarding Deer Disease Monitoring and the CWD Reporting System.

Nonresidents: The nonresident deer application period is the first Saturday in May through the first Sunday in June. The application is available in December.

No, there is not a maximum round count for rifle or shotgun magazines for deer hunting in Iowa.

Main Beam Length


Legal firearms for the youth/disabled and shotgun 1 and 2 seasons include:

  • Pistols and revolvers (with a minimum barrel length of 4 inches)
  • Straight-wall and "necked-down" cartridge rifles shooting an expanding type bullet of at least .350 inches and no greater than .500 inches with at least 500 foot pounds of muzzle energy.

This includes, but is not limited to, the following common calibers: .35 Whelen, .350 Legend, .358 Winchester, .375 Winchester, .40 S&W, .44 Magnum, .444 Marlin, .45 Long Colt, .45 Raptor, .450 Bushmaster, .450 Marlin, .45-70 Govt, .460 S&W and .500 S&W.

If you’re not sure if your cartridge is allowed, please check with your local DNR conservation officer.

 

Everything that was legal in 2020 is also legal in 2021. In addition, new regulations expanded what is legal for deer hunting. Hunters are no longer limited to using straight-walled cartridge rifles.

Any changes to allowable cartridges and firearms for hunting would take a change in Iowa law through the Iowa Legislature. The DNR is not aware of any proposed changes at this time.

The caliber, or bullet diameter, is typically printed on the ammunition box and packaging.

No it's not. We have tried to include common ones in the limited space we have in the regulations, but there are many less popular cartridges not shown on the list. The most important criteria is that it's at least .350 inches, but no greater than .500 inches. If you’re not sure if your cartridge is allowed, please check with your local DNR conservation officer.

Both the .350 and .500 are legal. If it's .349 or less or .501 or more, it's not legal.

It’s legal to use a revolver for deer hunting if the barrel is at least 4 inches long.

The .350 Legend is legal for deer hunting in Iowa.

All of them, as long as they have a bullet diameter between 0.350 inches and 0.500 inches.

If you need additional clarification or have other questions, we'd encourage you to call your local DNR conservation officer, who would be happy to chat about this. You can find contact information at iowadnr.gov/officers.

Legal shotguns, handguns, muzzleloaders, bows and center-fire rifles .223 caliber and larger may be used to hunt deer during the January Antlerless season.

The population management season is restricted to Allamakee, Winneshiek, Decatur, Appanoose, Monroe and Wayne and is only open if the number of antlerless licenses available exceeds 100 on the third Monday in December. This season allows hunter options for the method of take. The excess tag season was created by the Iowa legislature in 2022 and allows any county with excess antlerless tags on Jan. 10 to be eligible, but restricts the method of take to rifles only.