About Iowa City’s Deer Management Program

Iowa City’s Deer Management Plan was formed in response to resident concerns about deer in urban and suburban areas. A survey conducted in 2018 revealed the urban deer population had tripled since the City ceased its deer management program in 2010. After coordinating with the Iowa DNR and soliciting public input, the City Council adopted a Deer Management Plan in 2019. This plan was approved through the Iowa Natural Resources Commission and included one year of professional sharpshooting, four years of urban bow hunts, and ongoing public education.

A full timeline and history of the City’s deer management response is available here.

Please contact Lt. Zach Diersen with any questions about the program at zach-diersen@iowa-city.org or call 319-356-5275.

Deer Management Plan

2019 – 2020 (Professional Sharpshooting): A report on the results of White Buffalo, Inc.’s 2019 – 2020 deer cull is available here. 

2020 – 2024 (Urban Bow Hunt): Information on the 2020 – 2021 urban bow hunt is available on the Urban Bow Hunt page.

Ongoing (Public Education): Please visit our Deer Education and Non-Lethal Management page for tips on living with deer and information on non-lethal deer management solutions.

Public Input

The community was invited to attend a public input meeting to discuss deer population management  on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, at City Hall, 410 E. Washington St.

City staff presented a short history of the City’s deer management, which is included in the document entitled “Council Information Packet:  Urban Wildlife-Deer.” Tony DeNicola of White Buffalo, Inc. presented the study completed last winter on the estimate of the deer population in Iowa City, which is Exhibit B to the document entitled “Letter to Natural Resources Commission.”  The meeting was then opened up for comments and questions from the public (limited to 3 minutes per person). View the meeting here.

Documents

Links & Resources

City Government