Check Out Our Current Issue!

In this Issue of The Iowa Sportsman August 2025:
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- 5 Low Tech Hacks for Soft Plastics and Bass
- Fall Fishing in Iowa
- Dove Opener Countdown
- Unlocking the Secrets of Extended-Range Accuracy
- The Status of Mountain Lions in Iowa
- Saddle Hunting for those who Say they Never will
- Optimal Stand Placement
- The Triton Buck – A Rut Story
- Get Your Weapon Ready for Deer Season
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The Puzzle in Patterning a Rutting Buck
The Puzzle in Patterning a Rutting Buck By Aaron Stonehocker I have always been fascinated with the complexity and interconnection of everything in our natural world. Like a completed jigsaw puzzle, the perfect picture is only there if every piece is carefully laid in the perfect place, starting with the outer edge. A big buck […]
READ MORETools of the Trade and their Usage Techniques
Tools of the Trade and their Usage Techniques By Jason Smith When it comes to deer hunting today, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all of the different products on the market. Each making claims of bringing in more and bigger bucks. Many are just variations of one another, and it’s tough to make up […]
READ MOREPrepare Now For Waterfowl Season
Prepare Now For Waterfowl Season Ugh the lull of fall! The turkey woods have gone silent, the mushrooms are all but gone, decaying or hidden in a jungle of poison ivy and May apples. The bugs have reinforced their armies, and the mosquitoes have once again started their aerial assaults. So now what? I guess […]
READ MOREPre-Ice Ice Preparation
Pre-Ice Ice Preparation By Rod Woten It’s hard to believe that we could legitimately be walking on water in a handful of weeks. As I write this, it is 90 degrees outside and it feels more like ice fishing season is months away instead of weeks. Eventually, Mother Nature will get with the program and […]
READ MOREFeatured Story
10 Killer Big Buck Bow Hunting Ambushes
Why do top notch hunters shoot quality mature deer year after year? Sure they scout, don’t shoot young bucks, maintain their land, pay attention to the wind, plant food plots, are in big buck country, ect. Yes all of those and many more reasons can attribute to better chances of shooting bigger bucks consistently. However do you know the most important reason why people shoot big deer year after year? Because they place their stands in locations where big bucks like to frequent…it really is that simple. They are in the right place at the right time. You will never consistently shoot mature deer if you are not putting your tree stands in the proper locations.
Whitetails are creatures of habit and instinct, they do everything for a purpose and that is actually a good thing for us hunters. If we know what they like to do, what they don’t like to do, and how they navigate their day then we can key in on certain geographical locations on our properties and ambush an unsuspecting bruiser.
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.