Iowa hunters are hungry for good pheasant news, particularly after the low pheasant counts and spotty statewide hunting success of 2008.

Avid pheasant hunters who have experienced low success in their traditional hunting areas, take heart. There is a pheasant-hunting oasis, and it is right here in Iowa.

Cure the pheasant-time blues with a trip to northwest Iowa this pheasant season, which opens Oct. 31 and runs through Jan. 10.

Yes, the four-county area of Dickinson, Emmett, Clay and Palo Alto draws hundreds of hunters to the region each year.

No, it does not mean hunters won't be able to find places to hunt.

True, the counties pull lots of out-of-state hunters, as well as hunters from across Iowa, to the region, but with more than 20,000 acres of public hunting ground, chances are pretty good hunting parties will experience successful hunts and find plenty of ground to cover.

"This little corridor up here is about as productive as a person can find anywhere in the state," said Jerry Robinson of Okoboji.

Robinson, an avid pheasant hunter who's active in Pheasants Forever, believes the vast number of acres easily handles the hunting pressure every year. And regardless of what the rest of the state experienced through the spring nesting season, visiting hunters will find pheasants.

Upland wildlife biologist Todd Bogenschutz, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, as well as Gary Owen, the IDNR conservation officer covering Dickinson County, said people should not let the number of hunters drawn to the four-county area deter them from planning a trip.

"Even when a group of hunters has passed through a field, the next group to move through, even an hour later, will find birds," Owen said.

Robinson agreed. He's been in hunting groups that followed up just 30 minutes after an area had been hunted and his group came out with birds every time.

Several better-known large public hunting lands in the Spirit Lake, Okoboji lakes region in Dickinson County include Jemmerson Slough, Diamond Lake, Kettleson Hogsback Complex, Spring Run Wetland Complex and Cayler Prairie; Ingham-High Wetland Complex in Emmet County; Trumball Lake and Barringer Slough in Clay County; and Five Island Lake in Palo Alto County. Many of these areas are at least 700 to 1,200 acres, and some exceed 3,000 acres.

The added treat to hunting these larger tracts is looking out across grasslands nearly as far as the eye can see. There's a particular beauty found in this prairie pothole region with gently rolling hills, many running down to a lake or wetland.

Owen and Robinson suggested hunters also consider hunting smaller tracts of grasslands, which often do not get as much hunting pressure.

"There are some smaller tracts of land, and hunters should keep those in mind because they aren't usually hunted as much," Owens said. "Often, pheasants will move into those areas from the larger, more heavily hunted tracts."

Smaller areas include Virgin Lake Wildlife Management Area and Huston Prairie in Palo Alto County; DU Marsh, Turtle Marsh and the Gilbert James Wildlife Area in Clay County; East Des Moines River Access and Grass Lake Wildlife Management Area in Emmet County; and Judd Wildlife Area, East Okoboji Slough and Cory Marsh in Dickinson County.