Image: iowa_pheasant

2023 and 2024 were banner years for Iowa pheasant hunters. (Photo by Oehlenschlager)

Iowa pheasant hunters bagged more roosters in 2023 and 2024 than during any other years in the previous two decades.

Iowa Capital Dispatch reports that according to harvest data released by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), hunters took 460,000 roosters in the 2024 season, making it the second-best pheasant season in almost two decades, only behind 2023, when hunters bagged 590,000 roosters.

DNR said the 2024 dip in numbers was expected, as the August 2024 bird population surveys showed a 14% decline in populations compared to 2023.

Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist with DNR, said more than 77,400 hunters pursued pheasants in 2024, which was fewer than the 83,600 hunters in 2023.

Only South Dakota hunters took more birds in 2024, with 1.3 million roosters harvested by approximately 140,200 hunters.

Historic records show Iowa’s last similarly high pheasant season numbers were recorded in 1995. Since then, populations have declined due to “catastrophic” weather years from 2007-2011 and fewer acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, which provides necessary habitat for the birds.

Don’t Miss: Wild Turkey Chases New York Man in His Driveway

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the CRP program, reveals that for 2024, 1.67 million acres were enrolled in the program that pays farmers to convert marginal cropland to grasslands.

Although that number is less than in 1995, when more than 2 million acres were enrolled in CRP and hunters bagged more than 1.4 million roosters, it’s better than some years in Iowa’s 100-year pheasant hunting history.

This upcoming August, DNR staff plan to drive down thousands of miles of gravel roads at dawn to count hens, as they move their broods out of the dew to dry off. This survey will give the department an idea of pheasant populations going into the 2025 pheasant season, which kicks off Oct. 18 for youth hunters.

“Overall, we had a really good fall and are looking forward to this year’s August roadside survey to see where the bird numbers are ahead of the 2025 season,” Bogenschutz said in a statement.

Early predictors show that pheasant populations might benefit from the state’s “fourth least snowy” winter in 138 years, according to the DNR.

In June, the department reported early nesting in regions throughout the state, which means there will likely be higher numbers of pheasant chicks.

The DNR and Iowa Pheasants Forever created a “hard card” hunting and fishing license with a pheasant print to celebrate the sport’s 2025 centennial season.