BOONE - Hunters in Iowa harvested more than 800,000 pheasants in 2005, placing the Hawkeye Sate second behind only South Dakota in the number of pheasants harvested. The 2005 harvest estimate was a 50,000 rooster increase from 2004, but remains 17 percent below the 10-year average, and 36 percent below the historical average.

The harvest and participation estimates are based on responses from an annual survey sent to more than 8,000 license holders by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The decade 1996 to 2005, Iowa pheasant hunters harvested an average of 970,000 roosters. It is the first time in Iowa history when a 10-year pheasant harvest estimate has fallen below 1 million roosters.

An estimated 136,192 pheasant hunters took to the field including nearly 29,000 who were from out of state. The number of resident pheasant hunters increased 8 percent, while the number of nonresident hunters decreased 7 percent. Hunters from Wisconsin and Minnesota accounted for 36 percent of nonresident hunters.

Other small game estimates include a 40 percent decline in the quail harvest. An estimated 18,578 quail hunters harvested 40,675 quail, down from the 68,256 in 2004. An estimated 7,147 partridge hunters took 14,674 birds during the season, which was a 17 percent increase from 2004.

The estimated 40,225 rabbit hunters harvested 210,591 cottontails in 2005, a 19 percent decrease from 2004. Only 1 percent of licensed hunters indicated they hunted jackrabbits in 2005. Those 1,870 hunters harvested 671 jackrabbits, mostly in conjunction with other hunting.

For more information, contact Bogenschutz at 515-432-2823.