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 […]

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Planning Your June Catfish Destination

Planning Your Next June Catfish Destination June is here, and with it comes cooling summer evenings; the time when bank lines are set and fishermen across Iowa seek out channel catfish. The summer feeding patterns can be some of the most exciting and rewarding times to catch those cats. Many catfish anglers will go down […]

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How To Take A Kid Fishing

How To Take a Kid Fishing Fishing is in full swing, and there is nothing better than a special fishing trip with a child. It doesn’t matter if the child is five years old or 15 years old, that child has dreams of catching fish and having a good time with a special person. I […]

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Maintaining Clover Food Plots: Whitetails 365

Maintaining Clover Food Plots: Whitetails 365 From my hunting stand, I watched the 11-point buck bedded down in the clover field through my binoculars. Thanks to the establishment of clover on our small property, my husband and I were able to hold and attract neighboring deer to our place, and in this case, we had […]

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The Benefits of Pheasant Food Plots

The Benefits of Pheasant Food Plots If you’re a bird hunter reading this I bet I can take you along with me and you can picture this journey because you’ve seen it before with your own eyes. You’re slogging through the bluestem, the switchgrass, or other grassland flushing the occasional bird as you go but […]

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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. 

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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.