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First Monday and Every Monday |
High Powered hunting in Iowa |
| Iowa deer hunters will be able to use high-powered rifles to kill antlerless deer in the south of Iowa during a special January season that was approved by the Natural Resources Commission last month.
The season will mark the first time since 1953 that Iowa hunters will be allowed to hunt deer with rifles. Previously, deer hunters have primarily used shotguns, which have a much shorter firing range of approximately 150yds. Bullets from a rifle can potentially travel over a mile.
The change is just one part of a plan devised by the Department of Natural Resources to manage a growing deer population. A three-day shot-gun season in late November and 19,000 additional county antlerless tags were also approved.
Rifle hunting of deer will only be allowed in counties in the southern two tiers of Iowa. DNR officials hope that allowing hunters to used high-powered rifles will attract hunters to the southern part of the state where the antlerless does are more overpopulated than in other areas.
Just to sum it all up: More deer hunters, who have less experience hunting with rifles, will all be gathered together in a small part of the state, using guns that shoot further. Sounds safe to me.
Statistics have shown that rifle hunting creates the most fatal hunting conditions. A study of hunting-related incidents in North America by the International Hunter Education Association, found that 25 % of all two-party rifle accidents were fatal as compared to only 5% of similar shotgun accidents.
Shooters cited either an out-of-sight victim or failure to identify the target as contributing factors in nearly 80% of fatal hunting accidents.
Deer do create dangerous situations for humans when they are overpopulated. The hundreds of cars with beat-up fenders and the unappealing remains along our roadways are evidence enough of that.
To effectively handle this overpopulation several years ago, Iowa City hired professional sharp shooters to use rifles to kill deer within the city limits. These shooters were highly qualified, used extreme caution, warned the public of their areas of concentration, and shot at night, when a stray bullet would be least likely to hit an unsuspecting victim. This is an example of a responsible use of firearms in IPGV’s view.
It is irresponsible, however for the Iowa DNR to invite anyone with a hunting license and a rifle, to head to the south of Iowa to hunt with rifles for the first time in what could be fairly crowded conditions. Not only is this dangerous to the hunters themselves, but to the local populations in those areas.
We’ll leave hunters to speak for themselves. The following are quotes from hunters who posted their comments on Internet blogs.
I have only killed a few animals with a rifle, two of which were cow elk. I shot the first at over 300 yards with a 30/06 and 165 grain ballistic tips. The second cow was about 40 or 50 yards behind the first and I didn't even think about it. Bullet went through the first's ribs and hit the second breaking a rear hip and exiting. I had to chance that one down to finish off and still shot through the chest twice more because I saw the bullets hit beyond her before she went down. My point is what might happen to the same bullets on a 100 pound doe at 100 yards. Where might that bullet go and what additional damage might it do.
– Posted by “bowmaker” While the terrain in southern Iowa might be better suited for rifles - the hunters in southern Iowa I’m sure aren’t any better suited for it. Iowa’s got a party hunting mentality during its already existing seasons. .Deer drives with slugs are dangerous; with rifles it doubles the danger. ….. Rifle bullets still travel a lot farther after missing their target. – Posted by “horst”I thought not allowing hp rifles in the past was for safety reasons. I also thought not having bow season and shotgun season together was also for safety. They apparently consider it safe now or don't care. Maybe its become that the $$ overrode the safety aspect. – Posted by “steve” www.iowaoutdoors.orgI would strongly disagree with any DNR decision to allow high powered rifles to be used for deer hunting in Iowa. The reason for this is that Iowa, unlike other states, has a strong tradition of what is called party hunting which means that a group of hunters (a 'party') work together to hunt deer. This does work rather well when using shotguns because the shotgun slugs don't travel very far (about 150 yards) and generally everyone knows where everyone else is at. If rifles are introduced into this situation, then people will be shooting at deer that are further away and with that there is an increased chance that members of their own party could get hurt. Or even another party that happens to be over a hill could get hurt because of the distance that a bullet can carry. Another concern is that opening up a rifle season may bring people out who haven't been active hunters because they think that it will be easier to get a deer with a rifle. These people may not be as responsible because of lack of experience with high powered rifles. – Posted by “Kevin Powell www.blogforiowa.com |
