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Listen Now! To the Iowa Hunting and Fishing Report

Watch the October 6th Iowa Hunting and Fishing Report!

Fishing: The fall bite is on! Panfish are still biting, the walleye bite is finally starting to pick up too.

Hunting: Congrats to all the youth hunters who were able to fill their tags. Bow season is now open, movement has been okay.

This week's sponsor of the Hunting and Fishing Report is Polk County Conservation's controlled waterfowl hunting program. Waterfowl hunting blinds at Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt in NE Polk County can be reserved by calling the Chichaqua office at (515) 323-5395 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The twelve blinds are located in both marsh and woodland settings. Blinds cost $30 per day and hold up to four hunters. Reservations are available for both the early split (October 10 – 16) and late split (Oct. 24 – Nov. 30).

Click here to reserve your blind today!
https://www.polkcountyiowa.gov/conservation/things-to-do/hunting

Iowa Hunting Fishing Report
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Check Out Our Current Issue!

In The Iowa Sportsman December 2026 Issue…

Winter brings fresh opportunities for hunters and anglers, and this issue of Iowa Sportsman has plenty to explore. Follow the trail in Whitetail 365: Tracking Goes to the Dogs, explore December Coyote Hunting, and bring your harvest full circle with How to Process Your Own Venison.

Keep your hunting season going with Hunting the Late Split and Where to Find Late-Season Pheasants in Iowa. For a closer look at your equipment, read Understanding Barrel Lengths, Profiles, and Twist Rates, then help your four-legged hunting partner prepare for colder outings with Winter Safety: Keeping Your Dog Warm.

Ready to trade the field for frozen water? Discover Why Anglers Head North to Devils Lake and explore A Minnesota Winter of Big Fish and Miles of Trails. Round out your winter preparations with Ice Augers for Every Situation and Budget.

Click Here To View This Issue Now!

Tips for Finding Pressured Pheasants

Tips for Finding Pressured Pheasants As the season takes its toll, pheasants get more anxious, educated, and seemingly less flighty. They’ve seen it all: dogs, multiple-person drives; now it seems as if they’ve become dormant. Where did they go? What will it take for you to change your game to get into more birds? Look […]

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Lessons Learned from the Duck Blind, waterfowl hunting

Lessons Learned from the Duck Blind: Waterfowl Hunting Tips

 Lessons Learned from the Duck Blind The morning air was cold as I settled into the blind, my shotgun resting across my knees. Two buddies and I were able to get together on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We’ve grown up together, and they were the ones that got me into duck hunting. A thin layer […]

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Trapping Bobcats

Trapping Bobcats I remember the first time I saw a bobcat like it was yesterday. It was nearly 20 years ago, back when I was in high school. I was bowhunting in a timber when some movement caught my attention. Coming from the south, a big male bobcat was sneaking along the creek. I watched […]

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Top Deer Hunting Picks for Your Pack

Top Deer Hunting Picks for Your Pack Being prepared for that first cold morning in the whitetail woods is something we’ve been dreaming about since last season closed. Having the right gear makes a world of difference between planning in the summer and tagging your next buck. Don’t fall behind this fall; here’s what you […]

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Featured Story

A Classic Evening with an Iowa Giant – Bowhunting Boone & Crockett Bucks

Does a plan ever fall into place the way it should? The months leading up to October and November are filled with daydreams of target bucks making their way in front of our stands. Perfect conditions, with a shooter buck coming in on a string, setting up for perfect shot placement. If only that was how it worked… but that wouldn’t be as rewarding, would it?

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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.