DNR News Releases

Search for a News Release

Press/Media inquiries: PIO@dnr.iowa.gov

DNR News Releases

Archive by tag: duckReturn

Duck hunters encouraged to use safe boating practices while on the water

• 9/30/2022 2:39:00 PM
• View Count 3050

Duck hunters who hunt from a boat are encouraged to include boating safety as part of their hunting plan. Waterfowl hunters use boats on some of the coldest days of the year.

Duck season begins Oct. 1 in Iowa’s north zone

• 9/30/2022 2:31:00 PM
• View Count 3265

Waterfowlers have waited all year for this: for the next three weekends in Iowa, there will be an opening day for duck and goose hunting. The north zone opens on Oct. 1, the central zone opens on Oct. 8 and the south zone opens on Oct. 15. Each zone is open seven days, then close for seven days, before re-opening.

Martens Lake not open to boat traffic for hunting this fall

• 7/26/2022 12:49:00 PM
• View Count 3959

Tripoli, Iowa - Waterfowl hunters scouting shallow lakes and marshes ahead of the season should be aware that Martens Lake on the Sweet Marsh Wildlife Area is in the process of a dike repair and channel excavation project and will not be open to boat traffic for hunting this fall.

Duck hunters encouraged to use safe boating practices while on the water

• 10/26/2021 4:08:00 PM
• View Count 2379

Duck hunters who hunt from a boat are encouraged to include boating safety as part of their hunting plan. Waterfowl hunters use boats on some of the coldest days of the year. Not only is the water deathly cold on these days, but the hunter is likely wearing enough layers to make themselves heavy and clumsy, and if they go into the water, they are in serious trouble.

The first of Iowa’s three duck hunting zones opens Oct. 2

• 9/28/2021 1:35:00 PM
• View Count 3202

Wetland conditions have improved ahead of the Oct. 2 opening day of Iowa’s duck season in the north zone. The most recent migration report shows an increase in the number of ducks that pushed in to Iowa, thanks to a classic September weather change.

Badger Creek Wildlife Area - Popular hunting and fishing spot west of the Des Moines metro benefiting from change to prairie

• 5/25/2021 12:02:00 PM
• View Count 4082

Van Meter, Iowa - A steady stream of people found their way to Badger Creek a few years ago, not for the quality fishing or to hunt pheasants or ducks, but for the food plot planted and managed for the mourning dove season. They were here for the sunflowers.

Float coats add a layer of safety to ice fishing, duck hunting

• 1/12/2021 12:32:00 PM
• View Count 2439

The photos are showing up online and in social media feeds – ice fishing is finally here and is spreading across Iowa.

3 ducks you may not know live in Iowa

• 2/11/2020 10:15:00 AM
• View Count 8857

Some ducks in Iowa aren’t as common as mallards, wood ducks or blue-winged teals. Check out these duck species you might not know live here:

DNR conservation officer and park ranger rescue duck hunters

• 11/29/2019 2:40:00 PM
• View Count 2838

MONONA COUNTY, Iowa - DNR Conservation Officer Gary Sisco and DNR Park Ranger Katie Hoeppner responded to a stranded boat with duck hunters on West Blue Lake, a marsh off of Blue Lake in Monona County in the evening hours of November 26.

Duck hunters are optimistic with the main season underway

• 10/22/2019 3:37:00 PM
• View Count 2807

The September rain was a game changer for Iowa duck hunters, improving habitat conditions across most of the state by creating a number of shallow water areas where food is available.

DNR and licensing agents begin selling Federal Electronic Duck Stamp

• 7/2/2019 11:36:00 AM
• View Count 8298

DES MOINES, Iowa – As of July 1, 2019, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is now a part of the growing number of states natural resource agencies that is selling the Federal Electronic Duck Stamp, also known as the “E-Stamp”.

Public input requested for Lewis and Clark Lake Duck Blind Program changes

• 2/26/2019 11:47:00 AM
• View Count 3115

YANKTON, SD - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Gavins Point Project is requesting public input for the existing Lewis and Clark Lake Duck Blind Program.

Badger Lake offers an easy nature stop off I-29

• 9/11/2018 1:13:00 PM
• View Count 4988

Whiting, Iowa - Sitting not quite halfway between Sioux City and Council Bluffs with I-29 going right through it, it’s easy to think that Badger Lake Wildlife Area would be overrun with bird watchers, duck hunters, kayakers and nature lovers 24/7/365. While it does get busy when the duck migration is on, many days the only visitor is a wayward cormorant or a neighbor stopping by to wet a line.

Iowa's teal season opens Sept. 1

• 8/21/2018 12:40:00 PM
• View Count 6937

Iowa’s first duck hunting season begins September 1 with the 16 day teal-only season. These fast flying early migrators use the first cool spell in late August as a sign to start heading south.

Remote and quiet, Willow Slough is a Mills County treasure

• 7/10/2018 2:11:00 PM
• View Count 7073

Willow Slough Wildlife Area is the solution to the problem of what to do with land too wet to farm.

Notes from Iowa’s outdoors

• 5/8/2018 11:57:00 AM
• View Count 7441

Iowa’s 2018 reported spring turkey harvest is approaching 9,300 birds. Last year, hunters reported nearly 11,800 turkeys. Iowa’s spring turkey hunting season ends May 20.

Build your own simple nest box for ducks

• 4/12/2018 3:47:00 PM
• View Count 23982

Get inspired to attract hooded mergansers and wood ducks to your area with these easy-to-make DIY nest box plans. They work best where these ducks love to nest—wooded wetlands, riverbanks and shorelines.

Hawkeye Wildlife Area refuge opens Dec. 19

• 12/8/2017 10:28:00 AM
• View Count 4841

The wildlife refuge at the Hawkeye Wildlife Area in Johnson County will be open for public use, including hunting and trapping, on Dec. 19. 

Locked up and feet down, Iowa duck hunters are ready for opening day

• 9/19/2017 2:38:00 PM
• View Count 4339

Waterfowlers have waited all year for this: for the next three weekends in Iowa, there will be an opening day for duck and goose hunting. The north zone opens on Sept. 23, the south zone opens on Sept. 30 and the Missouri River zone opens on Oct. 7.

Tieville Bend Wildlife Area is western Iowa’s secret hunting hot spot

• 8/29/2017 1:08:00 PM
• View Count 9468

The parking lot of the Super 8 at I-29 and Hwy. 175 fills each fall with trucks pulling boats covered with duck blinds. For hunters, the bread and butter at Tieville Bend is the fall duck migration and if you want to know how the hunting is, go to Onawa and stop in Dave’s World Truck Stop and Restaurant, Suds and Jugs, or Millers Kitchen.

Iowa’s regular duck hunting seasons to start soon

• 9/20/2016 12:57:00 PM
• View Count 7218

Iowa has had a wet start to summer and now a wet end to summer filling wetlands and marshes across the state and flooding crop fields in certain areas. Adding to the mix that local Iowa ducks had a good hatch this spring and these young ducks are now spread out and using newly flooded areas for food and cover.

9 Cool Things You Should Know About Ducks

• 9/7/2016 10:04:00 AM
• View Count 28834

Ducks are one of the most recognizable bird families in the world thanks to their funky webbed feet, colorful plumage and big bills. The family is expansive, and Iowa alone is habitat for about 25 duck species every year.

Commission Approves Iowa Migratory Game Bird Seasons

• 4/19/2016 7:51:00 AM
• View Count 4933

The 2016-17 migratory game bird seasons were approved Thursday by the Natural Resource Commission of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Wood Ducks Cuffed for Migratory Behavior

• 11/18/2015 6:22:00 AM
• View Count 11106

Each year in late summer at 31 Iowa locations, seclusive wood ducks are captured and banded as part of a U.S. and Canadian effort to learn their migratory pathways, survival rates and breeding areas. The efforts help establish hunting seasons and regulations.