Feathered Game Hunting at Brush Dale Hunting Preserve

Wild pheasant reproduction is both critical to providing a natural pheasant hunting experience at Brush Dale, and to sustaining the pheasant population in eastern Iowa. In addition to providing suitable, year-round food and cover, we release and harvest only rooster pheasants during the preserve hunting season (September 1st to March 31st). On the last day of March, we release a minimum of 100 hens. We've found that releasing the hens at this time increases their survival and reproduction rates. Although it's legal to shoot hens on a preserve, because the hens you'll see are wild, or have survived for several months in the wild, we request that hens not be intentionally taken.

We handle the release of pheasants differently than most preserves in our area. The evening prior to your scheduled hunt, we'll release no fewer than twice the total number of rooster pheasants included in your hunting package. For example, for a full-day hunt for 4 gunners, we'll release at least 48 roosters. This gives the roosters a chance to acclimate to their surroundings and "wild up" before the hunt. By doing it this way, we've found that even our released pheasants behave very wild and make for a challenging hunt. Although you will see a lot of pheasants, weather conditions, skill level of the dogs, and shooting ability all play into how many birds are bagged. If your goal is to shoot a ton of birds, then Brush Dale is probably not where you'll want to hunt. But if you want a hunt where you and your dogs' skill will be challenged on every bird - then Brush Dale is the place for you!

Brush Dale is unique, not only because of the diversity of its terrain and wild game, but because of its location in far-eastern Iowa, just 10 miles from the Mississippi River and the River's abundance of waterfowel. In addition to pheasant, we hunt ducks, wild turkey, and furred game. During duck season we might spend Saturday hunting duck at Green Island and Sunday hunting pheasant at Brush Dale. During Fall deer seasons, we often hunt deer in the mornings and pheasant in the afternoons.

If you are a visitor to Iowa, pheasant hunting at Brush Dale will save you a significant amount of money in hunting license fees. Preserve Hunting Licenses, for hunting game birds on any of Iowa's hunting preserves, as well as most Iowa Hunting Licenses may be purchased at Brush Dale, online, or by calling at 1-800-367-1188. A Preserve License with Habitat Stamp is just $20.00, whether purchased by an Iowa or out-of-state resident.

Check out our Hunting and Training Packages, or have us put together a custom upland hunting package for you. We can create a unique hunting experience that includes both on- and off-Preserve hunting for furred and/or feathered game.