Pheasant hunting

**Gtown25** · 10-27-2011, 07:16 PM

Pheasant #s are down and the deer #s are down too. I sat in a stand this past weekend and in the past few years you would see at least 15 deer, only saw 3. They are way down but the Governor isnt going to do anything about it. But on the bright side turkey #s are on the rise.

**JVAR** · 10-29-2011, 03:22 PM

How did everybody do? I am depressed! I hunted all private land today in North Central Iowa and only saw 9 birds and bagged two. We quit at 1230. We had 4 German Shorthairs and my German Longhair Pointer, so I don't think we missed two many birds. They said on the news last night that the projected pheasant harvest is supposed to be 200,000. This is down from 1.1 million ten years ago. Sad!

**CloneFan4** · 10-29-2011, 03:36 PM

You know what I'd give to bag two birds in a day here? A lot

**ISUFB** · 10-29-2011, 04:28 PM

My dad went out today with his group, killed 9 but lost 2

**jtm** · 10-29-2011, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by JVAR

With pheasant season approaching, I had to start a thread. Who is going out this weekend? I am going to hunt in North Central Iowa. A lot of farmers I have talked to report they are scarce, with one saying he didn't even see a pheasant when harvesting corn this year. His place is usually good for 10 to 15 roosters a year. I have talked to a few that have seen a decent number. I am hoping there are some decent areas that have a few birds, but the DNR report of a 40% drop from last year has tempered my enthusiasm a little. I have a German Longhaired Pointer and I think they dryness will make scenting conditions difficult after the morning dew is gone. I still look forward to opening day, however. What do you guys think???

**jtm** · 10-29-2011, 05:31 PM

We went out today and numbers are down. With our German Shorthaired Pointer We were able to get our limit by 11:00. We are in North Central Iowa.
Go Cyclones!!!!!!!!!!

**jay moe** · 10-29-2011, 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by Gtown25

Pheasant #s are down and the deer #s are down too. I sat in a stand this past weekend and in the past few years you would see at least 15 deer, only saw 3. They are way down but the Governor isnt going to do anything about it. But on the bright side turkey #s are on the rise.

They are around here also, turkeys I'm talking about. Saw another big group of about 20 this afternoon. We hunt them in the fall too, have filled 1 tag have 2 to go.

**JVAR** · 10-29-2011, 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by jtm

We went out today and numbers are down. With our German Shorthaired Pointer We were able to get our limit by 11:00. We are in North Central Iowa.
Go Cyclones!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! Good job. I have only heard of one other person getting their limit today and I have a lot of friends that hunt. Some of the land we hunted was near Morris near Belmond/Clarion and there wasn't much shooting. My buddy with the Shorthairs went to SD last week and said the numbers were down there too, but managed to get his share of birds.

**Entropy** · 10-30-2011, 09:48 PM

Check out the road count maps from the Iowa DNR.

http://www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/...amp;tabid=1604

Yeah, not worth dropping the coin for a license since I don't have a dog. I started hunting around Mason City when I moved there in 2007, but after the 2008 flood, it pretty much decimated the population.

**Shinyhappyclone** · 10-30-2011, 09:50 PM

I want that job......driving around making pheasant road counts. I hear the benefits are pretty good.....pretty good meaning basically free health care when the rest of us pay for it plenty.

**Entropy** · 10-30-2011, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by Shinyhappyclone

I want that job......driving around making pheasant road counts. I hear the benefits are pretty good.....pretty good meaning basically free health care when the rest of us pay for it plenty.

Some of that stuff gets done by seasonal employees, who generally don't get any benefits. My wife did work for the DNR for a summer.

**1100011CS** · 10-30-2011, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by Entropy

Some of that stuff gets done by seasonal employees, who generally don't get any benefits. My wife did work for the DNR for a summer.

I thought mail carriers did the road counts.

**Entropy** · 10-30-2011, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by 1100011CS

I thought mail carriers did the road counts.

I just know that when she was out working, if she saw birds, she recorded and reported them.

**woodie** · 10-30-2011, 10:27 PM

there is not enough cover in iowa for good pheasant hunting. you can find some decent pheasant hunt ing in southern iowa,but the rest of the state is farmed fence row to fence row and there is little provision for nesting for a the proliferation of pheasant hatches. the state should start a program with some pheasant release programs in iowa to get the population of pheasants higher in the state.