Early Spring Trout Fishing
Early Spring Trout Fishing

Early Spring Trout Fishing Spring in Northeast Iowa’s Driftless Region marks the beginning of one of the most rewarding trout fishing seasons in the Midwest. This is one of the prettiest areas in Northern Iowa marked with limestone bluffs, spring-fed creeks, and rolling pastures. The Driftless Region contains a several cold, clear streams that flow steadily year-round. This creates perfect trout habitat, and spring offers fishermen peaceful days on the water. With stable water temperatures, increasing insect activity, and hungry post-winter trout, there’s no better time to explore these legendary streams. Why The Driftless Region? This region is a trout […]

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Hunting Early Season Pheasants

Hunting Early Season Pheasants October is finally here and for pheasant hunters, that means Iowa’s pheasant season will soon open. We know from survey results that last year’s pheasant hunting was phenomenal. In fact, hunters harvested more pheasants last year than any year in the last decade. We want this year to be just as […]

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Duck Hunting Small Rivers

Duck Hunting Small Rivers Hunting ducks on smaller moving waters is less common in Iowa than one might think. How you define a smaller river is objective and really can be anything from a reasonable stream to something like the Des Moines River in the northern half of the state. What comes to my mind […]

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A Smart Start to Deer Season

A Smart Start to Deer Season As deer season quickly approaches, it catches most of us by surprise every year. We generally are busy with summer vacations, kids, families, weddings, and by the time youth season or opening day of Iowa’s archery season opens up, we are behind scrambling to get “ready enough” for the […]

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Secrets to Trolling Walleye

Unlocking Secrets to Trolling for Walleyes

Unlocking Secrets to Trolling for Walleyes By Steve Weisman As a fishing guide on the Iowa Great Lakes, M. Doug Burns is often asked by anglers, “What should I do when I troll for walleyes?” Burns, who has been a professional guide since 1986, begins to answer this question by saying, “There is not one […]

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Featured Story

Big Buck Profile: The 2025 Gandy Buck

Ok, this first big buck profile is a little self-serving in that it is of a buck that I personally took this past deer season. While it is likely not the “biggest” big buck that we will profile this year it is definitely one of my most special deer ever.

Turning a Dream into Reality

As has been noted in several articles since 2023, my family and I finally put together the means to purchase our very own piece of Iowa ground. “The 32,” as we call it, has become a passion project to see if we could take an unassuming piece of real estate and harvest a mature deer from there by giving him all he needs in the way of habitat. This year was the first year that the farm would be huntable in the state in which we intended due to construction projects over the past couple of seasons.

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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.