IOWA (KMTV) — Iowa Department of Natural Resources has outlined changes for the 2026-2027 hunting seasons.
- Deer licenses go on sale this year starting at 9 a.m. on August 15.
- Iowa now has two zones for resident deer hunting: Zone A and Zone B. Hunters must declare their zone(s) at the time of purchasing a license, and it is possible to get more than one — and combine zones.
According to the Iowa DNR: "ZONE A counties in yellow continue the Antlered-buck only restriction during first regular gun season, EXCEPT for Landowner-Tenant. The remaining ZONE A regulations are unchanged."
- And then, according to Iowa DNR: "ZONE B allows hunting for Antlered-buck only (at least one forked antler) in all seasons EXCEPT Youth, Disabled, Landowner-Tenant and Depredation. PARTY HUNTING is NOT allowed in ZONE B for residents and nonresidents- ZONE B requires each hunter to tag their own deer."
Additional details about the upcoming hunting seasons are available here.
According to the National Deer Association, Iowa's deer population peaked in 2006 with around 650,000 pre-hunt animals. Today, the estimate sits between 445,000 to 500,000.
Contributing factors include disease outbreaks, over-harvesting and a loss of habitat.
The changes outlined above will remain in effect, state officials say, until population numbers rebound.
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