2021 Quail hunting forecast. quail forever presented by Sportsman's guide

Quail hunting forcast is presented by Sportsman's guide


Iowa
Forecast: Iowa’s quail index is the highest it’s been in 27 years, according to upland game biologist and farm bill coordinator Todd Bogenschutz with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “This is about as good as Iowa can expect,” he said. “We are telling folks who haven’t gone quail hunting or haven’t gone in a few years, ‘I don’t know that we are ever going to be better than we are right now. I don’t know if we can go much higher.’”
 
In 1989, when index numbers were this high in Iowa, 80,000 hunters shot 400,000 birds. Last year, 10,000 hunters shot 28,000 birds, which is basically double the harvest numbers from 2014. “We had a good quail index last year too,” Bogenschutz said, “just not that many hunters.”
 
Iowa’s primary quail range in the southern portion of the state experienced a very good winter period. “There have been a lot of reports of males calling,” Bogenschutz said. “We are optimistic. There have been a lot of positive reports of people hearing quail where they haven’t for a long time.”
 
The Iowa Habitat and Access Program (IHAP) continues to enroll acres, many in Iowa’s quail range. Last year, 11,000 acres were enrolled in the program, while 25,000 are enrolled this year. Iowa has an online hunting atlas that shows all public lands (Federal, state, county, walk-in) open to hunting in Iowa.
 
Season Dates: October 29, 2016 through January 31, 2017
 
Daily Bag Limit: 8
 
Possession Limit: 16

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