| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Season | 31 OCT 2026 – 31 JAN 2027 | 93d |
As publishedOct 31, 2026 - Jan 31, 2027
Blaze orange required.Shooting hours 8am-4:30pm.
Bobwhite quail range in Iowa is now confined to the southern part of the state. Iowa DNR's August Roadside Survey confirms the SW and SC survey regions hold the state's best quail densities (with WC close behind), while the three northern survey regions report essentially none. General range guidance places the state's best remaining habitat in the southern three tiers of counties along the Missouri border.
Iowa's bobwhite quail season runs Oct 31, 2026-Jan 31, 2027, bag 8 daily/16 possession, blaze orange required. The DNR's August Roadside Survey published its 2026 results September 1: quail came in down 21% statewide from 2025, though still right at the 10-year average, since 2025 itself was an outlier year (+123%, the best count since 2018) driven by an exceptionally mild winter that didn't repeat this year.
A real year-over-year decline off 2025's unusually strong count, landing back at Iowa's normal 10-year baseline rather than signaling a new downward trend.
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