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I think your spot on. If we shot even 20% of the hens each year I think it would have a HUGE negative impact on bird numbers. Almost without question.

Bumping this.. anybody had success doing this? Would like cattails in our retention bonds and boggy areas, however they aren't *always* wet during summers like we recently had with the drought. Is it possible?

Was curious if anyone has used Japanse millet or "duck millet" for pheasant food plots? From my limited knowledge and research, it appears that this thrives in more wet soils than the standard grain sorghum we generally use? Our property is about 50% tillable / 50% flood plain ground. The...

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but was curious if there was any research out there on the impacts of mowing trails/firebreaks on pheasants? On our property, we mow around the edges of our crp, between the crp and food plots, and there are a few trails running through the CRP...

Personally, there are a lot of things I fear a heck of a lot more than coyotes for my dogs sake. Fence posts, traps, thin ice, cars, etc. I wouldn’t let coyotes keep me from hunting anything. My experience is that they’ve never shown an ounce of aggression towards my dogs.

I don’t have any data to back this up, but you could probably argue that hunting pressure alone in harsh conditions (even if no roosters are harvested) Probablt is more detrimental than killing roosters. Hens get pushed into marginal cover where they are more prone to weather and predation...

I think the key distinction that CDUBS pointed out between every other example is that the pheasant harvest is limited to *MALES* only. Excluding poaching (shooting birds out of the ditch with rifles, hunting out of season, etc.), I don't think even the most pressured hunting areas in the...

*Spring*

Personally I don’t think it would have any meaningful impact on pheasant numbers. Pheasants are different than other animals mentioned. You can only shoot roosters, and they are easily distinguished in hunting situations. When only roosters can be harvested (everywhere with wild birds), hunting...

Significantly more pressure this year than I have ever seen before. Weather hasn’t been awfully cooperative either for public hunting. With that being said, if you’re willing to put on the miles, you should be able to find some birds.

I would assume to give everyone a more fair shake at the birds out there, particularly on public. For example, I was out in the snow last Friday and could have easily shot 10+ roosters on a piece of public ground that gets a ton of pressure. Situations like that happen rarely, but it certainly...

As far as bird populations are concerned, I have seen absolutely no correlation between hunting and bird numbers. For example, some of the best fields I hunt, we hunt with a few people, multiple times a year. We shoot several roosters each time, and each year, those spots are still the best. The...

Nothing at all against your style on public ground. I've hunted with large groups, however I generally save my good private land for those days. It seems like I am exponentially more effective hunting public land by myself. It's just too hard (in my opinion) to keep that many guys/vehicles/dogs...

Violating possession limits? I just checked and currently have 5 pheasant breasts in my freezer. Unless something recently changed, the possession limit in Iowa is still 12? Please elaborate on all of these violations I've so clearly committed???

Agreed. It is certainly not a competition with anyone. I know there are ALOT of guys on here who are much better pheasant hunters than I, probably with better dogs, better shooting, etc. Many of those same guys will likely only shoot a handful of birds this year, either due to health, work...

When did I ever say I considered myself a “legend” or anything remotely close to that? Help me understand why you find it necessary to be so contentious Do you have a problem with people answering questions on this forum? With people shooting a lot of birds?

Just about a month into the Iowa season and have 133 wild roosters shot over my dogs. 72 of those are birds that I shot individually, the rest are buddies/relatives that tag along on the weekends. I have surpassed 100 roosters myself the last 2 seasons. It is very difficult yes, but very doable...

What's everyone doing for kennel covers (if at all) for the kennels that are enclosed in a topper in the back of your pickup? I am debating on whether or not I need worry about a cover for my golden retrievers since the topper will effectively keep them out of the wind. At most, they would spend...

This may be a really stupid question, but I was wondering if public lands in Iowa (not IHAP) but actual state/county owned and managed wildlife areas, prairies, wetlands, etc. we’re guaranteed to stay that way forever? Meaning, is it written into law, contract, or something, that once a public...

Pressure was crazy the first couple of weeks, there were Wednesday afternoon's where parking lots were full like it was opening weekend the first couple of weeks. Since then, it has slowed quite a bit. Seems many give up on public once the dumb of the year have been shot and killed. If you're...