More hunters meant greater 2023 pheasant harvest in Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa — Iowa’s pheasant hunters bagged more than 590,000 roosters last fall, the most since 2007. The 62% increase in harvest was due to a strong population of pheasants and to a 32% increase in the number of pheasant hunters.

“We’ve had a pheasant population that could support a harvest of around 600,000 birds for a few years now, but we couldn’t reach that total until our hunter numbers returned to the mid-2000s level. Last year they did, and our harvest reflected that,” said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife research biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Bogenschutz estimated more than 83,600 hunters pursued pheasants in Iowa last fall, up from 63,500 in 2022.

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Drought years benefit ground-nesting birds such as turkeys and pheasants, and with three straight years of drought and mild winters, pheasant survival and nesting success was good. And the population was confirmed each year by the annual August pheasant survey.

The 2024 pheasant survey concluded Aug. 15, and while the results are expected to show a population slightly lower due to spring flooding, Iowa hunters should still expect to find good bird numbers across much of the northern half of the state. The results will be online by early September.

Iowa’s quail harvest increased by an estimated 42% to more than 30,000 birds, thanks, in part, to an 18% increase in hunter numbers.

Iowa’s rabbit harvest declined by 23% to an estimated 68,500. Squirrel harvest increased 11% to more than 94,000, and 35% more mourning doves were taken in 2023 than in 2022, likely do to 39% more hunters sitting in the sunflowers.