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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How to Maximize Success with a Plan of Attack Taking Your Inventory

Trail Cameras: Maximize Success with a Plan of Attack!

Trail Cameras: Maximize Success with a Plan of Attack Trail cameras have come a long way since the early 1980s when a group of students from Missouri State University looked for ways to study whitetail deer behavior for an assignment to complete their Masters. Since then we have gone from monstrous boxes that literally held […]

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What it is like to be a Tournament Bass Angler Iowa’s Big Water Largemouth Challenge

Iowa’s Big Water Largemouth Challenge

Iowa’s Big Water Largemouth Challenge Iowa may be known for its small farm ponds when you go outside our borders, but the large bodies of water in the state can provide some great largemouth bass fishing too.  Not only for numbers of fish, but quality as well. The bigger bodies of water in the state […]

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How to Improve your Deer Stands

How to Improve your Deer Stands

How to Improve your Deer Stands Edge, ridge, creek, saddle, funnel, bench, pinch. These are all words that deer hunters begin throwing around when we consider stand placement for hunting whitetails. Many times we nod our head in agreement and decide that this method or that method is the best when it comes to perching […]

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10 Things You Must Do While Camping

10 Things You Must Do While Camping

10 Things You Must Do While Camping By Jason Smith When I was a kid, camping equated to a tent, a sleeping bag and pillow, and RAIN. Lots and lots of rain! No matter what time of the year or where we camped, rain was pretty much a guarantee. It didn’t matter if we were […]

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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.