Party hunting pheasants in Iowa?

Well they have been eliminated here and and others are stuggling to find them it sounds....ya, more due to habitat and climate, but if you think shooting the reproducing females helps them, (if it doesn't help, it is hurting) I would disagree. The way it is going we just might have them extinct in the next few decades between all we are doing. From what I read here, it seems they need help in most areas.
 
I have never quail hunted or seen one in person (other than in Arizona on the golf course which were Gambels Quail). Can one tell the difference between a hen and a rooster quail when they flush or is that impossible? I hunt ruffed grouse once a season in northern MN and you can't tell the difference when they flush but you can after you've shot one.
 
gimruis said:
I have never quail hunted or seen one in person (other than in Arizona on the golf course which were Gambels Quail). Can one tell the difference between a hen and a rooster quail when they flush or is that impossible? I hunt ruffed grouse once a season in northern MN and you can't tell the difference when they flush but you can after you've shot one.
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I can tell the difference.
 
Yes, there are people that can distinguish a Bob from a hen. Usually, these are the guys that are really good shots and can take some time sorting before pulling the trigger. I used to hunt with a guy that shot Bobs probably 80% of the time. He didn't shoot fast but he shot very accurately.

In my case on quail, I think I unconsciously tend to sort for what my brain sees as the highest percentage shot and swing on that one.
 
remy3424 said:
....ya, more due to habitat and climate, but if you think shooting the reproducing females helps them, (if it doesn't help, it is hurting) I would disagree.
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Then help me understand. Since the very beginning of quail hunting in the United States, it has been legal to take hens or Bobs indiscriminately. Over all those generations of quail hunting in all of the states that had quail, there have been great seasons, good seasons, average seasons, seasons and poor seasons.

What has made the difference between the great vs good vs average vs poor seasons?

Because it SURELY wasn't the taking or not taking of hens.

Bobwhite Quail (Colinus virginianus) – Northern Quail Life History and Biology

The complicated story of the once plentiful Northern Bobwhite Quail (Colinus virginianus) and it's decline on the American landscape.
projectupland.com projectupland.com

"The current bobwhite population has been in a steady decline for decades, but there is still a large population across the United States. The primary threat to the species—and the likely reason for their decline—is habitat loss (NatureServe 2018). We’ve lost the vast majority of our historic prairies. They’ve either been converted to agricultural crop fields or business and housing developments."

I would suggest the same is true for the decline in the pheasant population.



"WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF HUNTING ON HENS?​

Few states currently allow legal shooting of wild hen pheasants and there is little definitive data on how hen hunting affects reproduction. Some biologists have speculated that if more than 25-35 percent of hens were harvested, reproduction would decrease. The record is ambiguous- controlled hen seasons in Montana, Idaho, California, Iowa and Nebraska apparently did not limit reproduction, but data from Wisconsin, South Dakota and Minnesota indicate the opposite. Due to the ambiguity and past traditions, we don't hunt hens today."

Now I am NOT advocating for making pheasant hens legal quarry. I'm fine with just shooting cockbirds.

However, I really doubt shooting hens would make much difference in the overall population.

Why? Because, just like with quail, it's NOT the lack of hens that is causing the decline. It's Habitat, Weather, Crop Prices, Land Prices....you get the drift. There's plenty enough pheasant and quail hens to have great seasons. We lack other things.
 
If they get up within easy gun range (0-15 yards) and do not go straight away I can usually tell, that being said when a covey gets up, I rarely notice I'm too busy missing! That's why I shoot a double. Missing twice is embarrassing enough!
 
Shoot all the hens you want on your property, but I am still going to be POed if I see anyone even "accidentially" shoot a hen on our property or anywhere I have permission to hunt. I would be fine way not to get invited back.
 
birddude said:
If they get up within easy gun range (0-15 yards) and do not go straight away I can usually tell, that being said when a covey gets up, I rarely notice I'm too busy missing! That's why I shoot a double. Missing twice is embarrassing enough!
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About 40 years ago, a wise old hunter told me to not shoot on the covey rise. Before that I would shoot and drop 2 or 3 on the covey rise. His advice made since. Who knows how many others catch a stray pellet with 8 shot and improved cylinder. I just watch where the singles land then hunt them. That is when you get the best dog work anyway. I always limit myself to 2 birds from a covey. Shoot 2 and move on. Of course back then you might move 12-15 coveys a day.
 
remy3424 said:
Shoot all the hens you want on your property, but I am still going to be POed if I see anyone even "accidentially" shoot a hen on our property or anywhere I have permission to hunt. I would be fine way not to get invited back.
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I don't shoot hens.

Again, you totally miss the point.

My point is it almost certainly wouldn't make a bit of difference if all pheasant states allowed shooting hens BECAUSE A LACK OF HENS IS NOT THE REASON FOR THE DECLINE IN PHEASANTS.

I haven't seen you post anything but "feels" to counter that statement.
 
Chestle said:
The record is ambiguous- controlled hen seasons in Montana, Idaho, California, Iowa and Nebraska apparently did not limit reproduction, but data from Wisconsin, South Dakota and Minnesota indicate the opposite.
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You quoted this as part of your study of this subject, so your conclusion is the same as the studies in Montana, ID, CA, IA & NE and I am agreeing with the studies of WI, SD & MN....let's call it a tie at this point and move on.
 
Call it whatever you like. It’s not a contest, it’s a discussion.

Quail and pheasant coexist in the same habitats where the winters are mild enough.

For generations, shooting quail hens didn’t eliminate the species.

I see no reason why it wouldn’t be exactly the same for pheasant.

Lack of habitat is the reason for the declines.
 
The thing that is just not coming back is the habitat, the world has changed, farming practices have brought on most of this change, the way things were for the last 100 years has little to do with the next 100. Keep doing the same, not adpting to the changes and don't expect the decline in numbers to change. Might need to bring in some new ideas, but who like change? I do have a hard time believing if the numbers aren't where we want them, eliminating a good perecentage of the females could be benefitical to the goal of increasing populations, habitat or no habitat. That is the last I have to add to this.
 
Well sure.

Because we have significantly eliminated a good percentage of the female quail population every single year for well over a hundred years.

Despite that incontrovertible fact, quail were never eliminated as a species.

To the contrary, quail had great/good/average/below average/terrible years of population. Pretty much right along with pheasant populations in the same places and at the same times.

Gee, kinda makes you think there’s other much more important factors at work besides hens being legal or not.
 
I don't even know why we are talking about hen quail. You just need enough left in the covey to make it through the winter. Give them habitat and average rainfall without flooding, and they will produce like an alley cat. Unfortunately, habitat is disappearing and mother nature can be a B#$%^!!!!!!!!
 
Yes but times are different now. Quail are better nesters than pheasants and they produce a little later in the spring and early summer. We get that warm weather in March and April and then bang, a hard freeze the end of April and first of May and there goes the nest. And then by mid May they are starting to swath the grass. Life is tough for a pheasant.
 
Pheasants are the only upland specie that we have to distinguish between male and female when hunting. All the other upland species do just fine, even though we're shooting hens. Hunting has little to no effect on population.
 
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