Numbers south of Des Moines, Oskaloosa?

Stoneface · Post by **Stoneface** » Wed May 16, 2012 5:46 pm

My brother and I are considering moving there. Anyone know what the bird numbers are like? I guess the two closes public lands are Hawthorne and Hull, both list Pheasant as present and Hull also lists quail, but that could mean one or a million.

spottebaum1 · Post by **spottebaum1** » Wed May 16, 2012 9:01 pm

Iowa bird numbers are way down from previous years.

Ricky Ticky Shorthairs · Post by **Ricky Ticky Shorthairs** » Wed May 16, 2012 9:12 pm

10 years ago they were great. Now they are crap. Both of those places have great cover, and are wide open for the most part. Great places to hunt with pointing dogs. Just no more birds.

A couple of major hail storms, and a couple of blizzards about 5 years back pretty much ruined the bird numbers.

You may be able to find some private with some birds, but you'll hunt long and hard for them. There are some honey holes, but not like it used to be.

Nice place to live though, my whole family comes from the Osky area.

Doug

Stoneface · Post by **Stoneface** » Wed May 16, 2012 10:33 pm

I've moved around some and have learned that one person's horrible numbers is another person's South Dakota. I went out about ten times locally this season and only ever made one encounter with wild birds (I think).

Let me ask it this way, if you took off of work early, grabbed the dogs and headed out, would you have high hopes of at least one point? Would you be surprised if your dog established point? Would you be surprised if he didn't?

Thanks for the replies, guys. I was beginning to think this was going to be a dud!

spottebaum1 · Post by **spottebaum1** » Thu May 17, 2012 9:15 pm

I didn't get out last season as much as I would've liked, but when i did i always saw birds. Never shot enough birds to fill my limit on any day but at least got to see a few birds. they were long hunts tho you can walk miles and not see anything. I'm hoping that our mild winter this year will help the population bounce back.

gus · Post by **gus** » Fri May 18, 2012 12:03 am

I live 15 miles south and west of Osky and the numbers are definitely down. That said I see a few coveys and there are some pheasants out there. I am lucky to have a lot of ground to hunt and access to much more. If you want or need any info, fill free to pm me. Keith

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Numbers south of Des Moines, Oskaloosa?

Numbers south of Des Moines, Oskaloosa?

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Re: Numbers south of Des Moines, Oskaloosa?

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Re: Numbers south of Des Moines, Oskaloosa?