Upland

“Daddy I’m big enough to go too”

“Daddy I’m big enough to go too” When you’re 6 years old it’s just plain hard to watch Dad load the truck and then disappear with your puppy for a morning of pheasant hunting without you! That’s especially true when your older brother, who is old enough to hunt himself, sometimes gets to go and […]

Hammock Camping in the Hawkeye State: Hanging Out in Iowa

Hammock Camping in the Hawkeye State: Hanging Out in Iowa It doesn’t seem to matter where we camp, our hammock setup always seems to be the talk of the campground. If we had a nickel for every person that stops by and asks to check out the hammocks that Laura and I camp in, we’d […]

10 Disasters to Avoid with your Gundog

10 Disasters to Avoid with your Gundog I remember as a kid thumbing through an outdoor magazine and noticing a striking advertisement- the product being advertised was evidently irrelevant to the function of my long term memory, but the message must have been worthy. In bold white lettering above a picture of a pointer blasting […]

Strategies to Obtain more Hunting Ground

Strategies to Obtain more Hunting Ground Locking down permission to hunt private land in Iowa is like winning the lottery. Hunters on private land enjoy higher success rates and influence how often the farm is hunted, how many animals are harvested, and how habitat is managed. Moreover, hunters that respect landowners’ wishes and are willing […]

50 Ways to Utilize the Offseason

50 Ways to Utilize the Offseason If you are like me your favorite hunting season is when you feel most alive. Calling upon skills you haven’t used for a year, clearing your schedule of nearly all other responsibilities and breaking the gaze into the digital abyss are just a few of the rare indulgences we […]

Gaining Access To Private Property

Life of a Conservation Officer with Dan Henderson – Podcast

For the Love of the Hunt

For the Love of the Hunt One of the most enjoyable parts of hunting pheasants is hunting with a good hunting dog. Without one, it’s like trying to find the proverbial “needle in a haystack,” especially when hunting some of the massive public hunting areas around here. Filled with lots of good habitat, I’ve often […]

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 […]

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 […]