Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Pheasant hunting can take a lot out of a guy. Trudging through switchgrass and heavy brush is hard traveling for most of us, especially when toting a shotgun. It doesn't help when there's a long drive before the hunt begins and hours in the car when you're bone-weary on the way home.

A lot of ringneck hunters living in our more populated areas really aren't sure of where to go for some good shooting. There isn't any reason to drive halfway across the state when excellent public hunting areas, open to whomever shows up, lie so close to home. If you don't belong to a private club or know someone who happens to own a few hundred acres of prairie, our public hunting lands are for you.

Surprisingly, some of the Hawkeye State's most productive pheasant hunting is done within a stone's throw of city dwellers. Wildlife areas like Hawkeye, Big Marsh and Tieville-Decatur team up with some of the state's best bird hunting opportunities, like Chichaqua Bottoms, to put a day's hunt right in our back yards.

Severe winter weather several years ago drastically reduced the number of pheasants statewide. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources responded by intensively managing public areas with pheasant hunters in mind -- establishing row crops, reintroducing prairie grasses and acquiring hundreds of acres of brush and riverbottom lands.

Much of this habitat improvement and land acquisition took place in wildlife areas, county conservation properties and other public lands just a short distance from population centers so that urban hunters could enjoy them. Increased winter cover, food sources and better spring weather have combined to help to restore pheasant populations.

Though the hunt isn't over until the last shot is fired, wildlife biologists are optimistic that this year will be a good one. Some areas are loaded with roosters; others are still recovering. But all in all, it should be worth the time to go afield.

If you're looking for excellent upland hunting opportunities in your neck of the woods, here are some top destinations for ringnecks this year.

HAWKEYE WMA
"In 2004 there was high water, but the water came down early enough for wheat and foxtail to come up," said IDNR wildlife biologist Tim Thompson. "We had decent pheasant hunting last year, and the locals hunting out there said they were seeing higher numbers of roosters, which was the exact opposite of the year before."

The high incidence of roosters will be a boon to area hunters, and will raise the numbers of harvestable birds. The area's heavy brush and grass means guys with dogs will likely be shooting higher numbers of birds as a result.

"The biggest wildlife area here is the Hawkeye Wildlife Area," said Thompson. "Hawkeye, along with other state lands nearby, totals about 14,000 acres. We have about 3,000 acres we try to maintain in row crops for pheasant habitat, but it always depends on flooding."

The productive habitat is mixed, with abundant sources of food and cover, and when the privately owned fields are cut, pheasants begin concentrating on the public lands. Some of the acreage is under water or marshy, while much is timbered and typical upland pheasant habitat.

To check the bird population before a trip to the wildlife area, Thompson recommends making a phone call to either the wildlife area or his office. Hawkeye WMA is located in the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids areas along the Iowa River at the Coralville Reservoir in the eastern part of the state.