All | Hunting | Fishing | Gear & More
Bad Weather = Good Hunting?
Bad Weather = Good Hunting? My ideal weather conditions for a day of bow hunting whitetails would be overcast skies, a low around 25 degrees, a high of 40 degrees, and little to no wind. While those days do occur several times a year during the Iowa archery season what do you do when Mother Nature throws in some rain clouds and a 30 mph wind? Hopefully your answer is not to stay in bed until the weather clears! While harsh conditions such as wind, rain, and snow are most certainly not want hunters like to hunt in those conditions may give you a better chance at tagging a deer this season. I know that sounds completely crazy but if [...]
Hold Deer On Small Property!
Hold Deer On Small Property! If you are a whitetail hunter in Iowa please raise your hand if you agree to the following question: Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have 1,500 acres of vast, pristine whitetail habitat to hunt in Iowa? While I obviously can’t see the hands going up I can imagine most of you have your hands in the air. The bad news is the overwhelming majority of hunters do not have such large expanses of land to hunt. In fact I would be willing to bet that most hunters who own, rent, ask permission, or lease hunting property have less than 120 acres to hunt on. The problem that most of us small acreage hunters’ face is [...]
Icey Eyes
Icey Eyes By Ben Leal Iowa is in the heart of the ice belt and anglers throughout the Midwest will venture North, South, East or West to test their ice fishing skills on our local waters. Some areas like West Lake Okoboji for instance are on many a hit list for large bull bluegill. Other areas in the Iowa Great Lakes region or IGL’s as they are known, are magnets for ice anglers who are looking for an opportunity to ice some walleyes. In January Iowa lakes have a nice ice cap on them and anglers as well as non-anglers look forward to icing walleyes for the table. Winter Habits Let’s talk about the fish itself for a moment. Walleye [...]
In Search of the Perch Bonanza!
In Search of the Perch Bonanza! By Steve Weisman Anglers will travel great distances on ice when it comes to chasing perch. In the Hawkeye state, one of the go-to places is the Iowa Great Lakes. Big Spirit and the Okoboji chain all have excellent perch populations. However, targeting these schools of meandering perch also means that there will be lots of fishermen – little towns of perch fishermen where ever the perch bite is on. In many areas of Iowa, however, there is another perch bite that often goes on. It’s on lakes that “once in a while” take off and feature a perch bonanza. However, it changes each year, and it may only happen once every 5 to [...]
Cold Calling New Coyote Properties
Cold Calling New Coyote Properties By Troy Hoepker It doesn’t matter whether it’s deer hunting, pheasant hunting or coyote hunting, each time we gain permission on a new spot we as hunters see visions of limitless birds, huge bucks or dozens of coyotes emerging before our eyes like some fantasy from our dreams that we’ve just discovered the ultimate hunting paradise. It doesn’t usually work that way, but it feels good to dream and the overzealous, hysterical urge to hunt a new promising looking property overwhelms our every thought. Coyotes are everywhere in Iowa, but some farms just shout out the word “Coyote” at the very glance at them. As a coyote caller, fulfilling the dream of consistent success on [...]
First Ice Panfish
First Ice Panfish By Bob Jensen Ice-fishing is getting closer every day. For the past few days there’s been a skim of ice on the pond early in the morning, but that skim has disappeared by mid-morning. Today the skim lasted until the middle of the afternoon. Once that layer of ice has a full day and night to get established, it won’t be long until there will be anglers out there punching holes in the ice. I won’t be the first person out there drilling holes: I wait until I see someone bigger than me out there, and, unfortunately, sometimes it’s hard to find someone bigger than me. Nonetheless, when I’m convinced that the ice is thick enough, it’s [...]
The “Oops“ of Dog Training: Where We Go Wrong in Preparing for Hunting Season
The “Oops“ of Dog Training: Where We Go Wrong in Preparing for Hunting Season By Ryan Eder It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement of hunting with your young dog for the first time that we tend to overshadow the “to do list” that we must follow to fully prepare for our dog’s first hunting season. Whether you pay a professional to work with your dog or follow a training program yourself there are still plenty of steps that need to be accounted for prior to opening day. In retriever training especially, it is all too common to let yard work and basic drills “trick” us into thinking our dog is ready for the duck blind. [...]
Deer Hunting Secrets From Dad
Deer Hunting Secrets from Dad By Drew Henry I was raised hunting white-tailed deer with my dad in eastern Montana on the Milk River, primarily from a tree stand. My hundreds of mornings and nights spent patiently waiting for that bruiser to walk past me have resulted in some great successes, even more great mistakes, and whole lot of lessons learned. When I told my dad I was writing an article with a few of my favorite tips and tricks, he was less than excited. “Why would you want to do that?” he asked me bluntly, as if everyone who reads this was going to run out and accomplish everything he had worked so hard to teach me. Sarcastically I [...]
Fourth Quarter Honkers
Fourth Quarter Honkers By Ryan Eder Whether we are talking sports or hunting, there is something about that buzzer beater shot or fourth quarter comeback that makes things exciting. Late season goose hunting has the same appeal, as it is typically the latest season open for waterfowl hunting and it is our last weeks of enjoying time in the blind for the year. What is different about late season goose hunting? We have examined tactics all season long and guess what, the same tactics will apply in the “fourth quarter” (aka the late portion of the season). Scouting No matter what stage of the season we are in, all success is largely dependent on how well you scout your area. [...]
Bobcat Trapping
Bobcat Trapping By Larry Sills Catching a bobcat in a foot hold trap in Iowa involves unique methods. It allows the trapper to use his/her imagination more than any other land type set. Also if you want big dollars for your one cat Iowa limit, hold off on setting your traps until after December 20th by then the fur will be as thick and mature as possible. This means a short season but with proper scouting and a keen sense of cat behavior your catch will come fast. Below I will outline a few of my favorite sets. Do not limit anything when it comes to Iowa bobcats. If you can make a mound out of anything and hang a [...]
