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DNR News Releases

Archive by tag: populationReturn

Habitat planning for bad weather is key to supporting pheasant populations

• 12/10/2024 12:21:00 PM
• View Count 1749

The first snow of the season is a popular event with pheasant hunters because it often sends the birds to cover where hunters expect to find them. And while a little snow is good, too much snow can be bad, burying waste grains that are an important food source and collapsing marginal habitat.

Iowans encouraged to report wild turkey sightings in July and August

• 6/25/2024 11:46:00 AM
• View Count 3030

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for help with its annual wild turkey production survey. During the months of July and August wild turkey sightings are recorded to estimate this year’s nesting rates and nest success.

DNR to host Western Iowa deer population meetings in July

• 6/25/2024 11:41:00 AM
• View Count 4624

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is hosting eight meetings in Western Iowa to discuss the status of the region’s deer herd as population levels have fallen in recent years. The meetings are open to the public.

Changes to note ahead of Iowa's hunting seasons

• 6/24/2024 4:08:00 PM
• View Count 14585

Hunters will notice a few regulation changes for the upcoming 2024-2025 hunting seasons. These changes could impact deer hunters, waterfowl hunters and furharvesters.

Last chance to hunt deer until fall

• 1/11/2024 5:02:00 PM
• View Count 4169

Iowa’s final deer seasons are now open - the Population Management January Antlerless Season and the Excess Tag January Antlerless Season.

Researchers looking for insight into wild turkey population decline

• 1/9/2024 3:29:00 PM
• View Count 7187

The reintroduction of wild turkeys to Iowa’s landscape has been celebrated as a conservation success story for the past 25 years. But Iowa’s turkey population is showing troubling signs: the numbers are down, nests are failing and fewer poults are surviving. And it’s not just an Iowa problem – turkey populations are declining in all states in the Midwest and across the eastern half of the United States.

With shotgun seasons over, deer hunting shifts to late season mode

• 12/20/2023 6:41:00 AM
• View Count 8813

With the two shotgun seasons now in the books, Iowa’s deer hunting shifts to a more solitary endeavor with the opening of the late muzzleloader season and the reopening of the archery season.

Counting turkeys

• 6/27/2023 4:36:00 PM
• View Count 2602

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for help with its annual wild turkey production survey. During the months of July and August wild turkey sightings are recorded to estimate this year’s nesting rates and nest success.

DNR forecasts Iowa’s 2021 fall pheasant population to be similar to 2020

• 6/29/2021 1:37:00 PM
• View Count 7857

If Iowa pheasant hunters liked the hunting they had in 2020, they should like it again in 2021. Based on the annual pheasant nesting forecast, Iowa’s pheasant population should be similar to slightly higher than last year, said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Iowa’s pheasant population steady, quail down

• 8/27/2019 11:48:00 AM
• View Count 9640

Iowa’s pheasant hunters should expect to find a similar number of birds as last year, with the exception of south central and southeast Iowa, where the pheasant population decline was more significant.

Counting turkeys

• 7/23/2019 12:50:00 PM
• View Count 4062

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for help with its annual turkey population estimates in July and August. 

Public meeting to discuss Viking Lake water level draw-down

• 3/19/2019 11:57:00 AM
• View Count 3499

Stanton – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will host a public meeting at 7 p.m., April 2, at the Viking Lake concession building, to discuss plans to lower the water level at Viking Lake, in Montgomery County to improve the fish population in the lake.

Increased harvest predicted for 2018 Iowa pheasant season, but standing crops likely impact opening weekend success

• 10/16/2018 12:37:00 PM
• View Count 15526

Thousands of hunters in blaze orange will take to the fields when Iowa’s pheasant season opens Oct. 27. And with the second highest pheasant population in a decade, hunters can afford to be optimistic.

Pheasant hunters should expect a repeat of 2016

• 8/31/2017 1:39:00 PM
• View Count 13942

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.

Iowa’s annual pheasant population survey begins August 1

• 8/1/2017 11:41:00 AM
• View Count 7419

Iowa’s 15-day annual pheasant population survey begins on Aug. 1, and after a mild winter and early spring, wildlife experts are cautiously optimistic about what they hope to find.

Annual Pheasant Survey Begins August 1

• 7/19/2016 1:21:00 PM
• View Count 5766

Iowa’s 15-day annual pheasant population survey begins on Aug. 1, and wildlife experts say all indicators are pointing to a stable to increasing population of the popular game bird.