EASTERN IOWA - Two accidental shootings marked the first day of the state's deer shotgun season despite strong winds and below-freezing temperatures that kept some hunters indoors, Iowa Department of Natural Resources conservation officers said.
Dale Rowson, 53, was taken to Mercy Medical Center North in Clinton after an accident around 11 a.m. Saturday near Calamus in western Clinton County. Conservation officers said Rowson was hunting with a group of five people when a deer slug ricocheted off the ground, grazed a pant leg on his right leg and entered his left leg calf.
His injury was not life threatening. The incident is under investigation, but it appears to be accidental, officers said.
State officials are investigating another apparent accidental shooting in Union County. That investigation is in the early stages and no information was available Saturday.
A few more deer than average were taken in the Linn, Delaware and Benton counties, although there were fewer hunters, according to state conservation officers Aric Sloterdyk and Ron Lane.
"I stopped at a meat locker in Newhall and they were busy, but that's pretty normal for this time of year," Lane said.
Linn County sold 1,900 tags for all 11 deer seasons, Sloterdyk said.
Conservation officers from Washington, Keokuk and Iowa counties got mixed assessments of the deer population from hunters.
"Some people don't think there are enough deer," said Jacob Fulk, officer in Washington and Keokuk counties. "With the cold, the deer aren't moving normally."
The season, which started at 7 a.m., was more active in the morning than in the afternoon, when wind and blowing snow affected hunters, said Shawn Meier, Cedar County conservation officer.
There were "the usual" trespassing calls and hunters cited for improper registration, said Iowa County conservation officer Brad Baker, but one report from a caller near Lake Iowa Park outside of Ladora angered him.
"The man said he saw a person shoot a deer from their vehicle as it was driving down the road, and they just left it there," Baker said. "There are so many things wrong with that. It disappoints me that there are people who hunt that way."
Gazette staff writer Erika Binegar contributed to this report.
