blake
Life Member
From the Iowa DNR website:
Pheasant Opener Prospects are Good
Iowa pheasant hunters should see more of what they came for, as they step into the field this fall. More pheasants.
A strong rebound in August roadside counts of Iowa’s most popular game bird has buoyed expectations, heading toward the October 25 opener.
“It’s not the ‘good old days,’ but hunters will see noticeable improvement,” says DNR pheasant biologist Todd Bogenschutz. “We have the best pheasant numbers since 2008. People are telling me that more birds are flushing; that they are hearing more crowing and cackling out there.”
Counts this summer averaged 17.4 pheasants per 30 mile survey route, up 151 percent from last year’s 6.9…an all-time low. Of the nine regions monitored, eight had increases ranging from 102-290 percent. Only northeast Iowa showed no change.
Bogenschutz says drought conditions across the past two summers probably kept pheasants in the fields on August mornings, rather than pushing up to road edges, to escape heavy dew. That may have kept many from being tallied on the 200 gravel road routes surveyed. Hunters harvested 10,000 more pheasants in 2013, despite the record low counts.
So, where do you find them, on a fall morning?
“The best habitat will hold birds; good winter cover, good nesting cover, too. Hunters should be happy hunting those areas, over just decent nesting cover,” predicts Bogenschutz. “Hunt around the best habitat, and you will be pleasantly surprised. Talk to the farmers where you will be hunting. Ask what they have seen while harvesting the crops.”
With a better bird outlook, the numbers of hunters should climb, too. Last year, only 41,000 pheasant hunters were in the fields.
“If word gets out of the early season success expected, we could see 60,000 hunters this fall,” predicts Bogenschutz. “We could have a harvest of 200,000 to 300,000 birds.”
Early in the season, standing crops are going to be a factor.
“Harvest is running a little behind. The season is starting a couple days earlier, too,” reminds Bogenschutz. “That could be a challenge for hunters, until the corn is out. Our counts were up; hens with broods were way up. There will be a lot of young roosters, who aren’t wise to the ways of the wild, yet.”
Hunting hours for Iowa’s pheasant seasons are 8 a.m. until 4:30 each day. The daily limit is three rooster pheasants. The season closes on January 10.
Programs Available to Add More Pheasant Habitat
Improving the living conditions for Iowa pheasants is at the heart of the Pheasant SAFE habitat program that is designed to give pheasants a kitchen, bedroom and living room altogether in one spot to maximize pheasant survival and reproduction.
Iowa received 50,000 acres for the program that was divided between primary and secondary counties, based on pheasant counts from 2002-06. Around 27,500 areas remain in the primary pheasant counties, (see the SAFE link at www.iowadnr.gov/habitat).
“We would like to keep the momentum going and keep our pheasant numbers increasing and this program is one way to accomplish that,” said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist for the DNR. “But we can’t ask for more acres in the program until the initial allotment is gone.”
Pheasant SAFE is one tool to help boost the bird population. Bogenschutz said Iowa received $3 million through the USDA-NRCS Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentive Program to benefit the DNR’s Iowa Habitat Access Program (IHAP). IHAP plans to add more than 20,000 acres of improved habitat on private land and make those lands available to hunters in the coming years.
He said the Wildlife Bureau is also working with Pheasants Forever to improve pheasant/quail habitat on 40-50 wildlife management areas through the Enhance A Wildlife Area program.
Better Bird Numbers Could Attract Former Hunters
Iowa’s August Roadside Survey pheasant count was the highest since 2008 and that good news has people talking.
“These are our best bird counts in six years and people are telling me they’re seeing and hearing birds more than in recent years,” said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist for the Iowa DNR. “It’s not the good old days, but it’s the best we’ve had in a few years.”
Bogenschutz said he’s hoping the increase is enough to bring back hunters who dropped the sport when the population hit an all-time low in 2011.
In 2008, there were around 86,000 resident pheasant hunters. In 2013, that number had fallen to 41,000. Nonresident hunters had fallen from a peak in the 1990s of 60,000 to 5,700 in 2012, rebounding to 6,300 in 2013.
“Pheasants have some buzz right now, but is it enough buzz to bring some of the former hunters back? We’ll have to see,” he said.
Pheasant Opener Prospects are Good
Iowa pheasant hunters should see more of what they came for, as they step into the field this fall. More pheasants.
A strong rebound in August roadside counts of Iowa’s most popular game bird has buoyed expectations, heading toward the October 25 opener.
“It’s not the ‘good old days,’ but hunters will see noticeable improvement,” says DNR pheasant biologist Todd Bogenschutz. “We have the best pheasant numbers since 2008. People are telling me that more birds are flushing; that they are hearing more crowing and cackling out there.”
Counts this summer averaged 17.4 pheasants per 30 mile survey route, up 151 percent from last year’s 6.9…an all-time low. Of the nine regions monitored, eight had increases ranging from 102-290 percent. Only northeast Iowa showed no change.
Bogenschutz says drought conditions across the past two summers probably kept pheasants in the fields on August mornings, rather than pushing up to road edges, to escape heavy dew. That may have kept many from being tallied on the 200 gravel road routes surveyed. Hunters harvested 10,000 more pheasants in 2013, despite the record low counts.
So, where do you find them, on a fall morning?
“The best habitat will hold birds; good winter cover, good nesting cover, too. Hunters should be happy hunting those areas, over just decent nesting cover,” predicts Bogenschutz. “Hunt around the best habitat, and you will be pleasantly surprised. Talk to the farmers where you will be hunting. Ask what they have seen while harvesting the crops.”
With a better bird outlook, the numbers of hunters should climb, too. Last year, only 41,000 pheasant hunters were in the fields.
“If word gets out of the early season success expected, we could see 60,000 hunters this fall,” predicts Bogenschutz. “We could have a harvest of 200,000 to 300,000 birds.”
Early in the season, standing crops are going to be a factor.
“Harvest is running a little behind. The season is starting a couple days earlier, too,” reminds Bogenschutz. “That could be a challenge for hunters, until the corn is out. Our counts were up; hens with broods were way up. There will be a lot of young roosters, who aren’t wise to the ways of the wild, yet.”
Hunting hours for Iowa’s pheasant seasons are 8 a.m. until 4:30 each day. The daily limit is three rooster pheasants. The season closes on January 10.
Programs Available to Add More Pheasant Habitat
Improving the living conditions for Iowa pheasants is at the heart of the Pheasant SAFE habitat program that is designed to give pheasants a kitchen, bedroom and living room altogether in one spot to maximize pheasant survival and reproduction.
Iowa received 50,000 acres for the program that was divided between primary and secondary counties, based on pheasant counts from 2002-06. Around 27,500 areas remain in the primary pheasant counties, (see the SAFE link at www.iowadnr.gov/habitat).
“We would like to keep the momentum going and keep our pheasant numbers increasing and this program is one way to accomplish that,” said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist for the DNR. “But we can’t ask for more acres in the program until the initial allotment is gone.”
Pheasant SAFE is one tool to help boost the bird population. Bogenschutz said Iowa received $3 million through the USDA-NRCS Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentive Program to benefit the DNR’s Iowa Habitat Access Program (IHAP). IHAP plans to add more than 20,000 acres of improved habitat on private land and make those lands available to hunters in the coming years.
He said the Wildlife Bureau is also working with Pheasants Forever to improve pheasant/quail habitat on 40-50 wildlife management areas through the Enhance A Wildlife Area program.
Better Bird Numbers Could Attract Former Hunters
Iowa’s August Roadside Survey pheasant count was the highest since 2008 and that good news has people talking.
“These are our best bird counts in six years and people are telling me they’re seeing and hearing birds more than in recent years,” said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist for the Iowa DNR. “It’s not the good old days, but it’s the best we’ve had in a few years.”
Bogenschutz said he’s hoping the increase is enough to bring back hunters who dropped the sport when the population hit an all-time low in 2011.
In 2008, there were around 86,000 resident pheasant hunters. In 2013, that number had fallen to 41,000. Nonresident hunters had fallen from a peak in the 1990s of 60,000 to 5,700 in 2012, rebounding to 6,300 in 2013.
“Pheasants have some buzz right now, but is it enough buzz to bring some of the former hunters back? We’ll have to see,” he said.