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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Hunting Cut Silage for Doves in Taylor County

Hunting Cut Silage for Doves in Taylor County

Hunting Cut Silage for Doves in Taylor County When I first got interested in dove hunting it was something I had only seen on outdoor shows on television. I had recently left active duty and had been hunting waterfowl while living in Cajun country in southern Louisiana. Even living in a state known as “The […]

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Early Fall Bass Fishing

Early Fall Bass Fishing September in Iowa, a month where we usually begin to see the signs of the coming fall with cooling temps. By now, we’ve endured the hot summer months with highs in the mid to upper 90’s with heat indexes crossing the century mark. Bring on the cooler weather!! We will see […]

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Guns Out

Guns Out I believe that there are two types of gun owners. First, there is the ones that owns guns simply because they love them. These folks spend weekend afternoons firing off several boxes of shells at steel targets, followed by a complete teardown and deep cleaning, and end the day by researching custom components […]

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Summertime Shad and Square Bills

Summertime Shad and Square Bills I decided to fish my way through 2020, the year of social isolation, and experienced the most epic day of largemouth bass fishing of my life. I have no idea how many bass I caught the morning of August 7th, but I fished one spot for an hour and a […]

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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.