Iowa Pheasant News
(PF)
2010 Iowa Pheasant Hunting Forecast
Sep. 13, 2010Forecast: No state is in need of some good pheasant news as much as Iowa, but it won't be this year. Coming off a record low year of just 74,017 hunters bagging 271,136 roosters, Iowa's statewide August roadside survey count showed a decrease of 30 percent from last year. Iowa hasn't been able to escape moisture, with the period from December of last year through this February as the snowiest period in state history, only to be followed up by a June through August stretch that was likely the wettest in state history. Mix in the previous years that haven't been good for pheasant production, and CRP acreage losses, and it's easy to see why Iowa pheasants have dropped to such historically low levels. Pheasant hunters not deterred by this news will find the highest concentration of roosters in northwest Iowa, where the roadside survey averaged 30 birds per route compared to 11 across the rest of the state. North central Iowa checks in as the next best option. As for the remainder of the state, pockets of good bird numbers may still be found in regions with exceptional habitat, according to Todd Bogenschutz, upland game Biologist/Farmbill coordinator with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Season Dates: October 30 through January 10, 2011 Daily Bag Limit: 3 Possession Limit: 12 Field Notes:Pheasants Forever has placed five Farm Bill Biologists in Iowa as part of its "Reload Iowa" campaign, a three-year statewide effort to improve 1 million acres of wildlife habitat on private and public land in the state. Pheasants Forever plans to establish more such positions across Iowa in the coming years.
That raspy cackle of another flushing rooster is music to the ears of a pheasant hunter. It also plays well on Main Street in small towns across Iowa.
Still Plenty of Pheasants For Hunters Willing to Change Their Ways - Nov. 21, 2006
As far as pheasant cover goes, the place doesn't look like much. Just a narrow line of mashed down barbed wire, rusty fence posts, and a three-foot-wide strip of grassy vegetation interspersed here and there by patches of giant ragweed. Most of the line has been removed for crops. Less than a hundred yards of the old fence still remains.
Pheasant Numbers Better Than Predicted in Parts of Iowa - Oct. 31, 2006
Pheasant hunters in central, north central and northwest Iowa had better than predicted success over the opening weekend of pheasant season which prompted the Iowa DNR to raise population estimates for those regions.
Boone Man Injured While Pheasant Hunting - Oct. 28, 2006
Robert Snow, 22, of Boone, received minor injuries on Saturday when he was hit by shot from another hunter while pheasant hunting in Pocahontas County.
Manure Release Reaches Black Hawk Co Wildlife Area - Sep. 28, 2006
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the DNR investigated a complaint that manure had reached the Black Hawk County Cedar Island Wildlife Area about two miles east of La Porte City.
Iowa Pheasant Numbers Down; Good Hunting Still Available - Sep. 05, 2006
The Iowa pheasant population declined 22 percent over the past year, despite having a nearly average winter and spring nesting weather conditions. The lower pheasant count was discovered during the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) annual August roadside survey.
