The Art of Persuasion: Deer Scents, Rattles, and Bleats 
The Art of Persuasion: Deer Scents, Rattles, and Bleats 

The Art of Persuasion: Deer Scents, Rattles, and Bleats In the 80’s, my father and grandfather were “entry-level” deer hunters.  They had been invited to begin hunting a timber here in central Iowa that had a steady population of deer.  In their efforts to learn more regarding the tactics to use to fool a wise old whitetail, my grandfather and father would douse their boots with fox urine!  It was an effort to hide human scent when they were in the woods.  It goes without saying that those boots were not allowed in the house, ever! There is no doubt […]

Read more

Check Out Our Current Issue!

5 Types of Land Access in Iowa

5 Types of Land Access in Iowa You may have heard stories from members of your family or friends about the “hay day” of Iowa Pheasant hunting but never experienced anything like those stories yourself. Although Iowa has not recently been known for its miles of grasslands or public hunting like some other states, a […]

READ MORE

Hunting Iowa’s Wild Pheasants

Hunting Iowa’s Wild Pheasants As my son Dylan and I turned onto the gravel road leading to our opening day hunting spot last fall we kept our fingers crossed that maybe we’d be lucky enough to be the first hunters to arrive at the IHAP public hunting farm. It was still a half-hour until shooting […]

READ MORE
Preparing for Waterfowl Season

Preparing For Waterfowl Season

Preparing For Waterfowl Season The humid heat of summer keeps many of our minds averted from cupped wings and bobbing decoys. For a lot of hunters, myself included, it can be tough to get in the mindset of waterfowl hunting until the season is literally upon us. You rush to assemble the gear, maybe the […]

READ MORE
Pre-Season Deer Scouting

Pre-Season Deer Scouting: Whitetails 365

Pre-Season Deer Scouting: Whitetails 365 My good friend Jeff Danker coined a phrase over these past few years that I have found myself using quite a bit: “Big Buck Work”. He even a hashtag for the slogan (#bigbuckwork). His logic is taking a trophy deer doesn’t happen on accident and the work that you do […]

READ MORE

Featured Story

Iowa Public Land Hunting 

Every hunter wants to know where to go to harvest a great deer.  We often assume that there is some “honey hole” spot out there that a person can always go to and harvest a trophy year after year.  While having hope for that, we are always keeping our ears perked for that privileged information on where the best place to hunt would be.   

Now, let me ask you, if somebody had the perfect spot to hunt where they are harvesting trophy deer year after year, do you think that they would share that information with you?  Probably not.  Unless they are VERY gracious and kind.   

In this article, I will not share any “secret spots” with you who are reading.  Frankly, because I don’t have any secret spots to share!  However, I’ve lived in Iowa long enough to steer you to certain areas of our great state that might give you a great chance to fill a tag this fall and winter.  So let’s begin with some regions of the state to key into. 

READ FULL STORY

Created By Iowans, For Iowans

The Iowa Sportsman website and magazine are Iowa’s only privately owned media sources catering to hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts here in Iowa. Simply put, we are unlike other Iowa outdoor media sources: All our staff is from Iowa, from our publisher to our writers. We actually follow through on what we advertise; we provide knowledgeable content from people who know the industry or sport discussed.