Upland
Patterning Your Shotgun
Patterning Your Shotgun By Ryan Eder I love to joke with everyone and blame the choke in my gun for a poor shooting performance. “Man, I should have used a mod and not my full” is my signature tag line. The truth is, understanding your gun’s performance with different chokes is obviously important when we […]
READ MOREThinking Small
Thinking Small Hunting in Iowa has changed significantly during my lifetime. Four decades ago wild turkey and deer were scarce or non-existent in much of the state. Most hunters started out shooting squirrels and rabbits before moving on to pheasants and/or waterfowl. Only then did they graduate to larger game, if they had access to […]
READ MOREEarly Season Duck Strategies
Early Season Duck Strategies By Nick Johnson The onset of duck season stirs many emotions in a waterfowl hunter. It often starts with super early mornings and mild weather and the hopes that any prior scouting missions will prove successful. This is a chance for hunters to knock the dust off their gear, which if […]
READ MORECommands in the Field
Commands in the Field By: Ryan Eder – President, Upland Gundog Association LLC, Goldeneyes Retrievers If someone were to ask you “what commands do you use most in the field” what would your answer be? Are we even aware half of the time of what we are saying to our dogs while hunting? Is our […]
READ MOREQuail Resurgence
Quail Resurgence By Troy Hoepker We’d witnessed Casey point plenty of pheasants before but on this point all four of her legs trembled uncontrollably like cold jelly. What lay in the weeds in front of her nose couldn’t be a pheasant? It was something she wasn’t sure of and to tell you the truth, neither […]
READ MOREKeeping Opening Day Simple
Keeping Opening Day Simple By Ryan Eder Avery Outdoors, Southfork Retrievers You’ve heard the KISS model (“Keep it simple, stupid”) before right? It applies to many things, why not opening day? We await opening day with an intense feeling of anticipation and excitement, but sometimes we let it get the best of us with unnecessary […]
READ MOREKiss: Opening Day
Kiss: Opening Day By Ryan Eder You’ve heard the KISS model (“Keep it simple, stupid”) before right? It applies to many things, why not opening day? We await opening day with an intense feeling of anticipation and excitement, but sometimes we let it get the best of us with unnecessary overkill on what gear we […]
READ MOREThrough the Eyes of the DNR
Through the Eyes of the DNR Top Ten Most Common Violations Seen During Hunting Seasons So, you went to school and you made it happen. After, you saw what you wanted, you jumped through the many hoops, and luckily became one of the few hired in this much desired profession you went through a lot […]
READ MORESnipe Hunting Defined
Snipe Hunting Defined By Nick Johnson Its dark out, you have your burlap sack and are prepared to make a series of loud, unnecessary vocalizations in hopes of luring the elusive snipe of lore you were sent out to capture. Your hoots and hollers shatter the dark silence of the forest, but no snipe shows. […]
READ MOREWhat to Look for in a Hunting Lease
What to Look for in a Hunting Lease By Ryan Eder Let’s face it, finding places to hunt is becoming harder and harder to do. As a society, we are becoming more developed, and farm land is dissipating. For the remaining land, it is highly competitive to secure landowner permission to hunt their farms so […]
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