Here are the changes for the 2026-2027 hunting season. A thing of the past, staying up until midnight to get your deer license. DNR state biologist Jace Elliott says this year they are moving away from the traditional midnight start time.
The other big change is a move to two license zones for deer hunting. There’s one zone that includes eight counties in northwest Iowa that will be called Zone B and have a default tag for antlered bucks only. The other 91 counties will be in Zone A, and will stay with the any sex general deer license.
Another rule change involves deer stands.
He says hunters who leave deer stands on public land must have a metal tag on the deer stand that is visible from the ground and has their DNR ID number on it. Elliott says the changes are a result of hunter input.
Other important items of note are that online deer and turkey license sales will stop two weeks prior to the season opening to ensure tag delivery. Also, trapping Identification tags attached to traps may include either the trapper’s name and address OR their DNR issued customer identification number. The Iowa DNR held several meetings across the state to get input before making these rule changes.
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