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Rare Iowa Bird

651

651

PMA Member
When I was a kid we used to shoot alot of these. I shot 1 rooster in 2009 and a big 0 in 2010. It troubles me that there are no hens with these boys.:(
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That is awesome, if you don't mind me asking what part of the state are you in? I live in central Iowa, Hamilton county is were my lands at and I've seen a decent amount of birds around still, but they have started to decline. It's really sad to say but if things don't change i think they will eventually be gone except for isolated area's and game farms.
 
nice.. yea.. dont see too many of them around here either.. i put up a 3 acre foodplot of standing milo, and corn last year and had a group of a dozen or so in there... nothing like it used to be when we would walk the fence lines with barely any cover and still could almost limit out.

What are those stakes for around those trees? they look big enough to not worry too much about deer damage, etc.?
 
What are those stakes for around those trees? they look big enough to not worry too much about deer damage, etc.?

Yea they need to come out!
 
I remember as a kid I could go get a limit every day if I wanted (1970's) well every other day. I HEARD a couple cackle this year.(NW Iowa) pathetic.
 
Awesome photo...I live up in NW Iowa, and I can honestly say that the #'s are down but there still isn't a day goes by that if I jump on a blacktop and drive a few miles...that I don't see a big group of birds. IMO...prettiest bird out there

once again...awesome photo
 
After only seeing one all year I finally did spot several groups this last weekend in Clarke County. Cool photo and the cockbird closest to the cam looks BIG!
 
Gotta kill the cocks! They are the hardest thing on the ladies in the winter! But I think they are all in trouble!
 
Great pic right there. Can't even remember the last time I hunted those guys. Maybe someday they will make a comeback.
 
Don't even hunt Iowa anymore for pheasants. Now we head to South Dakota for them. Sad to see the population plummet in the Oskaloosa area and the Denison area.
 
I went out ditch hunting for bunnies with the bow on friday and I couldn't believe it! I saw more pheasants than rabbits.:confused: I saw far more pheasant than I have in the past couple years, 23 in total. To top it off they were all hens, not a single rooster. I also spotted my 2nd cubby of quail of the year. This was in northern Union county and in an area with a lot of quality habitat. Hopefully with the recent CRP signup and the new signup coming in March, there will be a lot more good habitat coming in the near future. Maybe someday pheasant and quail will make a comeback. :)
 
I hunted NW IA over Christmas, found massive cover that they used to escape from all the snow and I got a bunch and saw a bunch. Only reason was because every bird in a mile area was condensed into 2-3 acres though. Last year I saw twice as many birds - in just one year it's gone WAY DOWN and then look back 6-8 years ago and it's WAY WAY down. We need 2-3 good springs in a row. Turkeys are in desperate need as well!
 
some simple mathematics and a little history lesson regarding mother nature puts it all in perspective boys.

The floods of 2008 destroyed most of the state, add in the 2009 winter and the floods of 2010 and you reach your current "lack of" population.

1 rooster can breed multiple hens...each hen lays a clutch of 6-12 eggs...add in a some habitat and some consecutive years of easy winters and good springs and the population can rebound.

Don't forget, pheasants are NOT native to Iowa...are there any "introduced" species in this state that have went extinct? answer is no, so be patient. If you want to see pheasants, plant some habitat. Lord knows it's a curse to have a brushy fence-line in these days of $5corn


Great photo...I see my daily bag limit :grin:
 
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