Iowa Shed Antler Season 2027

Iowa DNR allows naturally shed deer antlers to be collected and kept in any month, with no license. Iowa Department of Natural Resources puts it this way: "SHEDS: Naturally shed deer antlers may be collected and possessed at any time of year without any licenses required."

Iowa Department of Natural Resources lists its Iowa shed rules without dated closures, so they hold year round. The weeks that matter most are the ones when antlers drop.

Antlers still attached to a found dead deer's head are not sheds: collecting them needs a valid hunting license and habitat fee unless exempt, an electronic deadhead report from Feb 1 to Jul 31, and a physical tag from a conservation officer from Aug 1 to Jan 31. Iowa Department of Natural Resources: "Feb. 1 - July 31: Collector must electronically complete a deadhead report & possession authorization after location and prior to collecting each deadhead:"

Iowa's ban on buying or selling protected animals and their parts does not apply to the antlers of legally taken game. Iowa Department of Natural Resources: "You cannot buy or sell, dead or alive, a bird or animal, including fish, or any part of one that is protected. This does not apply to furbearing animals and the skins, plumage and antlers of legally taken game."

Sheds may be collected on public lands including state parks; private land requires the landowner's permission. Iowa Department of Natural Resources: "Sheds and deadheads may be collected on public lands, including state parks. Permission must be granted from the landowner on private land (trespass law, p.15)."

Iowa DNR says whitetails shed over about two months, from mid January to mid March. The source: "Whitetail deer have about a two-month shedding period in Iowa, beginning mid-Jan. and ending mid-March."

Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The rules here were read from its own pages on September 21, 2026, and each one links to the page it came from. Rules change between winters, so the agency page is the one to check before a trip.