Waterfowl
Cold Weather Care
Cold Weather Care By Ryan Eder Hunting season is finally here! The past offseason has been geared towards training dogs and hopefully keeping them in shape to prepare for the upcoming seasons. However a major difference is the fact that spring and summer temperatures are much warmer than what the late fall and winter bring…the […]
READ MORE
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 MORE
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 […]
READ MORE
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 […]
READ MORE
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 […]
READ MORE
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 […]
READ MORE
Bismuth Shot Fundamentals
Bismuth Shot Fundamentals Around the time I was born, lead shot used in waterfowl hunting began to be phased out. I vaguely recall my dad and grandpas grumbling about the lesser performance of steel shot for a few years preceding when I was old enough to know what duck hunting was. Nonetheless, this was the […]
READ MORE
How to Hunt Iowa’s Wildlife
How to Hunt Iowa’s Wildlife I am a chronically late person. Church services, family gatherings, meeting up with hunting buddies, even this article is coming down to the wire on the due date. Besides the self-loathing for my poor time management, I worry that others who may notice my frequent tardiness will assess that it […]
READ MORE
Getting Ready for the 2021 Duck Season
Getting Ready for the 2021 Duck Hunting Season When it comes to hunting and fishing, we all are at the mercy of Mother Nature. Cold fronts, pressure systems, winds, heavy rains, lack of rain…they all affect our hunting and fishing. However, I think that duck hunters are most at the mercy of Mother Nature. Year […]
READ MORE
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 […]
READ MORE