Check Out Our Current Issue!
In the May 2026 Issue of the Iowa Sportsman
- Chase the Bite: Early Season
- Calming A Hyper Gun Dog
- Perfecting Your Turkey Setup
- Summer Work That Pays Off in Bow Season
- Artifact Hunting in Iowa
- Wild Edible Foraging
- Tactics for Late-Season Toms
- Iowa’s Venom, Oil and Toxic Sap
Click Here To View This Issue Now!
Time to set your Tree Stand!
Time to set your Tree Stand! August is hot. August is humid. But if you’re like me, you’ve procrastinated too long and it’s the last chance to get some work done before the season starts. Because in September, I don’t step foot on the properties I hunt, except to maybe check some easily accessible trail […]
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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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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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Waterfowl Boat Checklist
Waterfowl Boat Checklist Most hunters are “gear guys”; we want to have the right equipment for every situation and even if we do not need it, it helps us sleep at night knowing we are prepared anyway. The duck boat is a special place. It is a mobile hide that we essentially live out of […]
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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.
