What’s on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? Iowa’s deer hunting season began on Saturday. Dates, rules and regulations are on the Department of Natural Resources website. Hunters can use any kind of ammunition in Iowa, but non-toxic options like copper kill more effectively, leaving higher-quality meat without exposing humans, birds, or other wildlife to lead.
The overpopulation of deer has been on Senator Chuck Grassley’s mind ever since he was a passenger in a car that hit a deer in October. He is on a mission to lengthen the hunting season by raising awareness about the dangers of deer on the roads. After the jump I’ve compiled all of Grassley’s recent twitter posts on the subject. His comments about deer have attracted a cult following and typically get hundreds of “re-tweets.”
Disease related to this year’s drought has brought the deer population to its lowest level since 2003. In fact, statistics from the DNR and the Iowa Department of Transportation indicate that the deer-vehicle crash rate is “at its lowest level in 25 years.”
This is an open thread: all topics welcome.
Fred and I hit a deer on hiway 136 south of Dyersville. After I pulled fender rubbing on tire we continued to farm. Assume deer dead
The idea behind a longer season 4deer hunt is to save humans fr possibly being killed in accident caused by deer
Seen dead deer on way church. They didn’t hit my car Unsafe if u drive in area where deer congregate Iowa needs longer season to kill more
Thanks to all who r emailing me to tell me of somebody injured when they had accident b/c ofdeer. I need evidence to get season lengthened
U hv herad saying:”deer in headlight look”. It is a frightening xperience when a real deer is there
I was doing morning run at farm. Deer killed by car in ditch. He was dead. I didn’t have to”assume” anything about his condition
8 Comments
Grassley
LOL, I love reading Grassley’s tweets and some of the causes that he takes on. I don’t think I’d ever vote for him, but his candor is entertaining as heck and he does look out for a lot of people.
Remember when he called people who place secret holds on different items sissies? He did so on the Senate floor, I laughed uncontrollably for quite some time. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but it is one of my favorite C-Span watching moments.
moderateiadem Sun 2 Dec 3:47 PM
I like the volleyball updates
and how he expresses what’s on his mind. Most elected officials don’t do their own twitter posts, or if they do it comes across as very scripted and boring.
desmoinesdem Sun 2 Dec 7:55 PM
grassley and deer
Ah Charles. The plural of anecdote is not data.
And you aren’t Goldilocks. You don’t get to have just the right amount of deer: just enough for hunting but not too many for cars or for deer depredation.
It’s also a valuable lesson for driving at night in Iowa in October though – slow down. Yes, you can drive a few miles under the speed limit and that little bit of extra time might just be enough to let you or the deer avoid a collision
blooding-h Sun 2 Dec 7:23 PM
I was surprised
by this:
Just today I saw five or six deer near a street corner in Windsor Heights that is several blocks from any wooded area. Don’t know what it’s like in rural areas of Polk County.
desmoinesdem Sun 2 Dec 8:04 PM
Des Moines Deer
Des Moines gets a surprising number of deer who come in/live in the green spaces around the rivers/rail tracks. On an October or November night, down by the Capitol, it’s very common to see multiple deer after 10. I’ve also seen small herds (10+) in the parks that are connected to the river, and some of those deer will wander a block or two away to feed on lawns. I’m not sure where or when you saw your deer in Windsor Heights, but I’m sure if you investigated you could figure out where those deer came from. Hunting pressure must play some part in the deer coming into Des Moines.
blooding-h Sun 2 Dec 10:02 PM
culver in 2014?
saw this on WHO website about Culver maybe in 2014. http://whotv.com/2012/12/02/cu…
first i’ve seen anything public about potential Dems running. don’t know who else is going to put feelers out there for it.
natewithglasses Sun 2 Dec 11:29 PM
Culver
If Chet ran for Governor in 2014 it would show he doesn’t have the kind of good political sense that I believe he has. I spoke to him at an event just days before the 2010 election and you could see the look on his face told us all he knew the writing was on the wall.
He will run again, but 2014 would be an awful choice.
moderateiadem Mon 3 Dec 12:51 AM
I have heard the rumors
but don’t believe he would win a Democratic primary. Although I think he was a good governor, I don’t see him as a strong candidate against Branstad.
desmoinesdem Mon 3 Dec 7:20 AM