Southern Iowa quail and Pheasants.

[Roy B]

My son his fiance and myself went south last weekend and found several coveys of quail and a few roosters and seen a bunch of hen pheasants also. We ended up with 10 quail and 3 roosters and had a great time. Allie "the lab" and Sissy "the lab/coon dog mix" did great. And the best part of the day is that I got to watch my future daughter in law shoot her very first Upland bird a quail!

 

[Munster927]

I never knew Iowa was so loaded with quail. Was that public land?

 

[Roy B]

I never knew Iowa was so loaded with quail. Was that public land?

A little private but mostly public. They are primarily in southern Iowa and a few up north.

 

[Munster927]

Nice, I might have to give Iowa a try sometime. It's one state I've never hunted before. Generally speaking, what part of Iowa have you had success finding quail and pheasants? Not looking for any honey hole places by any means, just a general idea or jumping off point to start some research. Judging by the quail distribution maps, I'm guessing generally the SW part of the state?

 

[Roy B]

We go to the southern central and Southwest part of the state but I think there are also quail in northwest Iowa as well.

 

[remy3424]

OK, so now Iowa is a "quail hunting" destination! I did see some quail this year, more that I have seen to in the last 20 years combined. Try the southern tier of counties (and western) for a chance to see a couple. Seems like a big haul of quail for the state. I do hope they are making a come-back...as does every other state it would seem. I haven't seen 10 quail north of Hwy 20 in the 20 years, I sure wouldn't try to NW IA for them, I would stay south of I-80 for much of a population if I want to hunt for them. Look at the Iowa road side survey for quail populations.