An estimated 50,000 orange clad hunters will be out in Iowa fields this Saturday at 8 a.m. as the state’s 2017 pheasant and quail hunting season begins.
State officials expect hunters to find similar bird numbers as last year, but say because October rain put the harvest behind schedule, the opening weekend may not be as successful as past years.
Todd Bogenschutz of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says he expects almost a repeat of 2016 pheasant season, where hunters harvested about 250,000 roosters.
He says Iowa’s quail population is at a 30 year high, but the bulk of the quail population is in the southern three tiers of counties.
Photo by Iowa DNR
