River Otter Season Will Close November 17

According to river otter tagging records, the goal of harvesting 400 harvested river otters was reached on November 14. In order to allow trappers to check their traps and report for any otters taken after November 14, the Iowa DNR will allow any otters taken during the next 72 hours to be tagged legally. Therefore the season will officially close at 6 p.m., November 17. Any otters trapped after that must be turned into the Iowa DNR. Trappers who have obtained their seasonal quota of 2 otters are not allowed to legally take any additional otters during this grace period.

Ron Andrews, fur resource specialist with the DNR, encourages trappers do a little trap line management of their own to eliminate or reduce their potential capture of river otters. "The obvious thing to do is to move to areas where there is very little river otter sign present. If you are trapping for raccoon, adjust the set so that they are not exactly on the common trails that many furbearers travel. Use lure that might be more attractive to raccoons and less attractive to otters. If you catch a live otter you can carefully remove the otter from the trap and release it," Andrews said.

A 4-foot by 4-foot notched plywood board can protect the trapper from being injured by the otter. A diagram of this board can be found on the iowadnr.com website. Beaver trappers using body clasping Conibear type traps can reduce the take of otters by sliding the trigger mechanism off the side of the trap.

"It is important that trappers realize that they are the key to future river otter harvest seasons in Iowa," Andrews said. "Trapper cooperation is critical when it comes to carcass collections of legally harvested otters. If they do not step up to the plate, and make every effort to cooperate, the future of river otter trapping in Iowa could be in jeopardy." Data collected from these animals is critical to securing permission from the Fish and Wildlife Service for future seasons. Data collected from incidentally harvested otters now that the season has closed is equally important.

This is Iowa's first ever regulated river otter harvest season. Andrews encourages trappers to work closely with the Iowa DNR to help sustain river otter populations and maintain future river otter harvesting opportunities in the state.

For questions or more information call Ron Andrews at 641-425-5088.

More Information: River Otter Harvest Quota