Check Out Our Current Issue!
In this issue of the Iowa Sportsman October 2025
- 5 Easy Mistakes to Make Fly Fishing for Trout in the Fall
- 10 Beginner Tips for Hunting Iowa Geese
- Deer Scents and Lures
- Early October Hunting Strategies
- Training your Dog to Blood-trail Deer
- Planning a Weeklong Pheasant Trip
- Shooting Optics for the Iowa Hunter
- Top 10 Bowhunting Destinations
- Whitetails 365: Mastering Scent Control
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Catfishing on Ice
Catfishing on Ice I’ve been fortunate enough to catch channel catfish through the ice on numerous occasions throughout the years. Most of these came from farm ponds or city ponds, although a few have come from public lakes. If you can find them, they really aren’t that difficult to entice into biting. Finding them can […]
READ MORESmoke Poles at the Buzzer
Smoke Poles at the Buzzer My father-in-law loathes the days on the calendar that follow the completion of the New Year’s arrival and fanfare. The “bleak midwinter” is what he dubs these blustery days, and I suppose the vast majority of people living above the 30th parallel share in the sentiment. But if you are […]
READ MOREVenison Processing 101
Venison Processing 101 You have just harvested a whitetail deer. Now what? You have two options: you can take your deer to a locker, or you can proceed with processing the deer yourself. Processing your own deer can seem like a big undertaking, but in all honesty, it is not very complicated. The biggest component […]
READ MOREReflect on your Hunting Season: Whitetails 365
Reflect on your Hunting Season: Whitetails 365 Welcome to a brand-new year! You made it. As always, whitetail deer are on my mind and the first month of the year is no different. So often, January is a month that finds us making (and sometimes breaking) New Year’s Resolutions. One resolution that I have is […]
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Featured Story
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 that in the last 40 years, there has been quite a bit of advancement when it comes to hunting whitetails. Knowing more about deer behavior, hunting scents, better tree stands, better bows, guns, and so much more.
I fear that somebody desiring to get into hunting in the current culture could be a bit overwhelmed with all the information and tools that are out there on the market. We must remember that man has been chasing deer for thousands of years. The art of hunting is not new. It’s the methods that are ever-changing.
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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.
