Check Out Our Current Issue!
In this issue of the Iowa Sportsman October 2025
- 5 Easy Mistakes to Make Fly Fishing for Trout in the Fall
- 10 Beginner Tips for Hunting Iowa Geese
- Deer Scents and Lures
- Early October Hunting Strategies
- Training your Dog to Blood-trail Deer
- Planning a Weeklong Pheasant Trip
- Shooting Optics for the Iowa Hunter
- Top 10 Bowhunting Destinations
- Whitetails 365: Mastering Scent Control
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Shot Placement Guide For Bowhunting Turkeys
Shot Placement Guide For Bowhunting Turkeys When using a bow to hunt turkeys, many different shots and angles will present themselves. To make a clean ethical kill a hunter must know where to aim on the turkey at any given moment. While a turkey looks to be a decent sized target to hit, it isn’t. […]
READ MOREDecoying Iowa Waterfowl: What You Need, and What You Need to Know
Decoying Iowa Waterfowl: What You Need, and What You Need to Know By Nick Johnson One of the most exciting aspects of waterfowl hunting is undoubtedly the use of decoys in fooling your quarry. Some make it simple and hike in or use a canoe or sneak boat to deploy a dozen or so decoys. […]
READ MOREFirst Day Success For Whitetail Shotgun Season
First Day Success For Whitetail Shotgun Season By Ricky Kinder Typically in Iowa during the first day of shotgun season for whitetails you will see groups of orange clad hunters chasing deer all over the place. The Iowa landscape is literally dotted with orange from border to border. The most common tactic used is large […]
READ MOREPrep For This Season: First Aid Overview For Sporting Dogs
Prep For This Season: First Aid Overview For Sporting Dogs By Ryan Eder As I sit down to collect my notes for this article, I must reflect and share with you my experience this past week on a hunt I went on. It is nuisance goose season, an early time period prior to waterfowl season […]
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Featured Story
The Art of Persuasion: Deer Scents, Rattles, and Bleats
In the 80’s, my father and grandfather were “entry-level” deer hunters. They had been invited to begin hunting a timber here in central Iowa that had a steady population of deer. In their efforts to learn more regarding the tactics to use to fool a wise old whitetail, my grandfather and father would douse their boots with fox urine! It was an effort to hide human scent when they were in the woods. It goes without saying that those boots were not allowed in the house, ever!
There is no doubt that in the last 40 years, there has been quite a bit of advancement when it comes to hunting whitetails. Knowing more about deer behavior, hunting scents, better tree stands, better bows, guns, and so much more.
I fear that somebody desiring to get into hunting in the current culture could be a bit overwhelmed with all the information and tools that are out there on the market. We must remember that man has been chasing deer for thousands of years. The art of hunting is not new. It’s the methods that are ever-changing.
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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.
