DES MOINES, Iowa ( IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH ) - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources conducts a roadside survey of pheasant each August and this year’s survey shows pheasant populations are at a 20-year high.

That means Iowa’s 100th year of pheasant hunting could have harvest figures between 600,000 and 700,000, according to DNR Upland Wildlife Research Biologist Todd Bogenschutz.

“Last year was a decent year for pheasant hunting,” Bogenschutz said in a press release from DNR. “2023 was a good year for pheasant hunting. This year could be excellent.”

2023 and 2024 were two of the best pheasant harvest seasons in the past two decades. Hunters bagged an estimated 460,000 roosters in 2024 and 590,000 roosters in 2023. The harvest figures were consistent with DNR’s observed populatio

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