Adult pheasant hunting season fires off this weekend and lasts until January 10.

Department of Natural Resources State Officer Wes Gould says hunters can harvest three rooster pheasants per day between the hours of 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Gould says they saw an average number of pheasants during an August roadside survey, “If everybody remembers back in the first week of August it’s extremely dry. And when it’s extremely dry like that you don’t get the morning dew, which in turn doesn’t put the birds out on the road for us to count. So I’d take some of that with a grain of salt. I think we had a decent nesting in southeast parts, Keokuk and Washington County, and I feel there will be a good population of birds.”

Pheasant hunters are required to have a hunting license, pay a harvest fee, and must also wear blaze orange. Those hunting on private grounds must have a firing distance of at least 200 yards from property, unless with homeowner’s permission.