|
It happens about as often as a total
eclipse, but results from the Iowa roadside pheasant survey, conducted during the first two weeks of August, are not
lining up with what is being reported from the field and by landowners from
around the state.
“Survey results indicate a statewide
average pheasant population decline of 30 percent and quail population decline
of 23 percent, but pheasant brood sightings are up statewide and quail are
being reported everywhere in the quail range,” said Todd Bogenschutz, upland
wildlife biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources who coordinates
the survey.
Even with the lower counts, Bogenschutz said he expects almost a repeat of the 2016 pheasant season, when hunters harvested about 250,000 roosters.
|
