This year’s deer hunting seasons have begun in Iowa.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer for Greene and Guthrie Counties Jeremy King reminds hunters that they must wear at least a solid blaze orange vest during early muzzleloader season. 

“Some folks buy a vest for pheasant hunting and they use it for deer hunting as well, but a lot of those pheasant vests have a canvass pouch on the back. Well that’s brown on the back, you don’t want that. That front and back of that vest has to be solid blaze orange.”

King also recommends wearing a blaze orange hat because that’s the first thing other hunters will see when someone is coming over a hill. 

King points out that some counties, like Greene County, doesn’t offer antlerless tags to hunters. He says the DNR is trying to improve the doe deer population, whereas other areas, like Guthrie County, do have antlerless tags. King explains one important aspect to keep in mind with antlerless tags.

“So if you decide you want to try and get a doe or two for the freezer and you buy, let’s say a Guthrie County doe tag, obviously that tag is only valid for the county that you’re in. So you cannot buy a Guthrie County tag, run up to Greene County, and shoot a doe and put that Guthrie County tag on it.”

The early muzzleloader season runs until this Sunday, while the late season is December 23-January 11. The first shotgun season is from December 7-11.