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 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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Learning to Fly Fish Iowa

Learning to Fly Fish Iowa

Learning to Fly Fish Iowa When you think fly fishing, I’ll bet you picture mountains, streams and waders – at least I do. However, some excellent opportunities exist right here in Iowa. All Iowans have access to either public or private ponds or lakes. When ponds or lakes are calm and the surface is glassy, […]

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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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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.