Check Out Our Current Issue!
In the April 2026 Issue of the Iowa Sportsman
- Best Places for Early Season Open Water
- Building a Foundation for the Field
- Range Safety Tips
- Building a Farm Pond to Hold More Wildlife
- Shed Antlers: Do they really tell us anything?
- What Makes a Great Food Plot
- Keeping Kids Engaged in Turkey Hunting
- Pre-Spawn Bass
- Springtime Panfish-Perch, Crappie, and Bluegill
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How to Hunt Iowa’s Wildlife
How to Hunt Iowa’s Wildlife I am a chronically late person. Church services, family gatherings, meeting up with hunting buddies, even this article is coming down to the wire on the due date. Besides the self-loathing for my poor time management, I worry that others who may notice my frequent tardiness will assess that it […]
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Getting Ready for the 2021 Duck Season
Getting Ready for the 2021 Duck Hunting Season When it comes to hunting and fishing, we all are at the mercy of Mother Nature. Cold fronts, pressure systems, winds, heavy rains, lack of rain…they all affect our hunting and fishing. However, I think that duck hunters are most at the mercy of Mother Nature. Year […]
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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 […]
READ MOREEarly 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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Featured Story
Springtime Panfish-Perch, Crappie, and Bluegill
Spring is in full swing here in Iowa, and what can be more pleasant a reminder than the sound of birds, the sight of flowers blooming, and the feel of a warm afternoon? I can think of at least one more thing…Panfish!
I can remember it like yesterday, our family would all meet up at the lake house. There was work to do. The yard was to be picked up, the cabin cleaned, and the dock had to be put in. But then, after the work was finished, it was time for all of us cousins to fish! We would all go out to the garage to pick out a few old rods and tie on a hook and sinker as best we could.
The next order of business was to hunt for worms. Flipping anything that we could find stuck in the ground in hopes of just finding a few crawlers. Once the bait was secured, we were ready to fish. We would go out on the dock and cast, vertical jig, and even troll along the side of the dock. We usually did pretty well use those tactics, but my all-time favorite was walking along the rocks on shore and dropping the bait down every little crevice, not knowing what was going to come up next.
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.
