Taking flight

Even though it is a small improvement, Iowa's bird hunters are happy about moving in the right direction.

Iowa’s pheasant population is up to an average of 17.4 birds per 30-mile route according to the latest annual count by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. This is a 151 percent increase from 2013.

This is the highest average since 2008 and the largest single-year increase since records have been kept.

The 2014 pheasant season kicks off the last weekend in October. Hunters are allowed to harvest three birds per day with a maximum of 12 birds in possession.

“I am excited that the numbers are finally up a little after being down for so long,” said Creston police officer and hunter Matt Carr. “I like watching my dogs work and spending time with friends and family doing something I love.”

DNR officials said the count was up by more than 200 percent in some regions. They travel 210 routes each August.

The count found that the southern region of the state was up, but not as much as the northern region. Officials reported as many as 30 birds per route in the northwest part of Iowa.

Union County Game Wardon Corey Carlton said his counts did not go as well as the rest of the state, but there are a lot of factors that play into the count.

“We try to all count at the same time and in the same conditions, but there is still a pretty good chunk of the counties we don’t reach,” Carlton said. “I think the numbers are up, and everyone I have talked to are saying the same.”

Carlton added one of the surprising and encouraging results from the count are the quail numbers are up, too. According to the report, quail numbers recovered by 142 percent from 2013.

State revenue

While the increase in numbers is encouraging, it is nowhere close to the number of roosters harvested in the 1970s. Hunters averaged nearly 1.6 million roosters a year.

Iowa benefited from hunters flooding to the state. In 1997, an estimated 205,000 hunters spent $80.3 million in Iowa.

“It will be better than last year, especially since this best increase that we have seen,” Carlton said. “But as far as getting back to the old days, we are not close yet. Hopefully we can get back to that level someday.”

Carr said he does a majority of his hunting in Adair County.

Hunters only harvested 109,000 roosters in 2011 and spending has fallen below $24.1 million.

“I am planning on going out around the season opener and later in the year,” said PJ Frederick, who also does a majority of his hunting in Adair County. “Any recovery in the local birds would mean I would feel less compelled to go to South Dakota to bird hunt like I did last year.”

Decline and recovery

Department officials blame a series of harsh winters and drought on the pheasant’s decline.

An ideal winter for pheasants is less than 19 inches of snow and warm, dry springs. Iowa had five winters from 2007-2011 with more than 30 inches of snow.

“The spring seems to be what got us (the last few years),” Carlton said. “Once we get a really heavy rain or snow, they can’t dig for food or their nasal cavities will freeze up.”

But even if a favorable winter and spring occur, the amount of suitable habitat is another factor impacting pheasant population numbers.

Farmers have expanded the amount of acres put into crops, decreasing pheasant habitat. Ideal living acreage fell from 3.8 million in 2007 to 2.8 million in 2014.

One way the DNR is working to help the pheasant population and numbers is by increasing the public hunting areas.

Carlton said to visit the DNR website and click on the public hunting area tab. He said each site has a questionnaire hunters are encouraged to fill out to let officials know what hunters saw on their hunt and to keep record of how much the public land is being used.

Iowa has received a $1.5 million federal grant to help develop more habitat on private land to support birds. Iowa DNR also received a $3 million grant to help expand public hunting access on private land.

Based on the numbers, the DNR expects hunters to harvest between 200,00 and 300,000 roosters this year.

“Around home, I saw more pheasants during the summer than I have in a long time,” Frederick said.

Carlton said hunters need to remember to be covered by more than 50 percent blaze orange while bird hunting. He added that most accidental shootings are to the upper torso, so it is a good idea to wear blaze orange hats or stocking caps.