(Lewis) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is celebrating 100 years of pheasants this fall. John Lorenzen, a fisheries biologist, explains that pheasants first originated in Iowa in 1901 after a wind storm affected a game farm in Cedar Falls.
By 1925, pheasants had multiplied significantly, leading to the collection of 60,000 wild eggs and 7,000 wild birds for distribution. That year also marked Iowa’s first pheasant hunting season, with 75,000 hunters participating.
In 1976, pheasant hunting opened statewide, and in 2025, we will celebrate a century of pheasant hunting in Iowa.
Pheasants Forever is offering commemorative apparel available through the DNR website until February 23, with additional sales planned for the fall before hunting season. Lorenzen says 100-percent of the proceeds go back to Pheasants Forever, which is a habitat organization, improving habitat for ground nesting birds like pheasants, and quail, and non-game species too.
