Iowa’s pheasant population survey begins Aug. 1

Iowa’s annual pheasant survey begins Aug. 1, and with a mixed bag of regional weather indicators, hunters are eager to see the results.

The statewide survey is conducted by Iowa Department of Natural Resources staff between Aug. 1-15, who drive 225, 30-mile routes on gravel roads at dawn on mornings with heavy dew. Hen pheasants will move their broods to the edge of the gravel road to dry off before they begin feeding, which makes them easier to count.

In June the DNR issued its annual prediction for the roadside counts, which uses a weather model based on the snowfall, rainfall and temperatures from the past winter and spring. The model provides a best guess at what the counts might look like, and it is predicting numbers similar to last year, when the state’s pheasant population reached a 20-year high.

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But the best indicator for the fall season is the August roadside survey that counts actual pheasants seen along more than 6,000 miles of rural, gravel roads.

The August roadside survey was initiated in 1936 with the survey modernized to what we have today in 1962. In addition to pheasants and quail, the survey collects data on partridge, cottontails and jackrabbits.

Results will be posted online in early September. Iowa’s pheasant season begins Oct. 31.