Lake Darling State Park in southern Washington County will be closed to the general public this Saturday and Sunday.

Park Manager Nick Young says the park will be hosting about 50 registered hunters to reduce the overpopulation of deer in the park through a controlled deer hunt, “In the last couple of years, we’ve had a healthy population. Motorists have found that out a couple of times.  So it’s a good thing to manage the herd. It also prevents chronic wasting disease from being widespread.” 

Young says up to 100 deer could be removed from the park this weekend, with last year’s hunt taking out about 30 deer.  He says hunters have the option of keeping the deer they shoot or that can donate them to the HUSH (Help Us Stop Hunger) program; a collaborative effort among deer hunters, Iowa’s food banks, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.