The most popular deer hunting season is about to begin across the state.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Aron Arthur says the first shotgun season starts this Saturday and ends the following Wednesday. He stresses the importance of being safe, which includes wearing the minimum requirement of a blaze orange vest, looking at and through your target and knowing the safe zones of where to fire the shotgun. Arthur explains one of the most common injuries people encounter is shooting at a moving deer.

“Shooting at running deer leads to a lot of the reasons why we have hunting incidents because they get fixated on the target and they don’t watch what’s in front of it or behind it and houses incidentally get shot and so do people, which we don’t want to have that. So make sure you follow those practices.”    

Arthur adds that hunters should also carry with them a valid hunting license, as well as the hunting and habitat fees and the correct deer tag for the first shotgun season. He says the second shotgun season will be from December 13th-21st. More information can be found by clicking here.