Iowa City Deer Friends
Donation protected
The Iowa City Deer Friends (ICDF) are raising money to help with legal fees and advocacy to STOP the urban bow hunt planned for our neighborhoods this fall and winter.
Update! We have received matching fund commitments from several generous donors! All donations up to $2000 will now be matched, dollar for dollar.
icdeerfriends.org
On September 24th, 2020, ICDF, represented by Jamie Hunter, of the Des Moines law firm Dickey, Campbell & Sahag, filed a petition in Johnson County to stop Iowa City’s first urban bow hunt. The hunt is scheduled to take place from October 1, 2020 to January 10, 2021 on undisclosed private property locations throughout Iowa City.
ICDF stands in opposition to the City’s plan, for several reasons: (1) The City has already achieved the reported goal of deer density numbers as a result of last winter’s sharpshooting activities; (2) The extremely lax regulations and licensing requirements pose a public safety risk to the citizens of Iowa City; (3) The constitutional rights of citizens will be violated by the nature of the hunt rules; (4) The City has not carried out other, less invasive action items they committed to pursue, as listed in the Deer Management Plan passed by City Council last year.
Under the lax rules, hunters are allowed to shoot deer close to adjacent properties, and they are then allowed to follow the wounded deer to complete the kill. This will bring armed hunters into private properties, without any prior approval, thus violating a citizen's constitutional right to safety of person and home, and right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
ICDF maintains that there are other ways to affect deer behavior, without resorting to this unreasonably risky and cruel activity. The position of ICDF is that even a shorter hunt is illegal, and they plan to follow up with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to advocate for an effective long-term plan of sterilization, consistent with many communities across the country who have been successful at implementing this humane method that, unlike sharpshooting or hunting, maintains stable population levels. By the DNR's own admission, they are concerned with selling more hunting licenses to bring in revenue. But ICDF believes this is not in alignment with the values and priorities of the Iowa City community.
Please donate so we can continue our mission to coexist with deer inside our beautiful city.
Update! We have received matching fund commitments from several generous donors! All donations up to $2000 will now be matched, dollar for dollar.
icdeerfriends.org
On September 24th, 2020, ICDF, represented by Jamie Hunter, of the Des Moines law firm Dickey, Campbell & Sahag, filed a petition in Johnson County to stop Iowa City’s first urban bow hunt. The hunt is scheduled to take place from October 1, 2020 to January 10, 2021 on undisclosed private property locations throughout Iowa City.
ICDF stands in opposition to the City’s plan, for several reasons: (1) The City has already achieved the reported goal of deer density numbers as a result of last winter’s sharpshooting activities; (2) The extremely lax regulations and licensing requirements pose a public safety risk to the citizens of Iowa City; (3) The constitutional rights of citizens will be violated by the nature of the hunt rules; (4) The City has not carried out other, less invasive action items they committed to pursue, as listed in the Deer Management Plan passed by City Council last year.
Under the lax rules, hunters are allowed to shoot deer close to adjacent properties, and they are then allowed to follow the wounded deer to complete the kill. This will bring armed hunters into private properties, without any prior approval, thus violating a citizen's constitutional right to safety of person and home, and right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
ICDF maintains that there are other ways to affect deer behavior, without resorting to this unreasonably risky and cruel activity. The position of ICDF is that even a shorter hunt is illegal, and they plan to follow up with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to advocate for an effective long-term plan of sterilization, consistent with many communities across the country who have been successful at implementing this humane method that, unlike sharpshooting or hunting, maintains stable population levels. By the DNR's own admission, they are concerned with selling more hunting licenses to bring in revenue. But ICDF believes this is not in alignment with the values and priorities of the Iowa City community.
Please donate so we can continue our mission to coexist with deer inside our beautiful city.
Organizer
Allison Jaynes
Organizer
Iowa City, IA