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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Find Your Pattern
Patterning your turkey gun is an important part of turkey hunting that sometimes is an after thought to many hunters. Having a finely patterned gun, especially at long-range shots of 40 yards can be the difference of placing a tag on a bird or watching it run away from you. Use these tips provided to […]
READ MORE10 Tips on Becoming A Better Turkey Hunter
By Matt Johnson Now that deer season is a distant memory, many of us here in Iowa are switching gears to begin pursuing turkeys. The excitement that comes from a tom gobbling on the roost, to having him strut all the way across a field right into your decoys, is what we all look forward […]
READ MOREIowa Coyotes: Inside the Numbers
I hadn’t felt the cold wind sting my face in quite some time like it did that February day this last winter. My calling partner Mark and I joked that we must be the only foolhardy pair of coyote hunters actually trying to coax a coyote to us in the whole state in weather like […]
READ MOREState record perch weighed at Kabele’s Trading Post
By Steve Weisman Little did 43-year-old Royce Krummen of Lake Park realize when he went fishing shortly after noon on Saturday, February 16 that he would end up catching the fish of a lifetime and possibly the new Iowa state record for perch. It all happened about mid-afternoon. Fishing a northwest Iowa area pond with […]
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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.
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.
