2021 Pheasant hunting forecast presented by Sportsman's Guide

Pheasant Hunting Forecast is presented by sportsman's Guide
IOWA—HOLDING STEADY
Forecast: Iowa pheasant hunters can expect a season similar to last year’s. The August roadside survey of more than 200 30-mile-long routes produced a statewide index of 20.7 birds per route—statistically unchanged from 23.9 last year. The index is 37 percent above the 10-year average, which has been depressed by several consecutive bad winters in years past.
 
“We’re thinking hunters did pretty well last fall. We got a lot of positive reports. We feel hunters are going to have pretty good success this fall, too,” says Todd Bogenschutz, upland game biologist and farm bill coordinator with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
 
Heavy snows and spring rain hurt bird numbers slightly in the northwest, but the area still remains the best pheasant-producing region in the state. “Our best numbers came from that band that runs northwest over to southeast—20 to 30 birds a route through that band. Our lower numbers are in southwest, south-central,” says Bogenschutz.
 
The roadside surveys show that other upland game species have held up, too. Quail did exceptionally well. Says Bogenschutz, “The statewide quail numbers are the best we’ve had in 27 years, since 1989.”
 
Pheasant numbers are much higher than they were a few years ago, during a string of bad winters. From a harvest of just 100,000 roosters in 2007, Iowa hunters shot about 270,000 roosters last year. Unfortunately, some left the sport during the poor years. “If we got hunter numbers back, I think we could shoot 300,000 or 400,000 roosters,” says Bogenschutz.
 
Field Notes: Iowa lost CRP acres when commodity prices were high a few years ago. Low prices have rekindled interest, but a cap on acreage has prevented farmers from enrolling more acres. Says Bogenshutz, “With low prices we probably have more interest in CRP than we’ve ever had, but with the program capped we really can’t enroll anybody. In the next farm bill in 2018 there’s already talk that they need to bump the cap back up.”
 
Season Dates: October 29, 2016 through January 10, 2017
 
Daily Bag Limit: 3
 
Possession Limit: 12
 
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