deer

Plan for Deer Season 2025

Plan for Deer Season 2025 By Aaron McKinney AS Iowa’s 2024 hunting season winds down this month, hunters across the state feel a mix of accomplishment and anticipation. For many, the season has been rewarding, with crisp mornings, challenging hunts, and stories to share. Yet, as the final days slip by and the fields quiet […]

Big Buck Profile

Big Buck Profile By Nick Johnson Kevin Marso didn’t fully realize it at the time, but as he settled the pin and sent an arrow towards a buck on the morning of November 7th, 2012, no arrow he had ever let loose from the string, carried so much importance. This was an arrow headed towards […]

Patience Paid Off!

Patience Paid Off! By Cassie Dean It was October 19th… I pulled up to the field late for an evening hunt. The beans were harvested, the wind was right and the deer were moving. I had been waiting all week for this hunt! I was thinking of all the bucks on my hit list: tall […]

Deer Management

Deer Management By Ricky Kinder If you are an archery hunter please raise your hand if you agree to the following question: Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have 1,500 acres of vast pristine whitetail habitat to hunt in Iowa? While I obviously can’t see the hands going up I could imagine most of you have […]

Locked Down But Not Out

Locked Down But Not Out By Noel Gandy As the old saying goes: The only certainties in life are death, taxes, and locked down bucks come November. Well, most of that saying is well-known, but in the whitetail world losing tabs on a bruiser buck during November is almost always a certainty. Deer hunting can […]

Thinking Small

Thinking Small Hunting in Iowa has changed significantly during my lifetime. Four decades ago wild turkey and deer were scarce or non-existent in much of the state. Most hunters started out shooting squirrels and rabbits before moving on to pheasants and/or waterfowl. Only then did they graduate to larger game, if they had access to […]

5 Tips for The Rut: They’ll Only Cost You a Buck

Hunting an Iowa typical giant, a 145 inch 300+ pound 7-year-old with a 6 inch drop tine, a 155-inch non-typical ghost buck, a 160 inch typical eight point, and a buck that I never laid eyes on, or maybe he was never there? Each of these deer have a special place in my nightmares. You […]

Public Land Success: Tips to Bagging a Mature Buck on Iowa’s Public Hunting Land

Public Land Success: Tips to Bagging a Mature Buck on Iowa’s Public Hunting Land I’m proud to be an Iowa hunter! In fact, I’m a fourth generation Iowa hunter. Most of my hunting skills have been sharpened by the hours I’ve spent on the acres of public land that are offered to Iowa residents and […]

Big Buck Profile

With all the practicing, scouting, and preparation done, deer season was finally here! Little did I know how exciting 2012 was going to be for me. It started with my muzzleloader deer. I set a camera up in August and was very happy to see one buck that showed up on several different evenings. He […]

Don’t Overlook The Small Tracts

The story of David and goliath crossed my mind as I maneuvered through corn and tall grass toward the tree where my quarry awaits. Three doves perched unsuspectingly in the weathered black locust on the northwest end of the one acre drainage creek. As I inch closer, I am thankful that I have such an […]