DES MOINES---Anticipation is mounting. The count down is on. For tens of thousands of Iowans, the Sporting Event of the Year arrives Saturday.

It's the opening weekend of the 2005 pheasant season, and the outlook is bright. Based on the results of this year's August roadside surveys, Opening Day hunters will encounter a significantly greater number of pheasants than they did one year ago. Statewide pheasant populations are up 19 percent over last year, which puts overall ring-neck numbers right at the 10-year average. With the exception of south central Iowa [where bird numbers suffered a dismal, 40 percent decrease from last year] all regions of the state will enjoy the same or higher numbers of ring-necks than were surveyed during 2004.

The state's greatest pheasant densities will occur among the grasslands of northwest Iowa. North central Iowa also harbors substantial populations -- up 34 percent from 2004. Central Iowa pheasant numbers rose 45 percent over 2004. This represents the state's largest regional increase and brings central Iowa counts to 10 percent above the average.

As always, Iowa pheasant enthusiasts will be looking at some of the best hunting to be found anywhere in the nation -- or on the planet, for that matter. Based on this summer's population index, our hunters will harvest anywhere from 900,000 to 1,000,000 roosters by the time the season concludes on January 10. Only, South Dakota will be able to top the Iowa harvest.

But regardless of how many roosters may actually be lurking in your favorite hunting spot, Opening Weekend success will be greatly enhanced or hindered by two additional, make or break factors -- weather conditions and corn harvest.

For upland bird hunters, rain and wind spell disaster. By contrast, fair skies and a light breeze all but guarantee roast pheasant for Sunday dinner. We'll just have to wait and see which weather conditions we get. After all, this is Iowa.

The status of this year's grain harvest easier to predict. As of Monday, around 60 percent the state's corn acreage was out of the field and in the bin. This is good news for pheasant hunters -- especially those who are Iowa residents and will be tromping the fields for the entire season.

Here's how it lays. Come Saturday's opener, enough corn will have been harvested to make a good number of birds available to hunters. The other [and perhaps best] side of the coin is that there is also enough corn left standing to provide thousands of acres of temporary pheasant refuge. As the harvest continues, a steadily shrinking supply of standing corn will insure a dependable number of naive, yet to be hunted roosters in the days ahead.

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