Staff with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are currently conducting their annual nighttime spring spotlight surveys across the state, collecting information on Iowa’s deer and furbearer populations.
The annual survey is conducted from mid-March through April in each county, beginning an hour after sunset, preferably on nights with low wind, high humidity and above freezing temperatures.
The routes cover different habitats from river bottoms, to farm fields, prairies, woodlots, pastures and timber stands.
The 25-mile routes, two per county, are driven below 25 miles per hour with staff shining spotlights out both sides of the vehicle, recording the number of deer and furbearers seen along with the habitat type, at different points along the way.
