Super Saturday is Iowa’s Sporting Event of the Year
By Lowell Washburn

Like kids waiting for Christmas, Iowa pheasant hunters have been counting the days. At long last, the wait is all but over. Finally, the biggest day on the outdoor calendar will have arrived. The OPENING DAY of this year's pheasant season begins Saturday!

Any way you slice it, the Iowa pheasant opener is always a big deal. With an estimated 130,000-plus hunters taking to the fields this weekend, no competing activity can stand in its shadow. Opening Day is nothing short of the Sporting Event of the Year. Many ring-neck enthusiasts go so far as to refer to the opener as Iowa's Super Saturday.

The reasons are obvious. The grasslands and stubble fields of Iowa offer World Class pheasant hunting. On average, around one million roosters are bagged in the state each year. South Dakota remains the only state to ever exceed Iowa's harvest, and the two states annually compete for the title of Number One.

There's a good reason why the gaudy, fast flying ring-neck creates such a stir. Of all the experiences the outdoors has to offer, few thrills can compare to the explosive, heart stopping flush of a cackling rooster.

For centuries, the pheasant has reigned as the undisputed King of Game birds. From Gengis Khan, to feudal noblemen, to Teddy Roosevelt, no game bird has remained more popular in more places for a longer period of time than has the regal ringneck.

Pheasants came to North America during the 1700s, and Benjamin Franklin's son-in-law was one of the first Americans to stock the game bird. But this and dozens of other attempts failed to establish a wild population. Then, in 1881, a shipment of wild pheasants from China was released in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The birds took root, and firmly established the species in North America.

Pheasants arrived in Iowa around 1900. In 1925, Iowa opened 13, north central counties to hunting. The first season ran for three days with a daily bag limit of three roosters. Pheasants were so plentiful that farmers in Hancock County ran newspaper ads begging hunters to come and rid their properties of the "nuisance birds". Around 75,000 Iowans participated in that first season.

As cunning as they are colorful, pheasants rarely come easy. Their extensive bag of tricks is both endless and frustrating. Never doing the same thing twice, a rooster will run like crazy or flush wild at one moment and then dig in to let you walk within inches at the next. Those that hold may not lose their nerve until nearly stepped on. As the pheasant suddenly launches, the sound of throbbing wings is combined with the bird's distinctive, raucous clamor. The result is shock and surprise at its finest. To a human hunter, the tactic is totally unnerving. It's why birds that literally flush from between your feet are often as safe as those that blow well beyond range. When all is said and done, no other game bird can so consistently try the patience of both dog and hunter.

As the years and seasons roll by, a young hunter is likely forget exactly when or where he bagged his first squirrel, duck, or rabbit. No hunter ever forgets his very first rooster.