The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is reporting deer harvests seen in 2017 have surpassed 2016 totals. Hunters harvested 4,100 more deer in 2017, bringing the total to 105,544, an increase of nearly four percent. More than half of those harvests were recorded during the shotgun season with about 26,000 deer taken during the first shotgun season and almost 20,000 in the second season. Total bow harvests across all seasons was 19,797 deer. Antlered deer harvests increased nearly six percent to about 48,000. Antlerless deer saw a less sharp increase of three percent to 57,500. Only about a third of the more than 325,000 deer licenses sold in 2017 were filled. Deer seasons officially closed on Wednesday, Jan. 10.
