As summer winds down and fall begins in Johnson County, Iowa City officials are preparing for this year’s urban bow hunt — the first since the city created its new deer management plan in hopes of controlling the deer population.

The newly revised five-year deer management plan was approved by the Iowa City City Council on July 16 and includes multiple management strategies, including non-lethal solutions, urban bow hunting, and sharpshooting, which is planned for 2026 pending approval from the Iowa Natural Resource Commission.

Iowa City’s 2024-25 urban bow hunt season will start on Sept. 21 and will end on Jan. 10, 2025. Kirk Lehmann, Iowa City’s assistant city manager, said the city has been receiving an increasing number of complaints of deer in urban areas like Hickory Hill Park over the past two to three years, mostly concerning deer eating gardens or destroying property.

The application form for the 2024-25 urban bow hunt season is live on the Iowa City website, and officials are hoping to see an increase in applications, Lehmann said. If approved, hunters must pass an annual archery proficiency test proctored by the Iowa City Fin & Feather store before hunting.

The number of hunters in the urban bow hunt has gradually increased since 2021, with 16 hunters approved in the 2023-24 season compared to the 12 approved in the previous season. Lehmann said the number of hunters needs to increase to properly control the deer population, which is why the city is also pursuing gun-based sharpshooting in 2026, but the trend is positive.

The city has also seen an increase in deer harvested each year, with 32 harvested in the 2023-24 urban bow hunt compared to 29 the year before. In addition to designated urban hunting locations, Iowa City works with larger property owners who allow hunting on their land, which Lehmann attributes to the increase.

Lehmann said the private property involved in the hunt must meet a set of criteria to participate, including being at least 150 feet away from public right-of-way spaces, buildings, parks, trails, and other developments to keep the neighboring community safe. Property owners also have to fill out a permission form through the city.

Moving forward, the goal is to continue to expand the areas where hunters can harvest deer while keeping the Iowa City community safe, Lehmann added.

“We’re trying to maintain those connections and expand the number of other individual property owners that are interested in participating,” Lehmann said.

The City of Iowa City worked with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Natural Resource Commission on the updated plan. Ross Ellingson, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife depredation biologist, said the department as well as commission help the city determine the need for deer management within city limits and the best management practices.

Ellingson said he has worked with Iowa City to refine its plan and determine whether urban bow hunting would be more effective than sharpshooting hunting. Iowa City has a history of sharpshooting but implemented bow hunting in its last five-year plan after residents questioned why the city did not also have an archery-based urban hunt, he said.

“It got off to a slow start, but it’s growing in popularity, and they harvested more deer each year, so we can only look forward to a growing and more effective urban archery hunt in the Iowa City limits,” Ellingson said.

Ellingson said he expects the program to expand this season and beyond as city officials work with private property owners to utilize their land as hunting spaces.

“Hunters enjoy the ability to hunt close to home and not have to travel too far out of the city,” Ellingson said. “I think that’s part of the reason people are so interested and want to participate and help out.”

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In the past, Iowa City’s deer management program has drawn criticism from some members of the community. During the previous plan, a petition was filed against the city by Iowa City Deer Friends asking the city to prevent the hunt.

As previously reported by The Daily Iowan, the September 2020 petition argued the bow hunt was unnecessary and not regulated well enough to protect public safety.

The district court’s first ruling denied the petition and request to stop the hunt. The final ruling in February 2021 rejected the claims of alleged illegality, dismissing the lawsuit, according to the Iowa City deer management program’s online timeline.

Other cities and counties in Iowa also control deer population through urban bow hunting. The City of Coralville has had an urban deer management program for over a decade, Deb Summers, Coralville Police Department patrol lieutenant, said.

Summers said the city took 50 deer out of population in its 2022 urban deer hunt, with 1,995 total deer removed since 1999. The program is designed to protect natural habitats, reduce disease spread, prevent collisions, and minimize property damage.