(Des Moines) Iowa hunters bagged an estimated 375,000 roosters during the 2021 hunting season, the most since 2008.
Brian Hickman, Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Supervisor in Southwest Iowa says upland bird populations are driven by two main factors, habitat, small grains, grass or alfalfa, and weather.
Hickman says history shows upland bird populations never go up when it snows 25-inches or more during a winter season. Any amount under that number leads to increased populations of Pheasant and Quail.
Hickman expects to see a bump in the Pheasant and Quail populations in the southern part of the state due to the mild conditions this past winter
Hickman says that the nesting weather outlook model offers a positive upland bird population count this fall and winter. DNR officials still expect the highest Pheasant and Quail populations to show up in the northern and western regions.
