The DNR expert who runs the roadside pheasant survey says numbers are down, but he still sees a good season ahead.
Wildlife biologist Todd Bogenschutz says the overall number of birds dropped 17% from last year. “But in many of the regions the the stats said there really wasn’t any change, ” he says. He says the biggest drop was in northeast and southeast Iowa.
They saw an average of 23 birds on their survey routes, but that fell to 19 birds in northeast Iowa. “I expect hunters in that part of the state will probably notice the difference. You know, the differences in the rest of the state were, like I said, southeast was down too and east-central, seems like that eastern third of the state kind of struggled. And those are where we saw kind of the bigger declines,” Bogenschutz says.
He says the other areas should offset the drop in bird numbers in down counties. “Many of the areas that were good last year still have pretty reasonable counts this year, pretty similar. So, I think the odds are we’re going to have a pretty reasonable fall,” he says. The bird survey last year averaged 27 birds a route, which Bogenschutz says was the highest count in 20 years, so the drop down to 23 isn’t that much in the big picture.
Bogenschutz says the numbers will probably impact out-of-state hunters the most. “I think for our resident hunters, a lot of it’s just, what can I expect in my backyard this year? But I think even with our residents, especially those that live in our bigger cities, like Omaha or Des Moines or Davenport, and there’s no backyard to hunt, they may look at that a little bit too and, kind of drives maybe where they want to go and try it,” he says.
The 101st Iowa pheasant season gets underway in October.