The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is expecting tens of thousands of hunters with the opening of pheasant season on Saturday, Oct. 31. Wildlife biologist, Todd Bogenschutz, says the latest roadside survey is showing pheasant populations are on par or up for many areas, with six of the nine survey regions averaging more than 20 pheasants per route. This is the most since 2007. “Given how things are lining up for the opener, the weather is the only thing that could throw a wrench into it,” Bogenschutz says. The advanced harvest and uptick in the bird numbers is creating interest from pheasant hunters outside of Iowa, with many people calling and asking about counts. “If hunter numbers continue their upward trend, we could see the harvest be closer to 2008’s, when we had about 86,000 pheasant hunters harvest 400,000 roosters,” Bogenschutz says. In 2008, there were a reported 17 birds per route, so this year is up by three birds on average. Bogenschutz says hunters in this area of west central and southwestern Iowa should be scouting CRP fields as the drought conditions may have impacted other habitats. Pheasant season is from Oct. 31 through Jan 10, 2021 with shooting hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is a daily bag limit of three roosters with a possession limit of 12. Hunters must have a valid hunting license and habitat fee and are required to wear at least one article of outer clothing with a minimum of 50 percent of the surface blaze orange.
