Hunting

It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This

Little did 14-year old Dalton Christoffer, a freshman at Estherville Lincoln Central in northwest Iowa, know when he headed for northeast Iowa to participate in the youth dear season that a trophy buck just might be in the picture. He was pretty sure that he’d have a chance at a nice buck. After all two […]

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Back to the Basics: New Gear Gives You No Guarantees

It seems like only yesterday my father and I were making a trip to Cabela’s in Owatonna, Minnesota to check out hunting gear. I was twelve or thirteen and had been planning my first deer hunt for a while through hours of watching and learning everything I could from the hunting channels we had on […]

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Fallback Stands For Archery Season

Have you ever been sitting in a treestand and seen a large mature whitetail buck coming your way only to have it skirt your stand by 70 yards for no apparent reason? I have fallen victim to this scenario more than once. It is a frustrating ride of mixed emotions; one minute your heart is […]

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Food Plots: Are They Necessary in Iowa?

I have often heard many deer hunters say that there is no reason why they should plant a food plot in Iowa. After all there is already plenty of food, with the over abundance of corn and soybean fields in our state. Half of that statement is true; the part about our state has a […]

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Early Season Bow Hunting Mistakes

Bow season rolls around the same time every year, but it still catches many sportsmen under and ill prepared. It seems like if mistakes are going to be made, they’re more likely to happen early, than at any other point during the season. Getting busted, missing a duffed shot, not seeing deer, or coming down […]

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Don’t Overlook The Small Tracts

The story of David and goliath crossed my mind as I maneuvered through corn and tall grass toward the tree where my quarry awaits.  Three doves perched unsuspectingly in the weathered black locust on the northwest end of the one acre drainage creek.  As I inch closer, I am thankful that I have such an […]

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Encountering Iowa Bobcats

By Troy Hoepker When Bret Paulsen filled his archery tag with a 155 inch, eleven point bruiser of a buck in mid November, some would call it a very successful fall already. What he didn’t know at the time was just how incredible his month of November for 2011 was yet to be in Iowa’s […]

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Compound Bow 101: What are the parts of your bow?

By:  Nick Jedlicka Okay, count me as one of the guilty!  I was not always totally up to speed on what the various parts and functions of my compound bow were.  Maybe this was not such a big deal.  For a beginner, it may not be essential to know every tidbit of info – but […]

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Colder Weather Coon Trapping

By Joshua Jones Picture this scenario as a trapper: It is Friday night before the opening day of the trapping season in Iowa and you are loading the truck with all equipment you may need for the next day. Hammers, trowels, wire, bait, gloves, etc.  Everything that is on your list and checking it twice […]

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Opening Week ‘Coon Sets

By Josh Jones In this article I will go over some “Opening Week ‘Coon Sets” that you can use to catch more ‘coon and give some tips that may help catch other fur like mink or muskrats. Set #1—The “Pocket” Set. To make this, you dig a horizontal hole anywhere from 3-4” to 12” in […]

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