What happened to the birds?

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duckn66

Well-known member
I think I can remember back in the 70's and 80's, didn't Iowa used to have some outstanding pheasant hunting? If I remember correctly people used to mention Iowa along with KS and SD as a top destination. I know our populations in KS aren't near what they were in the hay days. Changes in farming practices I suppose contributed to the decline. When did Iowa really start to decline in populations? Have you guys had any outstanding years as of recent?

Just curious as I read through some of your posts over here. I have a guy I get an occasional lab from in Iowa and he tells me he remembers the days of pheasants everywhere in Iowa.
 
Loss of habitat and some rather harsh winters the last few years. When I was a kid in NW Iowa there were more birds shot in Iowa than in South Dakota. It will never be like that again. :( Hopefully I will be able to find a few this year.
 
duckn66 said:
I think I can remember back in the 70's and 80's, didn't Iowa used to have some outstanding pheasant hunting? If I remember correctly people used to mention Iowa along with KS and SD as a top destination. I know our populations in KS aren't near what they were in the hay days. Changes in farming practices I suppose contributed to the decline. When did Iowa really start to decline in populations? Have you guys had any outstanding years as of recent?

Just curious as I read through some of your posts over here. I have a guy I get an occasional lab from in Iowa and he tells me he remembers the days of pheasants everywhere in Iowa.
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That question in some circles might be grounds for a fight! People are riled up about the situation.
 
Quit hunting there a few years ago. Last decent year was around 2004 or so. Terrible winters, bad nesting conditions, lack of predator control and loss of habitat all have contributed to the decline. Go to the IDNR website and click on the roadside count report for 2012 as there is a very good report showing what has taken place over the years. Wish it would turn around as it has been on a long term downward trend.
 
oldandnew said:
That question in some circles might be grounds for a fight! People are riled up about the situation.
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it started downhill about 10 years ago and hasn't stopped......habitat has been destroyed in the name of row crops.....i can't see ever wasting money on a NR license since the price was raised and the cover quality has diminished......their DNR is clueless and their lawmakers want to deal with this disaster by stocking pen raised birds....sad. :(
 
Thats too bad. I hope that someway, somehow it can be turned around. I guess the state doesn't realize how much money they are missing out on every pheasant season, from both in state license sale and out of state. And thats just the tip of the iceburg. No way to tell how much $ businesses are missing out on.

I just hope that KS doesn't go the same way. I would like to think that our law maker realize the deep traditions of KS pheasant hunting and how important it is to the economy.
 
The good thing about Kansas is the wheat. Pheasants lay their eggs in the wheat. Kansas milo gets them through the winter. Iowa's land is too good for wheat and milo, at least in southern Iowa.
 
Crossing shot said:
The good thing about Kansas is the wheat. Pheasants lay their eggs in the wheat. Kansas milo gets them through the winter. Iowa's land is too good for wheat and milo, at least in southern Iowa.
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true, so much of Iowa is corn and soybeans......a lot more ground in Kansas is just so much more marginal, not even fit for wheat, let alone corn, milo or beans, so the original participation rate in CRP was much greater, in the beginning...anything left (decent farm ground) that can support row crops will be coming out soon in Kansas, but i would think the really trash ground may continue as CRP or hay ground.
 
hunter94 said:
true, so much of Iowa is corn and soybeans......a lot more ground in Kansas is just so much more marginal, not even fit for wheat, let alone corn, milo or beans, so the original participation rate in CRP was much greater, in the beginning...anything left (decent farm ground) that can support row crops will be coming out soon in Kansas, but i would think the really trash ground may continue as CRP or hay ground.
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Alfalfa used to make up the difference for nesting cover, now it's all mowed down earlier every year, hens and chicks too. Truth is alfala is not a "high yield" crop. It also seems that small grains are vacant in Iowa, used to be oats, were available for stubble in the winter. After the last summer, we may see some more activity in alfalfa, small grain production. Sure could'nt hurt. Most pheasant I has ever seen in my life, 1974, NE of Creston, Iowa, that was a minute before shooting time, as usual, they were disappeared, and were hard to route up!
 
KS has a 100 yr drought going on that has hurt breeding aged pheasants in that state.... IA had a combo of harsh winters & extreme lose of habitat due to row crop prices going up up up...

i am going hunting in MN just across the IA border for the MN pheasant opener & will be staying in IA then hunting MN & if i seen birds in IA like my buddy says are there then i will be buying a IA pheasant license & joining him in IA a few wks later he is seeing pheasants & huns around northern IA so there not all gone
 
i also seen plenty of roosters in KS this spring turkey hunting enough that i want to go back this fall & chase them same roosters they were not all dead & gone either there is still good numbers of pheasant in pockets of KS
 
And here in KS instead of harsh winter weather we have had harsh spring/summer weather conditions in the form of drought and extreme heat. Just as hard, if not harder on birds than a harsh winter. We will lose CRP to row crops as well in the coming years. In my opinion KS could go the way of Iowa very easily. I know it's tough to see or think that but mightier things have fallen.

Once upon a time Iowa was a top destination for pheasant hunting. Nowadays it isn't even in the picture or mentioned except when brought in a converstation about the good ole days.
 
pheasants forever had 2 iowa towns in its top 25 pheasant hunting destinations
this year??? id say it could of done with out them in the top 25 top spots but ??? somebody thought it was a good idea??? maybe there trying to boost tourism to north western IA???

MN had 3 towns in the top 25 & could of had 1 more for sure but??? not many people travel to IA or MN to hunt pheasants
 
Had the dogs out this morning and saw birds in each of the 3 draws that we walked. This is a lot more encouraging than last year when in two of those 3 draws I never saw any birds all year long.
 
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small munsterlander owner said:
pheasants forever had 2 iowa towns in its top 25 pheasant hunting destinations
this year??? id say it could of done with out them in the top 25 top spots but ??? somebody thought it was a good idea??? maybe there trying to boost tourism to north western IA???

MN had 3 towns in the top 25 & could of had 1 more for sure but??? not many people travel to IA or MN to hunt pheasants
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BASS had several lakes in KS in the top 100 lakes in the nation for bass fishing as well. I place very little value in what a magazine says including PF.

One of the lakes I could very easily catch a 25lb 5 bass limit during the right conditions. Could anyone come from out of state and do this? Nope. It's my home lake and I know where just about every school of bass is on it. :)
 
you lost me duckn66??? i dont know what ur meaning by HOME LAKE? but im not that confident in my hunting ability to say that some other out of state hunters cant come to MN & out hunt me on my home state public lands? i may have the advantage but on any give n day things can change & so i am truly lost on ur comments???

i was just saying that there is still some pheasants in IA but they should not of had 2 towns in the top 25 there is 2-5 other MN towns that are much better pheasant wise but??? any way the magazine are a good read in the off season but you should not plan a hunt by there publishings...

i seen just last yr in outdoorlife them pumping a turkey hunting spot in MT that i know for a fact by talking to MT wildlife biologist has little to no turkeys left in it anymore but they said to go there this season for a great public land turkey hunt there info was about 5-7 yrs late??? so if thats what your talking about i understand duckn66
 
I mean just because a magazine puts a state in the top 25 it really doesn't mean alot. KS having lakes in the top 100 for bass fishing doesn't mean a lot. So you got the jest of what I was trying to say.
 
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i have to say again no i do not understand??? there are people i know that live in KS & they travel each season once or twice all the way up here to MN to fish mille lacs lake for walleye i mean they could do that in KS but they come here to MN to sample our walleye fishing??? like many many others from across the country do??? & im sure there were more then a couple out of state fishermen that hit them top KS bass fishing hot spots just to get onto to hot fishing in a out of the way state wear they didnt have to fight others to catch a big bass?

i also see each & every season how the state of NEBRASKA & & KANSAS is featured in magazines as being a tip turkey hunting states & they then go on to put exact WMAs & citys on blast that do have top notch turkey hunting some of the best in the US & then them towns get flocked to by out of state hunters in droves ive been part of it so i know it dose happen & there are a few magazines & wildlife writers out there that do try to help others by sttering them to good hunt/fish areas in the US & they do more harm then good most the times but what can you do...???
 
I'm headed for Iowa this year for the second time. My buddies inlaws is where we'll be hunting. He does some habitat management on each of his farms. Last time there, we had decent hunting on day 1. Day 2 hunting much of the same ground was not so good. This year we should have more land to hunt on Day 2.

It's all a matter of prospective, too. As a kid growing up in SE WI in the 60's-70's we thought we had a great hunt if we came home with a rooster. Shoot 10-12 roosters for 4 guys over a weekend doesn't seem like a bad hunt at all, until you've been to SD and shot daily limits after a couple hours in the field.

I've got relation in NC and NW IA, and know the hunting used to be better. I can see people getting spoiled in some places like SD, but the weekend hunt in Iowa this year will be enjoyed all the same.
 
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