Iowa pheasants??!?

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jason_iowa

New member
Where the heck are they??? I just drove 3/4th of the way across the north 1/3rd of the state and did not see one pheasant. I saw tons of bald eagles, red tailed hawks, turkeys and turkey buzzards but no pheasants. Are others experiencing the same thing not just Iowans or just bad luck on my part??
 
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Pahoo

New member
Those were the days

Jason,
My heart goes out to you and share your diappoinment. I Hunt in the easter part of the state. One month ago, we were traveling to a gun show and actually saw one fly across the road. That use to be quite common but not any more.
I think they all packed up and moved to S.D. .... ;)

I can't hunt them or I should say; won't and wished the DNR, would close the season for about five years. You can still find them but you really have to know where. ... :mad:

Be Safe !!!
 
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jason_iowa

New member
Ya I live in buchanan county. 25 miles east of waterloo. I would not shoot a pheasant in that county I swear they are endangered. The DNR needs to get to work on that. Pheasants forever what have you done with all my money??

DNR seems more interested in timbre wolves and mountain lions then game birds. We have entirely to many fox, coyote and birds of prey and turkeys put a daily bag limit on them and give pheasants a rest.

A bounty on feral cats would help too they are out of control.
 
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LSnSC

New member
Just spent 10 days bowhunting in SW Iowa and didnt see a single pheasant. All the locals have given up hunting them.
 
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Chaz88

New member
I only see one or two a year for the last several years. Do not know if it is true but have been told that the turkeys are helping to kill them off. Apparently the turkeys break the pheasant eggs whenever they get a chance. That along with coyotes, cats and hard winters has taken toll. DNR might not care that much because even though hunted and managed as a game bird they are actually an introduced feral animal.
 
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L_Killkenny

New member
Good Iowa pheasant hunting in gone for the foreseeable future. Couple bad winters, worse springs. predators and birds of prey have decimated them. Still a few around and I could go out and hunt them but generally not enough to make it worth my time. Leave em be, go squirrel hunting and cross my fingers for better hunting in a few years.

LK
 
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Pahoo

New member
It is what it is and can't make it what it isn't !!

A friend of mine just got back from South Dakota and their hunt was mostly a bust. Seems that their numbers are down as well. Ours are non-existant. Ten years ago, I contacted IA-DNR about closing the season. Their reply was that it was a good idea and ya see where that went. I guess money talks and BS walks. ... ;)


Be Safe !!!
 
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warbirdlover

New member
Anyone know how the North Dakota pheasant population is doing? I have a friend there that invited me to come and pheasant hunt with him for a few days.
 
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jason_iowa

New member
I have not hear reports from north dakota. South does not sound great though. Pheasants bring a ton of money into Iowa. I think its a huge mistake to let pheasants die out for many reasons. The DNR is failing us miserably in many areas of conservation at the moment. Not that I'm an expert but in Buchanan county they have flat out refused to do anything with pheasants. Half our nations water is unfit for fishing according to fishing show I was watching. I have no study to back up that statistic. Mean time the federal government wants to cut billions from natural resource management.

All the money I spend on hunting and fishing license is supposed to go managing our natural resources. I don't know about everyone else but I'm not happy with how its being spent.
 
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markj

New member
Flooding took out my best public hunting fields. What a mwess it is there now and looks like it will remain that way.

Saw a pheasant the other day in a crp fioeld by my place, is too close to the houses to even ask permission. Lots of little spots like that here in the hills but with all the housing boom awhile ago the acreage folks have the crp land tied up so you cant even get to hunt them.

Lots of buffer strips tho that hold birds and as soon as the doc tells me I can hunt I will be out there. Getting cataracts done next week so I can see again.

Saw some birds around greenville last summer....the cold turkey town :)
 
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