Iowa deer hunting: harvest by county, public hunting areas and walk-in land

Iowa hunters reported 101,953 deer in the 2025 season, 44,572 of them bucks with antlers, through the DNR's mandatory harvest reporting. For 2026 the DNR split resident deer hunting into two zones: in the eight Zone B counties general licenses are antlered-buck only and party hunting is not allowed (DNR).

Data updated October 2026. Seasons and zones: the DNR's deer hunting page, read October 2026. Harvest: the DNR's harvest reporting results. Land: PAD-US 4.1 and the DNR's Hunting Atlas layer.

When are Iowa's 2026 hunting seasons?

Iowa's 2026 to 2027 deer seasons, from the DNR's deer hunting page. Licenses, quotas and the county maps are there too.

Source: Iowa DNR, Deer Hunting (read October 2026). Zone B counties, in the DNR's list: Crawford, Ida, Lyon, O'Brien, Plymouth, Shelby, Sioux and Woodbury.

How many deer do Iowa hunters take?

Deer reported by hunters, statewide, by season. Iowa requires every deer taken to be reported.

Source: Iowa DNR harvest reporting (2021 to 2025 seasons), the statewide row of each season.

How many deer are reported in each Iowa county?

All 99 counties, with the DNR's reported harvest for the 2025 season and the public land in each.

Harvest: Iowa DNR harvest reporting (2021 to 2025 seasons). Public land: USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public) and the DNR's public hunting area boundaries.

How much of Iowa is public hunting land?

981,335 acres of Iowa, 2.7% of the state, are public land open to the public, by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and the DNR's public hunting area boundaries: public hunting areas on the DNR atlas 724,472 acres, county conservation board and city land 98,890 acres, other DNR land 61,153 acres, federal land, mostly Corps of Engineers lakes 37,667 acres, state parks and recreation areas 34,674 acres and national wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas 18,193 acres.

Iowa is mostly private farmland, and its public hunting land is spread thin: DNR wildlife management areas, state forests in the northeast and south, Corps of Engineers land around Saylorville, Red Rock, Rathbun and Coralville lakes, national wildlife refuges along the Mississippi, and county conservation board areas. IHAP adds private land open for walk-in hunting.

Which public hunting areas are the largest?

Public hunting areas where the DNR lists deer, with a page of their own, largest first:

• Red Rock - USACOE: 34,439 acres
• Rathbun Lake: 16,468 acres
• Rathbun Wildlife Area - USACOE: 15,820 acres
• Hawkeye Wildlife Area: 13,904 acres
• Saylorville Wildlife Area - ACOE: 10,773 acres
• Iowa River Corridor Wildlife Area - USFWS: 9,850 acres
• Big Marsh Wildlife Area: 8,184 acres
• Sedan Bottoms Wildlife Area: 7,440 acres
• Mississippi River Islands: 6,615 acres
• Loess Hills State Forest - Preparation Canyon Unit: 5,973 acres
• Yellow River State Forest - Paint Creek Unit: 5,805 acres
• Dewey's Pasture Complex: 5,025 acres
• Boone Forks Wildlife Area: 4,680 acres
• Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge: 4,233 acres
• Odessa Wildlife Area - USACOE: 4,069 acres
• Riverton Wildlife Area - Fremont: 4,069 acres
• Sand Creek Wildlife Area: 3,752 acres
• Stephens State Forest - Whitebreast Unit: 3,669 acres
• Otter Creek Marsh: 3,589 acres
• Sweet Marsh: 3,268 acres
• Loess Hills Wildlife Area: 3,116 acres
• Copeland Bend - USACOE: 2,995 acres
• Stephens State Forest - Thousand Acres Unit: 2,957 acres
• Wapello Bottoms Wildlife Area: 2,814 acres
• Ringgold Wildlife Area: 2,711 acres

225 public hunting areas have a page of their own; each county page lists the rest.

What is IHAP land?

The DNR's Iowa Habitat and Access Program (IHAP) leases private land for walk-in hunting. Its layer shows 155 tracts, about 23,847 acres. IHAP land by county.

Questions hunters ask

What changed for Iowa deer hunting in 2026?

Resident deer hunting now has two zones. In Zone B (Crawford, Ida, Lyon, O'Brien, Plymouth, Shelby, Sioux and Woodbury counties) general licenses are antlered-buck only, with at least one forked antler, and party hunting is not allowed; a limited number of county any-deer licenses are sold. Zone A keeps the earlier rules (DNR).

How many deer were harvested in Iowa last season?

Hunters reported 101,953 deer in the 2025 season: 43,109 antlered bucks, 7,783 button bucks, 49,598 does and doe fawns and 1,463 bucks that had shed their antlers (DNR harvest reporting).

When is Iowa's first gun season in 2026?

December 5 to 9, 2026. The second gun season runs December 12 to 20 (DNR).

Do you have to report a deer in Iowa?

Yes. Every deer taken must be reported to the DNR, online, by phone or by text, and the DNR posts the results by county.

Where these numbers come from

• Seasons and zones: Iowa DNR, Deer Hunting (read October 2026).
• Deer harvest: Iowa DNR harvest reporting (2021 to 2025 seasons).
• Public hunting areas and IHAP: Iowa DNR public hunting areas (Hunting Atlas layer).
• Public land: USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public) and the DNR's public hunting area boundaries.

FilledTag is not part of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The DNR's hunting pages are the final word on every rule.

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