Over the past 10 years or so the pheasant population in southwest Iowa, where I usually hunt has been getting lower, lower, and lower. One year, maybe 15 years ago or so I got 60 birds during the season. Last season I got only 6 and of those, 3 were from one hunt in the north central part of the state. Again there was cool rainy weather during nesting time (bad conditions). Also, over the years, many small trees near fields have gotten larger and are good perching places for birds of prey. And, there is not much trapping going on so there are lots of raccoons, skunks and possums to eat eggs during nesting season. I think that for southwest Iowa the only hope would be good weather conditions during nesting season for several years in a row.
