Older Iowans never saw deer when they were children. Deer gradually increased, and the first modern hunting season was held in 1953, when 4,004 animals were harvested. The state's management plan was developed to allow the herd to gradually increase. They expanded their range to fill in gaps where the animals were absent and gradually beefed up their population density. In 1974 hunters harvested a record 17,990 animals, and that inched up to about 20,000 by the early 1980s. Then, phenomenal growth occurred. The harvest rose 10 times in the next 24 years.

But as the herd grew, so did complaints from farmers and urban gardeners griping about damage to crops, trees, and vegetables. Insurance companies chimed in, citing the alarming cost of vehicle-deer collisions. Even worse was the human toll, with nearly two people killed each year in Iowa year from these accidents.

In response to complaints, and with an eye on deer research, which was shaping the way biologist controlled herds while increasing the number of large bucks, the IDNR mounted its current management plan. The plan, in a nutshell, calls for expanding the harvest of does, reducing the harvest of young bucks, and opening urban fringe areas and parks to hunting to reduce damage.

"Back when I started deer hunting in the 1970s, I didn't have to worry about filling the freezer because I hardly saw a deer," said hunter Dave Novak. "That's really changed."

Novak hunts on private property close to an urban area that once was off-limits to hunters. "The landowner had planted hundreds of tree seedlings, and became more and more frustrated as increasing numbers of deer decimated her investment and work. She read up on deer management and lets me hunt, but only wants me to harvest does," he said.

Heck, however, mainly hunts on the private land of an owner who also wants to control deer numbers. "When this suburban season first opened the deer were virtually tame," he said. "It was hardly a challenge to hunt them; in four years, that's really changed. Enough deer have been shot that the others are now wary and behave just like their counterparts out on a public hunting area. I need to be more careful about concealment and scent."

Novak also noticed that the deer are more wary. His answer was to mount a scope on his Traditions muzzleloader. "I'm comfortable taking a deer out to about 100 yards, and that usually puts me in range of plenty of does," he said.

During the decades that Iowa's deer herd has exploded, firearm and bow technology has also advanced. Regulations have changed to give Hawkeye State hunters' opportunities to hunt that they wouldn't have imagined a generation ago.

For example, in 1980 most deer hunters used Foster slugs in a shotgun designed for pheasants. The combination of no sights, a loose barrel, and the modest accuracy of these old style slugs limited the range to 40 or 50 yards.

In 1987 the IDNR legalized the use of rifled barrels in shotguns. "We examined the issue carefully at several meetings and determined that the new barrels would enable hunters to more accurately harvest deer at greater range without reducing safety," said Marion Patterson, who served on the IDNR Commission and voted for the change.