Family-Outdoors

June is here Iowa’s pheasant hatch is at its peak. So what can Iowa’s hunters expect this coming season?    “This year, unfortunately, we are predicting a decline in bird numbers,” says Todd Bogenschutz, a DNR upland wildlife biologist. “Our pheasant population typically shows increases following mild winters and dry, warm springs.  This past winter, while starting mild, ended with a vengeance.”  Many bird enthusiasts were hoping a warm, dry spring would offset the snowy winter.  Unfortunately this year’s nesting season (April/May) has been record-setting for cold temperatures and rainfall.  Statewide, nesting season rainfall was 15.4 inches, and temperatures were 4.1 degrees cooler than normal. Iowa’s pheasant population has never seen a spring this wet since they were established in the state back in the 1920s. Based on this weather data, Bogenschutz predicts Iowa's statewide pheasant population will be lower than in 2012.  However, Bo...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual bighorn sheep survey revealed a minimum of 297 bighorn sheep in western North Dakota. The 2012 count was second highest on record and 5 percent above last year’s survey. In total, biologists counted 87 rams, 156 ewes and a record 54 lambs. Not included are approximately 30 bighorn sheep in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Big game biologist Brett Wiedmann said the northern badlands population was the highest on record, but the southern badlands herds declined slightly. “Although adult rams and ewes were virtually unchanged from 2011, we were very pleased to see a record number of lambs recruited into the population, as well as a record recruitment rate of 38 percent,” Wiedmann said. “Nearly all of the lambs we counted during last summer’s survey survived the winter.” Game and Fish Department biologists count and classify all bighorn sheep in late summer and then recount lambs the followi...

Black Bear  (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Applications for Minnesota bear hunting licenses are available beginning Monday, April 1, and will be accepted through Friday, May 3, the Department of Natural of Resources (DNR) said. A total of 3,750 licenses are available in 11 permit areas. The number of available licenses for 2013 is about 35 percent fewer than the 6,000 licenses available in 2012. The 2012 bear harvest was 2,604. That was a 22 percent increase from 2011, despite 15 percent fewer bear quota licenses being available. The increase in harvest for 2012 was largely due to poorer fall food conditions, making bears more attracted to hunters’ baits. The DNR’s goal with the lower license quotas is to allow for a gradual increase in the current bear population. “Although the trends in the last few years indicate a stable bear population, DNR is reducing bear license numbers in the quota bear area to increase bear population numbers,” said Dan Stark, DNR large carni...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologists recently completed the 2012 pronghorn population survey, which revealed the statewide population is 20 percent lower than last year. Therefore, the Game and Fish Department is recommending the pronghorn hunting season remain closed in 2012. Bruce Stillings, big game supervisor in Dickinson, said the statewide population estimate has dropped to approximately 3,600 pronghorn. “Pronghorn in all four management regions decreased in numbers from last year and are well below population objectives,” he said. According to Stillings, three severe winters from 2008-10, and virtually no fawn recruitment during 2009-11, left an aging population with few prime-aged breeding females. “The result was another poor fawn crop, but there were signs of recruitment with more yearlings being observed this year,” he added. The recent scenario is similar to the large-scale pronghorn decline in the late 19...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) Ruffed grouse populations in Wisconsin appear to be entering a downswing, according to a recently completed roadside ruffed grouse survey. Ruffed grouse populations are known to boom and bust over a nine- to 11-year cycle, according to Brian Dhuey, wildlife surveys coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources. The index that Wisconsin uses to track ruffed grouse decreased 25 percent between 2011 and 2012. “While this is a bit of bad news for grouse hunters, it should not be too big of a surprise,” Dhuey said. “We were overdue for the expected downturn.” A roadside survey to monitor the number of breeding grouse has been conducted by staff from the DNR and U.S. Forest Service, tribal employees, and numerous grouse enthusiasts and volunteers since 1964. Surveyors begin 30 minutes before sun rise and drive along established routes, making 10 stops at assigned points and listening for four minutes for the distinctive “thump, thump, thump” drummi...