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Dismal Days of a Fur Market
Every morning running the trapline, I’d roll up on many of my sets and find raccoon fairly regular. Each trap location that I’d scouted and set on was producing every few days bringing in consistent fur for the trapline as a whole. Except one particular spot that I’d check on every morning only to find […]
READ MOREFirst Day Success for Whitetail Shotgun Season-Steer Clear of the Crowds
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 group or party hunting. This is when hunters will get […]
READ MORETeaching the Fundamentals of Handguns
I’m often asked how I recommend new people begin shooting. You’d think that would be relatively simple. For the most part it can be, but we manage to make it complex more times than we realize. When asked how I prefer to introduce kids into shooting handguns, I don’t do so any differently than an […]
READ MOREThe Hunting Buddy
The Hunting Buddy By Earl Taylor Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general of the United States, has said in recent years that the most prevalent health issue in the country is not cancer or heart disease or obesity. It is isolation. Murthy’s comment is good news to us who are overweight; finding a friend should […]
READ MOREFeatured Story
Introducing Youth to Shooting Sports
I can still remember the day my mom told me we had to watch the next episode of “Buckmasters TV.” Being an oblivious five-year-old, you can only imagine how excited I was to see my picture pop up as their weekly winner of a FREE Buckmasters Daisy Model 840 BB gun. Bubba and Shotgun Red announced my name, and I was the proud new owner of my very first firearm.
I ran to meet the mail carrier every day to check for that long cardboard box. Watching “Buckmasters” with my parents fed my enthusiasm for the outdoors, but I was already obsessed with all things related to shooting at an early age. That BB gun gave me so much more than a tool to shoot targets with. It gave my parents an opportunity to teach me about gun safety. It gave me my first memories of being in the woods, tagging along with my dad and his .22 chasing squirrels and rabbits. It gave me another way to spend time with my younger sisters when they began to learn about gun safety. Most importantly, it sparked a lifelong love for hunting and target shooting.
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.