Bob Peters
Well-known member
Iowa or Kansas?
What is the better pheasant hunting state
- Thread starter Bob Peters
- Start date
Right now? Probably Iowa. It’s been red hot up there, from what I’ve heard.
KSBrittman
Active member
I had the opportunity to visit with 4 Iowa bird hunters that were in a popular Kansas Pheasant and Quail Town and asked them why they left Iowa to hunt here . They mentioned they had private ground to hunt on and that they were primarily hunting for Quail which are not near as abundant in there home state .
I ask them to compare the pheasant hunting between the 2 states . One of the hunters mentioned that hunters likely could limit out without a dog . He had a nice brace of dogs and mentioned he had shot over 90 pheasants over his German shorthairs .
I asked what he thought the habitat difference was . He let me know about all the pollinator strips / continuous Crp / Monarch butterfly innative that had increased the pheasant habitat .
Based on Kansas loss of Crp Loss and Iowa adding buffers in there key pheasant areas I would guess they might just pass Kansas in pheasant harvest this year .
I believe the long Term average pheasant harvest has been around 600, 000 birds I am sure it is less than 1/2 of that now .
My personal experience is that where I hunt I have lost 90 percent of the CRP patches I normally hunted .
I am in hopes there is a trend back to the positive side , but with higher grain prices and loss of CRP ,
Things are going to be tough across the Kansas pheasant range for a while .
I ask them to compare the pheasant hunting between the 2 states . One of the hunters mentioned that hunters likely could limit out without a dog . He had a nice brace of dogs and mentioned he had shot over 90 pheasants over his German shorthairs .
I asked what he thought the habitat difference was . He let me know about all the pollinator strips / continuous Crp / Monarch butterfly innative that had increased the pheasant habitat .
Based on Kansas loss of Crp Loss and Iowa adding buffers in there key pheasant areas I would guess they might just pass Kansas in pheasant harvest this year .
I believe the long Term average pheasant harvest has been around 600, 000 birds I am sure it is less than 1/2 of that now .
My personal experience is that where I hunt I have lost 90 percent of the CRP patches I normally hunted .
I am in hopes there is a trend back to the positive side , but with higher grain prices and loss of CRP ,
Things are going to be tough across the Kansas pheasant range for a while .
BrownDogsCan2
Well-known member
Not ks. On exceptional private land it may be a little better because of more quail.
remy3424
Well-known member
If I left Iowa with a shotgun, it wouldn't be pheasants I was after. If we had more public ground the harvest numbers would be big here. If we get back to $3 corn and a good incentive program for CRP enrollment, our bird numbers would explode, but the harvest might not increase in near the same proportion due to it is still private land with limited hunting access. If they would add a financial incentive to also enroll the CRP in IHAP, then our harvest numbers would gain ground. Access to ground in Iowa is gold, just hope it never gets commericalized.
gimruis
Well-known member
Read this. It compares Iowa and South Dakota. I realize this thread is a comparison between Kansas and Iowa but there is still very useful information about Iowa in it. South Dakota claims to be the current king of ringneck hunting/harvest but its been stated that a large percentage of that are not wild birds.
www.keloland.com
Pheasant hunters choosing Iowa, DNR says
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Iowa and South Dakota were once running ringneck to ringneck in pheasant-hunting harvests in the late 1980s and 1990s.
www.keloland.com
Golden Hour
Well-known member
Read this. It compares Iowa and South Dakota. I realize this thread is a comparison between Kansas and Iowa but there is still very useful information about Iowa in it. South Dakota claims to be the current king of ringneck hunting/harvest but its been stated that a large percentage of that are not wild birds.
Pheasant hunters choosing Iowa, DNR says
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Iowa and South Dakota were once running ringneck to ringneck in pheasant-hunting harvests in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Large percentage of what? Released birds are counted separately.
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Lab Chaser
New member
Whichever one isn't getting talked about the most on this forum any given year. I'd argue that they have similar bird numbers but the birds are much more concentrated in IA due to lack of habitat. Very little range land and all of the crop fields are black within a couple weeks of harvest. No matter how many times you walk a place the birds are going to be back in there because they don't have any other options. KS has a lot of mediocre grassland habitat that doesn't do much good for raising birds but is good enough for roosting/loafing habitat. And millions of acres of un tilled crop ground. Over hunt a KS piece and they've got plenty of other places to go hide until things settle down. And don't forget moisture for scenting conditions. IA on a drought year still gets more rain than western KS on it's best year. Watching my new pup work in IA this year was night and day difference from KS. I've had hunt's in both states this year walking less than a mile for a limit and I've also had days I walk 6-8 miles for one or two.
gimruis
Well-known member
My apologies, you are correct. I indicated that inaccurately.