IOWA

[bhs91]

I know people hunt in NoDak and SoDak, but what about Iowa? I have hunted here in the past, have not in quite a few years and was wondering what bird numbers look like. I usually hunt in Northern Iowa.

Thanks for any reports!!

BHS

[art321]

I've heard from a friend down there that it is spotty. Can be great in one county and not so great in the next. Generally it is very good. I grew up in Iowa and hunted pheasants for well over 20 years. I haven't made it down in about 5 years and yearn to get back. Lost a lot of my contacts. Maybe next year.

[eyes']

It isn't anything like it used to be... I normally hunt the Dakotas and Iowa every year and Iowa doesn't even come close... Hoping for a good winter/spring so that we start seeing higher bird numbers but they have really been at a steady decline in northern Iowa for the last 4 years...

[Eric Wettschreck]

I've hunted Iowa, Nodak, and Sodak for ringnecks in the past. Nothing against these other states (well, maybe Iowa ) but I realized I was leaving some of the best ringneck hunting in my own backyard so I could spend huge coin on a non-res license, and have not as good of hunting.

[onlyspringers]

Pheasant hunting in Iowa has been declining for the last several years and will continue to do so as more habitat is lost. There are pockets in the state that are still very good with the northwest part of the state being the best.

I see very few local people out hunting phesants and I haven't seen an out of state group all year. Alot of the hunters I know are now going to S Dakota.

If it was me and I had to choose a state to spend the $ to hunt it would be S Dakota and not Iowa. You can still get birds here in Iowa but don't expect it to be easy and I wouldn't count on limiting out. 3 of us went out in the snow and howling winds today and got 5 birds in about 4 hours but we had to cover a lot of ground.

If you have any questions let me know because some of us Iowans aren't that bad.

[bhs91]

Springers,

I have had nothing but POSITIVE experiences with the Iowa folk!! It began many moons ago when I played junior hockey and continued there after. Best of all I have yet to hear a farmer ask me for $100 per gun per day

[eelpout50]

I last hunted NW Iowa on the 17th, not a bad day. 4 guys, 3 dogs and 12 birds in 2 hours. We missed quite a few as well. The downside is a license cost $100.00.

[ole matty]

some of post hit right on the spot. some county have good nbr of birds some dont. i hunted nw of iowa 2 weeks ago see some birds but 2 many hens n rooster flused to farbut managed to shot a few. i wld recommend to goin out on weekday as i dont even see any hunter till wknd..

[onlyspringers]

I agree the best time to hunt public land in Iowa is mid-week. i hunt some public land in the central and west central part of the state and seldom see another hunter during the week. I was out monday on a public area that is a little over 1,100 acres and I was the only hunter there. Was able to get 3 birds in a little over 3 hours. Had to get way back in the heavy stuff but the birds were there. Might be a good idea to skip the next couple of weeks as its deer season down here and the crazies will be out in force.

[bhs91]

OS,

We were down this past weekend and it was BRUTAL from a weather standpoint. We had fun, dogs worked well and we saw birds, but between wind(25-35 mph), rain, copper plated ice pellets, et al, we were lucky to manage the 6 we got. Not good for 3 days, but what do you do. Kudos to the Iowa Farmers for being so nice each time we called or stopped even if they said no. Can't wait until next year!!

[onlyspringers]

You are a better man than I, when I got up saturday and couldn't see out of any of the windows on the south side of my house, I went back to bed. Here in central Ia we got anywhere from 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches of ice with little snow.

We did get 3 inches of snow yesterday and they are predicting 3-5 for the weekend. We don't mind hunting in the snow so we'll be out at least once this weekend. Hopefully the next time you are down the weather cooperates.

[bhs91]

OS,

When you only have 3 days...Come hell or high water you need to be out there

BHS

[onlyspringers]

I can understand that. Was like thqt when we used to go to Canada fishing, no matter how crappy the weather we were out in it. The older I get the more selective I am when it comes to the weather, 20 years ago I would have been right out in that stuff like you were. Hopefully the weather cooperates better next time your down.

OS

[castmaster]

"The downside is a license cost $100.00. "

Yes, but that money buys you a license good for the WHOLE season, NOT 10 DAYS! You can also add Waterfowl hunting by simply buying a Iowa waterfowl stamp(I believe they are $7.50) instead of forking over another $100+ for a seperate license.

The Dakotas are WAY overboard with their fees and restrictions. I for one would love to see MN get as protectionists with our NR fishing licenses!!

[onlyspringers]

Another thing about our license is if you came down now and purchased your license it is good until Jan 10th 2009. So you could hunt the rest of this season and all of next year.

Unfortunately if we keep getting these (Contact Us Please) ice storms there might not be many pheasants left.

[Shu]

took a road trip yesterday.....still a lot of birds around down there.

[bhs91]

Awesome!! It will be tough for them unless some warmer weather can loosen up that ice that is on top of the corn.

BHS