Pheasant hunting season starts this weekend in Iowa.

Pheasant population numbers continue to increase across the state.  According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ August Roadside Survey, pheasant numbers are up 37 percent over last year from 17.5 pheasants to 24 pheasants per 30-mile radius.  West central Iowa has the lowest percent increase in the state at 3.4 percent.  Greene County Conservation Director Dan Towers says DNR biologists run the same 250 routes every year to conduct their survey on gravel roads, with little wind, during sunrise with preferably heavy dew.  However, even with the increase, pheasants are only 50 percent above the ten-year average, which Towers points out isn’t good.

“Which tells us that the last ten years, we’ve been very, very bleak.  The lowest counts on record came three or four years ago, after successive rough winters and wet springs.  I do believe everybody probably believes they’re climbing faster than we anticipated they would.”

He says some of the contributing factors for the pheasant increase is due to not as much snowfall and not as many gullies washed out in the spring to allow the chicks to survive.  However, Towers talks about the factors that have led to an overall drop in numbers over the last few years.

“Our habitat has decreased gradually over the ten years.  High grain prices took a lot of our (Conservation Reserve Program) acres out.  So that the acres of nesting cover are just a fraction of what they were 15 to 20 years ago.  And that’s the very bottom line.”

But, Tower adds the DNR is predicting in overall pheasant harvest increase from 300,000 to 500,000 this season.

Pheasant hunting season is from October 31st to January 10th.