Hunters can expect uptick in Iowa’s pheasant numbers

With Iowa's pheasant hatch peaking, upland hunters can expect another uptick in Iowa's pheasant numbers, according to Todd Bogenschutz, the Department of Natural Resources' upland game biologist.

If that prediction materializes, 2016 will be the fifth year in a row the state's pheasant harvest topped the previous year's total.

Last year's estimated harvest of 270,000 roosters, the highest harvest since 2009. represents a 24 percent increase over the 215,816 roosters harvested in 2014.

Quail hunters, with an estimated 2015 harvest of 28,400 birds - a 165 percent increase over 2014 - enjoyed their best hunting since 2007.

'We expected to see more pheasants and quail harvested based on the August roadside survey and our current trend of mild winters,” Bogenschutz said.

To estimate winter survival and nesting success, Bogenschutz uses a population model that considers total winter snowfall, as well as spring rainfall and temperature data, plus the annual August roadside survey of pheasants, quail, cottontail, jack rabbit and partridge actually counted along more than 200 30-mile routes.

'We know, given certain snowfall and rainfall amounts, with a degree of certainty, how the upland populations are likely to react, based on 50 years of data,” he said.

Given the mild winter and below normal rainfall, potential for upland birds looks good for the fall right now for the east-central, southeast and south-central regions, he said.

Reports of pheasant broods in early May in those regions, he said, suggest a good nesting season.

The potential is less favorable in Iowa's western third, where more rain and snow prevailed.

'Overall, our weather model is predicting a stable to increasing pheasant population statewide for the fall 2016 hunting season,” he said.

The August roadside survey - the results of which are typically released around Sept. 15 - will provide the best indication of the pheasant population, according to Bogenschutz.

'But I like the direction the model is pointing,” he said.