Conservation officers push safety during shotgun deer season

Hunter safety and target identification were the top messages by Iowa’s state conservation officers over the weekend during the first shotgun deer season.

“Safety is our number one concern,” said Craig Cutts, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Bureau. “We want everyone to have fun, and at the end of the day, we want them all to come home safe and sound.”

Cutts encouraged hunters to review their blaze orange to make sure it’s not faded and is in fact 100 percent solid blaze orange – no camo patterns. The law requires each hunter to wear one piece of external visible sold blaze orange clothing: vest, jacket, coat, sweatshirt, sweater, shirt or coveralls. The purpose is to be seen by other hunters.

He said hunters using a blind to hunt deer during the shotgun seasons also need to have a minimum of 144 square inches of blaze orange marking on the blind visible from all sides. Hunters using blinds must also satisfy the requirements of wearing blaze orange on their person.

He also advised hunters to double check their deer tags to make sure they have the correct tag for the correct season; to have a valid hunting license and habitat fee; reminded hunters that landowner deer tags are assigned to the specific farm unit, and must be used for that specific farm unit; and that the allowable rifles do not include .300 Win Mag or .30-06.

Only rifles firing an expanding type bullet with a diameter from .350 to .500 of an inch with a published or calculated muzzle energy of 500 foot pounds or higher are legal for hunting deer in the shotgun seasons.

“Hunters need to be familiar with the range of their firearm and their skills and stay within those boundaries,” he said. “We always stress that hunters need to not only properly identify their target, but what is behind it as well, and avoid shooting at running deer. If there’s any question about taking a shot, don’t pull the trigger because once you pull the trigger, you can’t call the shot back. No deer is worth taking an unsafe shot; another deer will come along.”

Hunters reported harvesting 21,000 deer from Dec. 3-5. Iowa’s first shotgun season ends Dec. 7. Iowa’s second shotgun season is Dec. 10-18.

Poaching

Information is reported to the Turn in Poachers (TIP) system all year long, with a noticeable increase from September to January as part of the fall and winter hunting seasons. Regardless of the time of year or day of the week, the most important factor for the public in using the TIP system is timeliness.

“Our officers work odd hours and weekends so if you wait until Monday to report what happened over the weekend, the evidence can be gone or destroyed and the poacher is nowhere to be found,” said Matt Burner, district supervisor with the Iowa DNR Law Enforcement Bureau for north central Iowa. “Call as soon as you know something. The quicker we’re on the scene, the better the chance that we can catch them in the act of committing the crime.”

He said callers should provide as much detail as possible, like the location, the person committing the act and their name, if known, the location of the animal that was killed, type of vehicle – make, model, color, and license plate, if possible, and an accurate, step by step account of the event as it happened.

“If you see something that doesn’t look right, take a picture or video and pass that along to the officer,” he said. “Even if it’s something questionable, report it and let the officer determine if they need to dig a little more to see if a follow up is necessary.”

Information can be reported online at www.iowadnr.gov/tip or by calling the hotline at 1-800-532-2020. You can remain anonymous. People who provide information that leads to a successful case are eligible for rewards ranging from $200 up to $1,500 and more. Rewards are paid for in part by the $2 donation option provided by hunters and anglers when purchasing a license. Since 2009, more than 2,200 formal cases been submitted through the TIP program.

“You don’t have to be a hunter or angler to call in a tip,” Bruner said. “We appreciate all of the extra eyes in the field, working together to keep thieves from stealing the fish and game in this state that belongs to everyone.”

Trespassing

Trespassing is a year-round issue but, in the fall, it can often be associated with wildlife violations. When someone witnesses trespassing, ideally, the first call is to the sheriff and a second call is to the local conservation officer. That helps to ensure the officer nearest to the area can respond.