Pheasant

Habitat for the Birds

Hunting Savy Pheasants

Hunting Savy Pheasants By Nolan Rolston Half-way through the Iowa upland season, the weather starts to break, our bird dogs start to hit their peak that they had at last season’s end. Along with this, those veteran roosters have been further educated on how to survive all of the conditions they are dealt throughout the […]

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Establishing and Maintaining Native Warm Season Grasses

Establishing and Maintaining Native Warm Season Grasses By Jessica Graham My husband and I just moved to our current residence a few years ago. During that first year, we knew we wanted to attract wildlife to our property. We wanted to create a wildlife mecca, holding gamebirds, deer, and other wildlife. The first steps included […]

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Iowa Pheasants Make A Comeback

Iowa Pheasants Make A Comeback By Jessica Graham Growing up, I would hear hunting stories from my Dad about his youth, most of these were shared while we were in the field pursuing our own game. During his youth, deer were scarce, there were just a few days a year set aside for deer hunting […]

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Habitat for the Birds

Frost Seeding Upland Habitat

Frost Seeding Upland Habitat By Trent Larson Have you ever wanted to improve your upland hunting and wildlife viewing success on private land? Maybe you have an area you can improve. Iowa has lots of monocultures of pastures that have overtaken idle areas. These monocultures lack structure and variety that wildlife crave, and in turn […]

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Habitat for the Birds

Common Errors made by Pheasant Hunters

Common Errors made by Pheasant Hunters By Kent Boucher One of my favorite experiences is the sudden machine gun-like cadence of an eruption of flapping wings, accompanied by the appearance of a long streamer of tail feathers and the beautiful cola colored outline of a rooster pheasant. In the age of digital media overstimulation it’s […]

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Habitat for the Birds

The Most Wonderful Pheasant Time of the Year

The Most Wonderful Pheasant Time of the Year By Kent Boucher “It’s the most wonderful pheasant time of the year! There’ll be hunting parties for pushing and posting, the dogs won’t be roasting, and the birds will hold tight in the snow. There’ll be sharing of late flushing stories, and tales of the glories of […]

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Habitat for the Birds

Strategic Rooster Hunting

Strategic Rooster Hunting By Kent Boucher If I was asked to identify my greatest weaknesses I would be able to compile an extensive list within a moment, and one item on that list would be grocery shopping. I walk into the store, forget to grab a cart and then begin wandering aimlessly down the aisles […]

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Habitat for the Birds

November Pheasant Hunting

November Pheasant Hunting By Troy Hoepker Say the words “November in Iowa” to a devoted bird hunter and the mind conjures up a multitude of ambient memories. Memories of birds in flight, dogs bounding through the grasses with nose to ground, and the camaraderie shared by family and friends in the field whom share the […]

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Exploring Iowa’s Pheasant Heritage

Exploring Iowa’s Pheasant Heritage By Troy Hoepker I venture to guess that Iowa residents of Black Hawk, Grundy, Butler and Bremer counties in 1901 and 1902 had to wonder, “What is this mysterious bird that seemingly appeared on the Iowa prairie almost overnight?” It’s large chicken-like size, beautiful plumage and distinct white stripe encircling the […]

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Late Season Pheasants

Late Season Pheasants By Troy Hoepker The clock was ticking on what was left of my pheasant hunting season and I dreaded the thought of no longer loading up my bird dog Ace and shooting those ringnecks over his points. It was January 2, 2019 and I wanted to make the most out of what […]

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