hunting
Hunting Early Season Pheasants
Hunting Early Season Pheasants October is finally here and for pheasant hunters, that means Iowa’s pheasant season will soon open. We know from survey results that last year’s pheasant hunting was phenomenal. In fact, hunters harvested more pheasants last year than any year in the last decade. We want this year to be just as […]
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Duck Hunting Small Rivers
Duck Hunting Small Rivers Hunting ducks on smaller moving waters is less common in Iowa than one might think. How you define a smaller river is objective and really can be anything from a reasonable stream to something like the Des Moines River in the northern half of the state. What comes to my mind […]
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A Smart Start to Deer Season
A Smart Start to Deer Season As deer season quickly approaches, it catches most of us by surprise every year. We generally are busy with summer vacations, kids, families, weddings, and by the time youth season or opening day of Iowa’s archery season opens up, we are behind scrambling to get “ready enough” for the […]
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Common Wing Shooting Mistakes
Common Wing Shooting Mistakes By Nick Johnson Wing Shooting is a fantastic outdoor sport that many of us grew up having the privilege to partake in. For some, myself included, pheasant hunting was what led me to love the sport of hunting, apply hunter’s safety and respect wildlife. Pheasants are definitely a popular choice for […]
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Born to Duck Hunt
Born to Duck Hunt By Steve Weisman To say a diehard duck hunter is a breed of its own is, well, definitely not an understatement. After all, who else would be excited about waking at 3 am in the morning, facing below freezing temperatures, battling strong northwest winds than one of those crazy diehard duck […]
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Why Prescribed Burns are Needed
Why Prescribed Burns are Needed By Steve Weisman Each spring we can see clouds of smoke billowing up from both state wildlife areas and on private tracts of grassland all across northwest Iowa. Oftentimes I will hear people questioning or complaining about the fire eating up the spent grasses from the previous year or even […]
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A DIY Preseason Game Plan for Gundogs
A DIY Preseason Game Plan for Gundogs By Kent Boucher In my football playing days the preseason was one of the most intense times of the year. Although the coach’s calendar would say the preseason officially started sometime in early August, in reality it began months earlier during the summer weight lifting and conditioning program. […]
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Exploring Iowa’s Pheasant Heritage
Exploring Iowa’s Pheasant Heritage By Troy Hoepker I venture to guess that Iowa residents of Black Hawk, Grundy, Butler and Bremer counties in 1901 and 1902 had to wonder, “What is this mysterious bird that seemingly appeared on the Iowa prairie almost overnight?” It’s large chicken-like size, beautiful plumage and distinct white stripe encircling the […]
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Mission Impossible
Mission Impossible By Noel Gandy Every October and November I scroll through Social Media and think the same thing: “Man, this guy kills a monster every year. He must have it figured out.” My mind may also tend to wander toward the “L” word as well: Luck. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Luck Is What […]
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“Daddy, I’m big enough to go too”
“Daddy, I’m big enough to go too” By Troy Hoepker When you’re 6 years old it’s just plain hard to watch Dad load the truck and then disappear with your puppy for a morning of pheasant hunting without you! That’s especially true when your older brother, who is old enough to hunt himself, sometimes gets […]
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