Hunting

October Success – Podcast

2019 Roadside Survey

Iowa’s pheasant population steady, quail down Iowa’s pheasant hunters should expect to find a similar number of birds as last year, with the exception of south central and southeast Iowa, where the pheasant population decline was more significant. Based on the August roadside survey, Iowa’s statewide average is 17 pheasants per 30 mile route, down […]

Phasing Your Way Through the Iowa Rut

Phasing Your Way Through the Iowa Rut November is a magical time for Iowa bowhunters. The early season buck routines are fading into an all-out crap shoot of big buck activity, where their focus is more about interactions with the does in an area and less on surviving their travels from bedding areas to food […]

Key Lockdown Locations to Know

Key Lockdown Locations to Know Being in a treestand during the whitetail rut here in Iowa is what dreams are made of. Waiting for a hot doe to come trotting through with a big bruiser in tow is what all of us hope for each time we climb into the tree during this time of […]

What you Need to Know about Late Season Waterfowling

What you Need to Know about Late Season Waterfowling Arguably my favorite time of year for duck and goose hunting is late season. There’s just something about battling the elements, scraping ice off my beard and fooling weary birds that gets the adrenaline flowing. This is the time of year when a lot of scouting, […]

In Season Adjustments: Whitetails 365

In Season Adjustments: Whitetails 365 For many hunters, they don’t get serious about their whitetail hunting until the month of November. I’m not one of those hunters. In fact, in many ways, my season began the day after last year’s season ended. That’s when I get serious. Making that yearly assessment into what went right, […]

Common Myths Concerning Deer Movement

Common Myths Concerning Deer Movement In 1953 Iowa held its first modern deer season for hunters and there has been a deer season of some sort ever since. In those passing years, we’ve learned a lot about deer behavior, habits, nutrition, needs, and more. Experts in wildlife biology have used that information to help us […]

Common Errors Made by Pheasant Hunters

Common Errors Made by Pheasant Hunters One of my favorite experiences is the sudden machine gun-like cadence of an eruption of flapping wings, accompanied by the appearance of a long streamer of tail feathers and the beautiful cola colored outline of a rooster pheasant. In the age of digital media overstimulation it’s hard to find […]

It’s the Rut, Now What

It’s the Rut, Now What Every November there seems to be an epidemic of folks who call in sick to work. Their affliction: Buck Fever! Men and women across our state have their eyes set on a trophy whitetail and this is one of the occasions to capitalize. November marks the prominent rutting period for […]

Hunting Waterfowl Beyond Opener

Hunting Waterfowl Beyond Opener Take a distant glance at waterfowl hunting in Iowa throughout the season and you will see a predictable shift in hunting pressure that occurs after the first couple weeks of the season. A chunk of hunters that ventured out early have hung their waders up to focus on other game species […]