DAVENPORT, Iowa. (KWQC) - A big year is expected for Iowa pheasant hunters as the statewide pheasant population reached a 20-year high.

Todd Bogenschutz with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said pheasant populations have been growing since 2012.

Recent years have proven to be better for hunters. In 2023, nearly 600,000 roosters were harvested.

Bogenschutz said weather played a critical role in the spike, with the state’s fourth least snowy winter in state history.

“We just had a lot of birds out there after last fall,” he said. We didn’t lose a whole bunch during the winter like we normally do, so that means coming into this year we had all those hens we normally don’t have. Our nesting season were pretty good,” he said.

Bogenschutz thinks around 700,000 roosters could

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