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In this inaugural episode of the Iowa Hunting and Fishing Report, host Aaron McKinney introduces a new weekly series presented by the Iowa Sportsman Magazine, focused on real-time field reports rather than secondhand information.

Iowa Hunting and Fishing Report

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Leveraging Weather for Waterfowl 

Leveraging Weather Fronts for Waterfowl 

Leveraging Weather Fronts for Waterfowl  I’ll never forget the time in my twenties when I got to witness a true migration push led by the onset of a nasty weather system. It was late November, and the temps had dropped to near freezing. A northeast wind was firing up, bringing precipitation and sub-freezing temps. The […]

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Iowa Public Land Hunting 

Iowa Public Land Hunting

Iowa Public Land Hunting  Every hunter wants to know where to go to harvest a great deer.  We often assume that there is some “honey hole” spot out there that a person can always go to and harvest a trophy year after year.  While having hope for that, we are always keeping our ears perked […]

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Hunting Blind Accessories That Make a Difference 

Hunting Blind Accessories That Make a Difference 

 Hunting Blind Accessories That Make a Difference  There are plenty of reasons to hunt from a blind. Maybe there aren’t any trees suitable for stands, the cover is too sparse, or you need to set up for the right wind. Whatever the case, a blind provides concealment wherever you place it. Once it’s set up, […]

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Early Ice Fishing Tactics

Early Ice Fishing Tactics

Early Ice Fishing Tactics At the time of this writing, Mother Nature had given Iowans a taste of what is to come. Daytime temperatures were peaking in the lower sixties and upper fifties, and northern reaches of the state saw nighttime temps dip to the mid-thirties. Ice anglers began contemplating the coming season.   Safety First […]

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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.

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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.