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 Turkeys on Public Ground

Hunting Turkeys on Public Ground

Hunting Turkeys on Public Ground Your season has come and you are rearing to go! You have a tag in your pocket and the itch to get out in the timber and chase some big Iowa Easterns. The gun is dusted off, you have the ammo, the camo, and the eagerness for another hunting turkeys […]

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Fish like a Guide does to Stay on Fish

Fish like a Guide does to Stay on Fish Iowa is full of great rivers, lakes, ponds and streams.  Most have plenty of fish to keep a person busy all day long.  Whether you fish for bluegills, bass, muskie or anything in between we have all had our great days, and we have had those […]

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Skills Every Angler Should Know

Skills Every Angler Should Know

Skills Every Angler Should Know So many of us go fishing or hunting like it’s second nature. We know how to tie knots, how to load and unload a boat, and even basic survival skills. Many of us have learned these skills since we learned how to walk, but many people never had a parent […]

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Early Spring Fishing – Crappie

Early Spring Fishing – Crappie Crappie… animals that forage for discrete, isolated resources are often characterized as either “ambush” (sit-and-wait) or “cruise” (active) searchers. Juvenile white crappie, Pomix annularis, search for zooplankton prey using a salutatory search (SS) strategy. Unlike ambush and cruise, SS involves… Had all you readers going there for a moment didn’t […]

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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.