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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Check Out Our Current Issue!

Overcoming and Adapting to Whitetail Obstacles

Overcoming and Adapting to Whitetail Obstacles Obstacles. Hate ‘em, but gotta like ‘em. Right? I’m old enough now to know that when things get in my way of accomplishing a task, I don’t like it. It might make things harder. It might add time to whatever I’m doing. Or maybe it might create delays. It […]

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Decoying Tactics for Rutting Whitetails

Fake Out: Decoying Tactics for Rutting Whitetails Counterfeit, fraud, hoax, phony: all are words that may be used to describe the art of decoying mature whitetail bucks into archery range. If one can effectively trick the senses of a whitetail buck by using decoying tactics then the odds of having an archery chip shot increase […]

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Whitetail Body Language

Whitetail Body Language

Whitetail Body Language Much like all animals’ whitetails have a language they use to communicate with each other. As a hunter it is important to understand, as much as possible, a whitetails language. By deciphering the whitetail language code hunters can understand what a deer is thinking and saying to other deer. In return a […]

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Iowa Fall Fishing Tips

When the bite is On

When the bite is on September…ahhhhhh…cooling temps, well at least we hope they start cooling off. We’ve just wandered through the heat of July and August and it was in a word, hot! Fishing, for the most part, was an early morning or late afternoon evening event. Two reasons really; you want to avoid sweating […]

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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.