Letter to the Standard's Editor

To the Editor:

I am writing in regard to the Iowa non-resident deer license situation. I am aware that the legislature is getting pressure from the Iowa Bowhunters Association and a handful of others to leave the tag situation as-is.

I am a landowner in Iowa. Although I don’t live there now, I feel I have the same right to hunt my land as my neighbors. The current situation is an embarrassment to all hunters. At present, Iowa residents get about 40 deer tags for every one tag that is issued to a non-resident. This is a tremendous skew.

This should leave plenty of room to issue a few extra tags to landowners, whether they are resident or not. Here are the numbers:

In 2004, there were 340,224 resident deer permits sold and issued.

In 2004, there were 8,479 non-resident deer permits sold and issued.

This is a 40:1 ration in favor of the resident. Not to mention that residents have their own muzzleloader season and late season that a non-resident cannot even participate in.

If you feel compelled to leave the cap on non-resident tags, please do so, but please make some provision for the non-resident landowner to get a buck tag for his own land. It is not as if there is a shortage of deer.

John Young,

Asheville, NC