Wildlife Damage Management

The DNR is responsible for managing Iowa's wildlife for all of Iowa's citizens. One of the DNR's responsibilities is to provide private landowners with the guidance and assistance they need to effectively deal with wildlife damage.

How do I get started?
The DNR can answer many of your questions and provide technical advice over the phone or by email. Contact your local DNR biologist. If you are having substantial agricultural crop damage you should contact your local depredation biologist,*.pdf.

What kind of help can I get?
Once you have contacted the depredation biologist for your area they will visit your property with you to evaluate the extent of the wildlife damage and work with you to find a solution to reduce or stop the damage. This could include:

• Providing technical advice on how to exclude or deter the animals causing damage.
  
  
• Alternative horticulture or silviculture practices that would minimize the level of damage.
  
  
• Working with neighbors to keep wildlife populations at acceptable levels.
  
  
• Recommendations to increase hunting pressure and take more antlerless deer within existing seasons.
  
  
• Providing extra deer depredation licenses for hunters who hunt your property.
  
  
• Providing you (the landowner or tenant) or your designee with permits to shoot deer outside of existing seasons (all deer taken must be recovered and processed for consumption).

To qualify for extra deer depredation licenses or shooting permits you (the landowner or tenant) must enter into an agreement with the DNR that outlines the goals and timeframe in which deer numbers will be reduced and how normal hunting practices will be used to keep deer numbers at desired levels.

	*.pdf
Other Sources of Wildlife Damage Management Information and Assistance
How to Contact the Depredation Biologist in Your Area
Who Dunnit: A Look at Wildlife Damage Identification, 35MB
Wildlife Damage Management - Options for Producers
Wild Turkey and Crops: Identifying Crop Depredation

Hunters willing to shoot antlerless deer can sign-up to help to landowners who are having trouble finding hunters to shoot antlerless deer on their land. Contact information of hunters will be made available to landowners who request help recruiting hunters to take antlerless deer on their properties. Interested landowners will contact hunters if and when they need assistance.

NOTE: Sign-up with this registry does not guarantee that you will be contacted by a landowner. Hunters must reference the management unit(s) in which they are willing to help.