Early Spring Trout Fishing
Early Spring Trout Fishing

Early Spring Trout Fishing Spring in Northeast Iowa’s Driftless Region marks the beginning of one of the most rewarding trout fishing seasons in the Midwest. This is one of the prettiest areas in Northern Iowa marked with limestone bluffs, spring-fed creeks, and rolling pastures. The Driftless Region contains a several cold, clear streams that flow steadily year-round. This creates perfect trout habitat, and spring offers fishermen peaceful days on the water. With stable water temperatures, increasing insect activity, and hungry post-winter trout, there’s no better time to explore these legendary streams. Why The Driftless Region? This region is a trout […]

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Cast Iron Cooking

Cast Iron Cooking

Cast Iron Cooking When it comes to cooking while camping, there are numerous options to suit different preferences, needs, and styles of outdoor cooking. It’s hard to beat the taste and feel of cooking directly over an open flame. It is a classic camping tradition. Campfire cooking can be done using cast iron cookware, skewers, […]

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How to pick a Hunting Blind

How to Pick a Hunting Blind

How to Pick a Hunting Blind If you’re like me, you started hunting with homemade wooden stands, sometimes even just a platform in the Y of a tree. Since then, we saw ladder stands, hang-on stands with climbing sticks, and then pop-up blinds followed by tower blinds. When it comes to the age-old debate of […]

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Sighting in your Rifle for Deer Season

Sighting in your Rifle for Deer Season

Sighting in your Rifle for Deer Season Whether or not you plan to hunt with your firearm you will need to verify it shoots where you aim it. This is true for any firearm with an optic, and sometimes even with factory installed iron sights. To gain accuracy you must first obtain consistency. To gain […]

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Top Water Fishing

Topwater Fishing

Top Water Fishing Of all of the types of fishing that we do throughout the open water season, top-water fishing has to be at the very top of your list of techniques. Whether you are targeting bass, northern pike, or even musky, top water can be some of the most exciting and visual types of […]

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Featured Story

Big Buck Profile: The 2025 Gandy Buck

Ok, this first big buck profile is a little self-serving in that it is of a buck that I personally took this past deer season. While it is likely not the “biggest” big buck that we will profile this year it is definitely one of my most special deer ever.

Turning a Dream into Reality

As has been noted in several articles since 2023, my family and I finally put together the means to purchase our very own piece of Iowa ground. “The 32,” as we call it, has become a passion project to see if we could take an unassuming piece of real estate and harvest a mature deer from there by giving him all he needs in the way of habitat. This year was the first year that the farm would be huntable in the state in which we intended due to construction projects over the past couple of seasons.

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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.