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Mastering Summer Catfish
Iowa Sportsman July 2025
This Issue Brings You:
- Mastering Summer Catfish
- Fishing Iowa: Iowa Hot Spots
- Do It Yourself – Iowa Kill Plots
- Introducing Youth to Shooting Sports
- Whitetails 365 – Drought, Deer & Looming Threat of EHD
- County Spotlight: Iowa Fishing Destinations
- Blind Buyers Guide: Clear Sight Hunting Blinds
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A Bowhunters’ Backpack
A Bowhunters’ Backpack By Shawn and Kristi O’Connor Louis Pasteur, the brilliant 19th century French chemist and inventor of pasteurization, coined the phrase, “fortune favors the prepared mind.” What does that have to do with a bowhunters backpack? Well, lets just say I spent a good number of years ignoring that advice before I […]
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Hacks Every Angler Should Know
Hacks Every Angler Should Know By Todd Reed Each and every angler that makes a cast wants to accomplish the same thing, to catch a fish. Some anglers are quite serious about this task, while others fish to catch a fresh meal, or to unwind from the busy day. No matter what reason you go […]
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The Geography of Catfishing
The Geography of Catfishing By Brad Durick When you are sitting along a river bank or in your river boat have you ever just taken a moment to look around? Have you ever just sat and studied the banks? Looked at what is happening at every bend? If you have, you understand more about how […]
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Avoiding Boating Mistakes
Avoiding Boating Mistakes By Steve Weisman I’ve been a boat owner for over 40 years and for the most part have enjoyed my boating experiences. At the same time, along the way I have witnessed and been part of mistakes that have certainly affected those experiences. Some have been laughable, some what I would call […]
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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.