Iowa Sportsman

The History of the Fur Trade in Iowa: Part Two

The History of the Fur Trade in Iowa: Part Two Last month we chronicled the early beginnings of the first fur traders to enter Iowa lands in the late 1600’s and the development of the fur trade from then until after the Revolutionary War. In this month’s edition we move forward from the year 1800 […]

A Professor of Trout

A Professor of Trout Eric L. Kilburg By late January the accumulation of snow on the park road at Backbone State Park was, without a doubt, impassible by car, even for a couple adventurous college boys (i.e. the road gate was locked closed). Temperatures in past days depressed our hopes of finding a pool yet […]

A Look at the Chesapeake Bay Retriever

A Look at the Chesapeake Bay Retriever By Ryan Eder Here in the Midwest, we face some of the harshest conditions during our hunting seasons imaginable. Temperatures near zero, brisk winds, snow and of course frozen bodies of water are very typical for the Midwest bird hunter. Some of us hunt waterfowl, others hunt upland […]

Turkey Talk – Learn The Language

Turkey Talk – Learn The Language Many moons ago, in my high school days I can remember my Multi-cultural Studies teacher telling the class that if you truly want to understand a culture then you have to learn the language. While I never really applied that piece of advice to the real world, I did […]

A Day of Giants: Bowfishing Adventure

A Day of Giants: Bowfishing Adventure By Nick Johnson It was a day with an outcome that wasn’t planned. Myself,  and good friend Eric Katzenmeyer were set up to fish for bass in Cedar Lake just west of the twin cities. Eric lives in the area and we thought it would be fun to stop […]

How to make your Farm Pond a Fish Haven

How to make your Farm Pond a Fish Haven By Ben Leal The song of birds in the meadows and fields greet a cool Iowa morning. The family car is loaded up and ready to make the short drive to Grandpa’s house for a day of family fun. Pulling up to the house, the kids […]

How to be an Ace at 3-D Courses

How to be an Ace at 3-D Courses By Aaron Stonehocker As bow hunters, keeping our archery skills sharp year round is vital to success in the field. Those short three and a half months we spend in blinds, tree stands, or stalking around the woods in search of our quarry are only a fraction […]

Choosing a Predator Rifle

Choosing a Predator Rifle By Troy Hoepker One thing you’ll probably never hear from me after I shoot a coyote that gets away wounded is to hear me exclaim that I didn’t have a large enough caliber bullet to anchor him. There’s always been a ton of discussion out there on which caliber is the […]

Iowa Trout Grand Slam – Podcast

‘Rats and ‘Coons: Tried and True Sets

‘Rats and ‘Coons: Tried and True Sets As a long time trapper it is great to see a bit of resurgence in the sport over the last few years. While trapping took a hit during the late 80’s and all through the 90’s and 00’s it appears that many trappers are getting back into the […]