Recently released information by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported an excellent year for deer hunters in the state, and the same was true for Marion County. State Conservation Officer Ken Kenyon tells KNIA/KRLS News that 2,246 deer were harvested in Marion County in 2009. Of those, 1,183, or roughly 53 percent, were does. Kenyon says offering more tags for female deer is part of an effort to continue to control Iowa’s deer population.

The rest of Marion County’s deer harvest included 769 bucks, 258 button-bucks, and 35 antlerless bucks. Kenyon adds that surveys indicate Marion County’s deer population is holding and says the number of available tags for antlerless deer will remain the same for the 2010 hunting season as it was this past year. Iowa’s overall deer hunting season resulted in over 136,500 deer harvested across the state.