House File 552 - Enrolled
House File 552
AN ACT
RELATING TO REQUIREMENTS FOR USING A DOG TO TRACK A WOUNDED
DEER.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1 Section 1. Section 481A.56A, Code 2021, is amended to read
2 as follows:
3 481A.56A Retrieval of wounded deer by leashed dogs.
4 A person having a valid hunting license and a valid deer
5 hunting license who has wounded a deer while hunting may use
6 a dog to track and retrieve the wounded deer. A dog being
7 used for tracking a wounded deer and a person using a dog for
8 tracking a wounded deer shall both be trained in deer blood
9 tracking. An unarmed dog handler assisting in the recovery
10 of a wounded deer is exempt from the licensing requirements
11 as long as the handler is associated with the licensed hunter
12 who wounded the deer. Any person using a dog for tracking
13 wounded deer must maintain physical control of the dog at all
14 times during the search by means of a maximum fifty-foot lead
15 attached to the dog’s collar or harness. The person licensed
16 hunter who wounded the deer may dispatch the deer using a
17 legal method of take authorized by the person’s deer hunting
18 license consistent with all rules and regulations for that
19 season. A person shall not use that method of take to chase,
20 hunt, wound, or kill any animal other than the deer that the
21 hunter is tracking, except in self-defense. Using a dog to
22 track a wounded deer on private property is permissible at any
 House File 552, p. 2
23 hour with consent of the property owner. A person using a dog
24 to track a wounded deer outside of legal deer hunting hours
25 shall not be in possession of a firearm or archery device. The
26 commission shall may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
27 implement this section.
______________________________ ______________________________
PAT GRASSLEY JAKE CHAPMAN
Speaker of the House President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 552, Eighty-ninth General Assembly.
______________________________
MEGHAN NELSON
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2021 ______________________________
KIM REYNOLDS
Governor


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 481A.56A
Enrolled: 481A.56A