Iowa Deer · Zone 5
Iowa Zone 5 spans 1,223,778 acres, centered 31 miles south of Knoxville. 5% of it is public land, mostly military (3%) and state land (2%). In 2024, hunters took 7,207 deer here (sum of published member-area rows); hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, Z5-GUN, put up 1,040 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 1,703 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 1 point.
2 licenses
first choice, NR
not published
59% Other public
1,223,778 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2024. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
None of these licenses drew anyone at your points in 2026: see the table below for the cut on each.
Every License in Zone 5
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Z5-BOW | Zone 5 General any-deer + mandatory antlerless combo, bow season | 0% | 5 ▲1 | |
| Z5-GUN | Zone 5 General any-deer + mandatory antlerless combo, gun pool… | 0% | 1 |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.
Draw results: Iowa DNR 2026 Nonresident Deer Draw, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $644 ($644 to apply). Open May 1 – Jun 6, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Deer |
|---|---|
| 2024 (summed) | 7,207 |
What Iowa Department of Natural Resources publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Iowa Department of Natural Resources publishes these by county rather than by zone; the figures are summed from the 4 counties in this zone. Hunter counts not published for 2024. Source: Iowa DNR 2024-2025 White-tailed Deer Program Report.
The Ground
| Department of Defense | 33,890 ac | 3% |
| State land | 27,340 ac | 2% |
| County or city land | 4,999 ac | <1% |
| Other public | 39 ac | <1% |
| Private or other non-public land | 1,157,508 ac | 95% |
What the Agency Says About the Area
Counties: Lucas, Monroe, Wayne, Appanoose
▸ Sources 6
- Iowa DNR 2026 Nonresident Deer Draw draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- Iowa DNR 2026 Nonresident Deer Application… fees, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- Iowa DNR 2024-2025 White-tailed Deer Program Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- US Census Bureau 2024 TIGERweb State_County layer, counties boundary, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- Iowa DNR 2026 Boundaries/Public_Lands land ownership, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- Iowa DNR 2023 Nonresident Deer Hunting Zones map area description, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Iowa Department of Natural Resources' published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.
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We don't take applications: check Iowa Department of Natural Resources's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Iowa Department of Natural Resources' results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Iowa deer hunts