much better season

L

live to hunt pheasant

New member
it has been a good season, two of us got 6 on opening day, and have been out each sat, and sun since opener by myself, and have shot one each day...a fresh bird for us and my parents for dinner each weekend. been awful warm, for me and the dog. we are seeing a lot of roosters, and not very many hens.. anybody else seeing this as well?
 
Haven't been out a ton but I'm in the Southwest and seeing about 2:1 for hens and roosters actually. Either way, it's pretty slow down here still.
 
Made our annual trip west the first week of november and the birds were better but still very spotty. We hunted an area the county over from Carroll and another spot south of Carroll and while it was beautiful with lots of area and corn there were no birds holding there at all. Lots of ducks but no pheasant.

The areas that traditionally produce for us west and south of Storm Lake held lots of birds but they were pretty spotty as well.Lots in some and none in others.

Just wondering if anyone knows why Iowa DNR doesn't re;locate some birds back into the areas with none and close the season for a year or so to reestablish them faster than seems to be happening?
 
Hard to say for sure, but I think it's a matter of time, money, and effectiveness. Iowa has about 1.5% of it's land devoted to public area if I remember correctly. And farmers are expanding their properties which takes a toll on natural habitat. So they could relocate the birds, but there's no guarantee that they'll survive a winter, the downsized habitats, etc. I think it would be worth a shot in areas, but I also understand it's not the same as say, stocking fish. And while I would be okay with taking a season off, those who live where numbers are good may not be happy. It is interesting to note that the daily limit is 3 where it's 2 in Minnesota and Missouri at the moment. I don't really know how often it's considered though. I do know that I would love to see more birds in the area again.
 
Missouri used to change limits/dates. They finally realized if upland populations are low, most hunters just quit. It's been over 10 years since I shot a limit of quail.

When I was younger, I wiped out the quail population on a small piece of ground. It took years for the quail to come back. Now I managed my coveys. Usually take one out of a covey. You can hunt the same covey for years if you managed it correctly. The covey is always in the same place.

Not too many places to hunt anymore. End up hunting the same areas more than once. No hail mary shots. I will get that rooster the next time if the shot is marginal.
 
It seems, for the most part, that the birds in South Central Iowa got washed away this summer by the substantial rains we had. We are not seeing 20% of the birds we saw last year. Pretty sad.
 
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