The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says 2023’s pheasant season was the state’s best in nearly 20 years. Iowa pheasant hunters bagged over 590,000 roosters, the highest tally since 2007. A robust pheasant population and a 32-percent increase in hunters drove the impressive 62-percent harvest increase. “We’ve had a pheasant population capable of supporting a harvest around 600,000 birds for a few years, but we couldn’t hit that mark until our hunter numbers bounced back to mid-2000s levels. Last year they did, and our harvest reflected that,” said Todd Bogenschutz, DNR upland wildlife research biologist. More than 83,600 hunters pursued pheasants in Iowa last fall, up from 63,500 in 2022, placing Iowa second only to South Dakota in pheasant harvest. Despite a slight decline in the pheasant population due to spring flooding, Iowa hunters can still expect good bird numbers across much of the state’s northern half this fall. The annual roadside pheasant survey concluded on Aug. 15, and survey results are expected to be available by early September.
