Waterfowl

Thinking 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 […]

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Early 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 […]

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How to Win on Opening Day Waterfowl

How to Win on Opening Day Waterfowl By Ryan Eder There is something about opening day that gets us all excited. Whether it is the first day of school, a new job or the first home game of your favorite sports team, we find ourselves getting anxious in anticipation of “the day”. I cannot wait […]

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Commands 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 […]

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Keeping 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 […]

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Kiss: 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 […]

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Through 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 […]

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Snipe 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. […]

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What 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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Your New Puppy Pt. 4: Starting our Gundog

Your New Puppy Pt. 4: Starting our Gundog By Ryan Eder Finally, we have reached part 4 of our mini-series covering how to bring our puppy home, what to focus on, and how to progress in our training program. At this point we are ready to introduce the electronic collar, begin introductory field work and […]

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