"This area of Iowa has switchgrass, grassy areas along timber and marshy wetlands around the lakes on public hunting lands," said Buchberger. "In a field of high grass you've got to have a game plan, and you can't just walk through the middle of the field and hope you'll come onto pheasants. When I'm hunting with a group for wild birds, we're quiet and not yelling back and forth while we're hunting. These birds are wary and educated. On a large field we'll work the outside edges and basically make a circle, driving the birds inward to a ditch, dip or some other feature that will help concentrate them. We work our way in and have the birds in basically one spot."

Neal Smith NWR is 18 miles east of Des Moines on state Highway 163 in Jasper County. Hunters traveling from Des Moines should take highway 163 to exit 18 and then follow the signs along the paved entrance road. For additional information, contact the refuge at (515) 994-3400; e-mail, NealSmith@fws.gov; Website.

HENDRICKSON MARSH WMA
"Story County is primarily a corn and bean agricultural area as far as land use is concerned, and grasslands and forage crops are very limited," said Steve Lekwa, conservation director of the Story County Conservation Board. "The IDNR manages Hendrickson Marsh Wildlife Management Area three miles northeast of Collins. The state area is seeded native cover and some restored wetland cells. Hendrickson is primarily a shallow lake-based waterfowl migration area with adjoining uplands composed of mixed food plots, timber, brush and seeded grass lands."

What the marsh lacks in extensive grasses, it makes up for in proximity to winter food sources. A rule of thumb, according to Buchberger, is to look for great bedding areas close to sources of food. Winter spillage and standing crops are important sources of energy to birds facing the rigors of cold weather, and the nearby thick grass and brush provide hunkering-down places in which roosters can huddle up against the dropping temperatures.

Hendrickson Marsh is two miles west of Rhodes on E63 and a half-mile north on the gravel road. For more information, contact the Saylorville Wildlife Management Unit at (515) 432-2235.

If there are too many hunters at Hendrickson, consider 117-acre Skunk River Flats area, three miles southeast of Ames. Skunk River Flats has limited hunting, but contains the sort of cover that harbors pheasants.