(Area) Some areas of the state experienced well above average conditions for the opening weekend of the pheasant while Southwest Iowa bird counts remained steady compared to last year.
Dry and mild conditions a week ago may have impacted the first opportunity to harvest birds, but Bryan Hayes with the Iowa DNR reports hunters got out and about. “We saw some really good reports in the Northern part of the state. Our Wildlife Biologist in the Eastern part of the state described the pheasant opener as the most birds he’d seen in his career in that part of the state. The North Central law enforcement people said hunters were encountering good bird numbers and there was a lot of activity on the public areas. A lot of interest from non-resident hunters.”
Locally the opening weekend for pheasant season was right in line with expectations. “It’s going to be about identical to last year. Matt Dollison, our Wildlife Biologist at the Nishnabotna unit headquartered in Riverton, described the bird numbers as similar to last year. Warm weather and standing corn made hunting difficult. ”
All things considered, the early indications have been positive. “Lots of hunters out on Saturday. Success in a lot of places. and look for better quail numbers here in the Southwest. “Lots of hunters out on Saturday. Success in a lot of places. Overall our bird numbers are good across the state and that should make folks pretty happy. I think we are set up to have a good hunting year for pheasants, especially the Northwest, West Central, and North Central regions and look for better quail numbers here in the Southwest.”
The season runs through January 10th.
