Today (Saturday), marks the start of the pheasant hunting season in Iowa. Mick Klemesrud, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says weather conditions should be ideal for hunters this weekend, though there will be challenges. “We’ve got a lot of crops still out in the field and that could cause a little bit of tougher hunting if there’s a lot of standing corn for the birds to escape to,” Klemesrud says. “On the flip side of that, it could provide some better late season hunting because the birds haven’t been hunted that much.” He’s hopeful the number of hunters on opening day will be up this year after a drop in 2013.

“We’re hopeful that we can hit 60,000,” Klemesrud says. “Last year was our lowest on record of about 41,000. Traditionally, back in the late ’80s and ’90s, we’ve had opening day numbers around 200,000. We used to call it the largest sporting event in the state. We’re hoping that some of them come back.” Hunters should always get permission from land owners to hunt on their property. Klemesrud has some other safety tips.

“We always want to stress blaze orange, knowing the zone of fire, stay in a straight line, talk to everybody in the hunt so they all know what their role is and where there zones of fire are going to be,” he says. “You always want to be seen in the field. Go beyond the minimum. Wear as much blaze orange as you can.” The DNR says there was one hunting-related injury during the pheasant season last year. Learn more about the pheasant season at www.iowadnr.gov/hunting

(Radio Iowa)