The heavy snows this winter and continued rain this spring not only took a toll on the state pheasant population, but D.N.R. wildlife biologist, Todd Bogenschutz, says it hit a lot of other animals too.He says the quail and cotton tail numbers hit the lowest levels they’ve recorded and partridge numbers were down too along with pheasants.
Bogenschutz says Iowa wildlife was not alone in the losses due to the heavy snow. Bogenschutz says not all the states got the rainfall we got, but a lot of states got hit by the winter. “Certainly we lost a lot of critters to that winter, it came so early in December and lasted so long, it definitely took a toll on our breeding stock,” Bogenschutz says.
Bogenschutz says lower animal numbers do impact the number of people who go out to hunt. Bogenschutz says when the numbers are lower, people might want to go to the Iowa State or Iowa football game on a Saturday. But when numbers are up, they might try to get in a hunt before the game.
You can find out more about the wildlife surveys on the D.N.R.’s webpage at: www.iowadnr.gov.