Out-of-state hunters enter a preference-point drawing. For the most popular zones and seasons, getting a license can take years. Across all zones, Iowa DNR’s 2026 drawing selected no bow applicant who held zero points. That makes the reported statewide harvest loss of 32.8% unsettling. It spans 2006, when Iowa’s comparable reported record begins, through 2024. That statewide percentage hides the differences among counties. Lower totals appear widely, but the direction of change is much more consistent than its size.
KEY FINDINGS
- The reported Iowa deer take dropped 32.8%: hunters registered 150,552 deer during 2006 and 101,216 during 2024. By 2013, that entire loss was already in place, and the record reached its low of 99,414. Later seasons have all stayed within a band of 99,414 to 109,591.
- Lower totals reach across the state. In 92 counties out of 99, the 2024 registered harvest was below the 2006 count. Seven recorded increases, with Worth (+23.3%) and Madison (+20.9%) gaining the most.
- Counties lost very different shares of their harvest. Page County’s decrease was 80.8% (1,617 → 310). Iowa’s western third contains all five counties with the largest percentage losses. Clayton lost 41.6%, yet remains the harvest leader with 4,318 deer.
- Most leading counties retained their standing. Among 2006’s six harvest leaders, four (Clayton, Allamakee, Jackson and Dubuque) also rank among 2024’s leading six. Van Buren dropped from the second spot to the seventh.
ITHE MOST GUARDED HERD IN THE MIDWEST
Iowa deliberately limits access to deer tags
Iowa deliberately treats its deer population as a limited resource. A lottery quota limits non-resident tags, and hunters from outside the state commonly wait several years to draw in the premium zones. Out-of-state deer hunters have no guaranteed over-the-counter route: tags are awarded through the draw. Once it ends, purchases are restricted to leftover general tags or antlerless-only licenses, and only if quota is still available. That scarcity helps shape Iowa’s reputation. Drawing a tag in the top zones is difficult, adding to the state’s mystique. Iowa’s harvest total also depends on permit decisions alongside the size of the deer population. It reflects both how many antlerless permits the state decided to offer and how many deer live there. An honest reading of the decline begins with those two influences.
IITHE STATEWIDE ARC
Declining through 2013, holding level afterward
Iowa’s harvest counting method has remained consistent since 2006. Hunter reporting began that year, replacing estimates from the earlier mail-card survey. The DNR says the figures from those two methods cannot be combined into one series. The reported harvest began at 150,552 in 2006 and decreased during each of the following seven seasons, falling to 99,414 in 2013. That was a decline of 34.0%. The downward slide ended there. Harvest in every season from 2013 to 2024 stayed within 99,414 to 109,591, meaning the full 32.8% decrease from 2006 to 2024 had occurred by 2013. The DNR’s 2025-2026 deer program report describes a matching pattern for the herd. Its population model indicates that deer numbers statewide fell from 2006 to 2013, held steady from 2013 to 2017, rose slightly until 2023, and then held steady or fell.
Since 2006, lower harvest totals appear in ninety-two out of ninety-nine counties, with a different decline in each. The statewide decrease of 32.8% hides the amount of change within individual counties.
IIIONE DIRECTION, NINETY-NINE MAGNITUDES
Worth gains 23%; Page loses 81%
County results reveal differences hidden by the statewide percentage. Lower harvest is the common direction: 92 counties out of 99 had a smaller registered count during 2024 compared with 2006. The median county’s decrease was 32.9%, virtually matching the state’s percentage. Seven posted increases. Worth gained 23.3% (382 → 471), Madison gained 20.9% (2,110 → 2,552), Boone gained 17.6%, Hancock gained 16.8% and Cerro Gordo gained 12.3%. Webster and Lee ended within about 1% of their opening counts. The largest decrease belonged to Page, at 80.8% (1,617 → 310). Next came Crawford (76.7%), Monona (75.0%), Cass (74.0%) and Pottawattamie (73.8%). County centroids place all five within the western third of Iowa. Elsewhere, losses were 50.2% for Van Buren, 41.6% for Clayton, 21.3% for Allamakee and 16.2% for Winneshiek. A successful tag applicant can be hunting a county whose reported take has gained a fifth or lost four-fifths.
IVTHE VOLUME CROWN HELD
After the decline, northeastern counties remain ahead
Despite these changes, most of Iowa’s harvest leaders retained their standing. The six leading counties during 2006 included Clayton, Allamakee, Jackson and Dubuque; all four also belong to 2024’s leading six. Those four share Iowa’s northeastern quarter with Winneshiek. Leading the state is Clayton, with 4,318 deer. Following it are Allamakee with 3,598, Madison with 2,552, Winneshiek with 2,549, Dubuque with 2,480 and Jackson with 2,445. Among the leaders, Van Buren changed position the most: its 2006 harvest of 4,742 ranked second, while its 2024 count of 2,363 ranked seventh. Within 2024’s leading six, Madison alone increased its harvest.
Swipe table to see every column
| County | 2006 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton | 7,389 | 4,318 | −41.6% |
| Allamakee | 4,570 | 3,598 | −21.3% |
| Winneshiek | 3,043 | 2,549 | −16.2% |
| Van Buren | 4,742 | 2,363 | −50.2% |
| Madison | 2,110 | 2,552 | +20.9% |
| Worth | 382 | 471 | +23.3% |
| Page | 1,617 | 310 | −80.8% |
| Monona | 1,386 | 347 | −75.0% |
VREADING THE DRAW HONESTLY
What the county map tells you about a prized tag
Iowa earned its reputation across the state, and controls tag scarcity at that same scale. Reported deer harvested, however, are tallied separately for each county. With nineteen reported seasons available, those local results are hard to overlook. Read fairly, the statewide record shows harvest dropping about a third during 2006 to 2013 and staying within a stable band afterward. That pattern agrees with the DNR’s description of herd trends. Read fairly, the map shows that counties have different reported harvest histories. Madison’s reported take has climbed a fifth since 2006. Hunting there differs from a hunt in Page, which has lost four-fifths of its reported take. These counts measure harvest, influenced by permit supply, access and disease alongside deer abundance. We have not tested which influence changed any individual county. If an Iowa tag takes you years to draw, look at the harvest history of your county before relying on the statewide record.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- For every county and year, the statewide total uses a single preferred reporting source. This counts each county-year only once; the county harvest records supply the local totals. The record spans 99 counties across 19 seasons (2006 to 2024), without any missing county-years. Our data also contain older seasons, but those are excluded because Iowa DNR says estimates of harvest for 2005 or earlier cannot be compared with later years. Data source: public deer harvest records supplied by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
- According to Iowa DNR’s program report for 2025-2026, its population model indicates a statewide herd decrease during 2006 to 2013, stability during 2013 to 2017, slight growth up to 2023, and then either stability or decline. It also calls the hemorrhagic disease outbreaks in 2023 and 2024 two of the worst the state has experienced. Permits govern harvest, and these counts have no adjustment for hunting effort. A smaller total can result from fewer tags being issued instead of a reduction in deer.
- Iowa awards non-resident deer licenses through a preference-point draw with set limits: 6,000 general deer/antlerless-only licenses, with up to 35% allowed to be archery licenses, plus 4,500 additional antlerless-only licenses. The wait depends on the zone and season. Leftover tags are available for purchase after the draw if quota remains. The Iowa DNR sets tag availability and fees and makes that information public. We do not set prices for any product or take a position on tag costs.
- Limits: the county totals in this view provide no breakdown by public versus private ground or by bucks versus antlerless deer. The size of a county’s decline may reflect a combination of local antlerless quotas, farming, terrain and disease exposure. This paper does not test which factors caused changes in any particular county. County locations, such as the western third or northeast quarter, are determined by comparing Census county centroids with the state’s geographic extent. The figures are current through the 2024 season.
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. Harvest figures are Iowa Department of Natural Resources public records analyzed independently by FDR. Peak and trough characterizations are descriptions of the reported harvest series, which is permit-governed, and not direct measurements of the standing herd. FDR is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency. Figures current to the 2024 season.
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