Reflecting on a Productive Season
Reflecting on a Productive Season
The time of year and season that we all longed for not so long ago has now come and gone in what has seemed like the blink of an eye. Deer season 2025-2026 is, for all intents and purposes, a wrap. So much can be said for what many would consider a productive year.
It will not take long to look on social media channels such as that of Trophy Bucks of Iowa to see that success was found all across the Iowa whitetail landscape. The early seasons (Youth, Early Muzzleloader, and Archery) had totaled over 28,000 harvested deer before the end of the early archery split.
Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of becoming great acquaintances with Jace Elliott who is the on the whitetail research staff for the Iowa DNR. Through correspondence with Jace and my belief in the DNR I feel like the deer herd in Iowa can continue to rebound from some troubling times due to disease and habitat loss if we rally together.
So, what am I doing now that is deer related?
Hunting
If it is before January 10 and I’m reading this I am likely still in the woods. Also, there is a late season doe hunt in parts of the state, however, I’m not a huge fan of that season and here’s why. Many deer are herded up near available food opportunities and do not reflect the actual herd of that particular part of the landscape. For instance, a section that might normally hold 20 deer for 11 months of the year might house 40 if there is some leftover crop available. Therefore, it might not be completely necessary to thin that particular herd and actually be detrimental to not only the herd of that section but of several neighboring sections. This is just one man’s opinion.
Also, consider the shed bucks during the latest of Iowa’s deer seasons. Many bucks will begin to drop their antlers in January. This is heightened if a particular buck has sustained any sort of injury or if the weather gets particularly harsh as it can during this time of year. From a distance, it is very difficult to discern shed bucks from does and thus lends the opportunity to take extra bucks off of the landscape further creating disharmony in the buck to doe ratio. I would rather hunters get their hunting done during the confines of the very generous and ample seasons provided before January 10.
Get Involved
Next, tap in to legislation. Iowa’s legislature convenes on January 12, 2026 and will hit the ground running as usual. What you may or may not realize is Iowa’s deer regulations are set by the legislature and implemented by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Natural Resource Commission. While the legislature passes the foundational laws, the Natural Resource Commission creates administrative rules that specify details such as season dates, permitted weapons, and licensing requirements, as detailed in the Iowa Administrative Code.
Joining or reconnecting with groups like Iowa Sportsman’s Club and Iowa Bowhunters Association are great places to begin for someone who is trying to keep tabs on what is going on legislatively in regard to the Iowa deer climate. Likewise, individuals like Skip Sligh (@iowa_whitetail on Instagram) and others do a nice job of keeping issues regarding whitetails amongst other natural resources fresh on our minds. All in all, find ways to get plugged in.
Start Deer Season 2026 Now
Finally, I am planning to start work for the 2026 whitetail season. This past season I identified a couple of potential tree stand locations that I would like to go ahead and scout out to verify if my hunches were correct. If I can get stands hung or at least marked off and mapped out then I will be ahead of the game.
Also, I like to do a season recap every year. The season gets long and details can be forgotten. Therefore, I would encourage anyone to make notes to look back on year after year. This can do a couple of things: one, it can bring great nostalgia of deer season’s past. Two, it can help plan toward the future.
Along with these things I’ll be doing some feeding (once season is completely over). This will hopefully help bolster my local herd’s recover efforts from a long rut and a hard winter. While feeding, I’ll run trail cameras through the end of the month to take an inventory of my local deer herd and hopefully identify if bucks have begun to shed their antlers. Lastly, predator management will be a high priority. Coyotes are an issue all across the landscape and actively taking a few off will hopefully help with the stress of the deer herd through fawning season.
While this is not an exhaustive list of things to do before deer season begins in October, I believe it is a good “jumping off” point to get your year started on the right foot as far as the Iowa deer is concerned. Maybe you just need a break from it all; that’s fine too! If nothing else, don’t ever forget that Iowa is the greatest whitetail state in the world and it’s a privilege to care for and chase these rascals!
By Noel Gandy
February 2026
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