Pheasant recovery still possible, DNR says

Iowa's pheasant population, in free fall for the past five years, has not yet reached the point of no return, according to Department of Natural Resources upland game biologist Todd Bogenschutz.

“A recovery is still possible. All we'd need is two good winters and springs in a row,” said Bogenschutz.

To many, that seems like a lot to hope for, given that the last five years have been characterized by excessively snowy winters followed by wet nesting seasons.

That persistent pattern, coupled with the ongoing conversion of perennial vegetation to row crops, has driven Iowa's pheasant population to an all-time low, as measured by the annual August roadside survey, which found a statewide average of seven pheasants per 30-mile route.

Hunters, who opened the season Saturday, are expected to harvest a record low 150,000 to 200,000 roosters before the season ends Jan. 10 - a far cry from the million-plus harvests that have occurred in Iowa 33 times since 1962.

National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger, speaking in Iowa last week, urged the restoration of grassland habitat as the best means to save pheasants from the perils of climate change.

But given Congress' mandate to cut spending, funding for conservation is likely to be substantially reduced in the 2012 farm bill, leaders of Pheasants Forever said. And given continuing high commodity prices, most farmers would rather plant corn and soybeans than grass on marginal ground.

Steve Ries of Alburnett, who until two years ago hunted often in northern Linn County, said his only Iowa hunt this year would be on the opening weekend.

“I think Iowa will soon be like Illinois and Indiana, where there won't be a pheasant population attractive to hunters,” he said.

Another veteran pheasant hunter, John Houck of Cedar Rapids, said he too would confine his Iowa hunting to opening weekend this year.

“I almost hate to shoot one now,” he said.

“It's understandable that people think the good old days are gone forever, but pheasants can be very prolific when conditions are right,” said Tom Fuller, Eastern Iowa regional representative for Pheasants Forever, a self-described “glass is half full guy.”

As proof, Bogenschutz points to the two years of near perfect weather that followed the bitter winter of 2000-2001.

After a then-record low harvest of 470,000 birds in 2001, pheasant populations doubled in each of the two succeeding years, yielding Iowa's last million-plus harvest in 2003.

Pheasant lover Kent Bergstrand, 56, of Manchester, is proof that pheasants can still succeed if they have suitable habitat. Since he returned to his native Iowa from Texas in 2005, he has established 100 acres of grass on two farms near the Buchanan-Delaware county line. He also feeds pheasants at nine locations whenever snow covers the ground to a depth of 3 inches.

Each of his two 50-acre grass plots is home to more than 100 pheasants, Bergstrand estimates.