Iowa Sportsman

Key In On These Coyote Habits
Key In On These Coyote Habits Coyotes are mysterious creatures certainly! The subject of folklore and myth, they represent the very epitome of stealth and sly. As secretive as they are however, they have routines and habits just like all animals that make them vulnerable to the hunter and trapper alike. Consistently taking coyotes by […]
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Early Season Ice Tactics that will Fill your Bucket
Early Season Ice Tactics that will Fill your Bucket Anglers throughout Iowa keep a keen eye on the calendar each year, especially those anglers affectionately known as “ice heads”. Iowa’s average temperatures begin to dip in October and continue the downward trend throughout the month. Halloween paves the way for November to roll in and […]
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It is Never to Late to Start Ice Fishing
It is Never to Late to Start Ice Fishing I have been ice fishing since junior high school, or let’s just say, a long time ago. I can still remember that first time stepping onto the river backwater, it was an eerie feeling, but the feeling of anticipation and excitement soon overtook that eeriness. Dreams […]
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The Non-Traditionalist’s Guide To Whitetail Shotgun Season
The Non-Traditionalist’s Guide To Whitetail Shotgun Season I often tell people summer is my fourth favorite season. By nature I am an “against the flow” kind of person so I gain amusement from my audience’s surprised reaction to such a statement. As a teacher summer certainly brings much appreciated rest from 60-70 hour work weeks, […]
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Late Season Whitetails
Late Season Whitetails Time, as always, is fleeting. The time from deer season a year ago to opening day seemed to take forever. We waited with anticipation for October 1 to roll around after a long summer. Now, like a vapor, it is late December and deer season is fast closing in on its conclusion. […]
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2019 Roadside Survey
Iowa’s pheasant population steady, quail down Iowa’s pheasant hunters should expect to find a similar number of birds as last year, with the exception of south central and southeast Iowa, where the pheasant population decline was more significant. Based on the August roadside survey, Iowa’s statewide average is 17 pheasants per 30 mile route, down […]
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Phasing Your Way Through the Iowa Rut
Phasing Your Way Through the Iowa Rut November is a magical time for Iowa bowhunters. The early season buck routines are fading into an all-out crap shoot of big buck activity, where their focus is more about interactions with the does in an area and less on surviving their travels from bedding areas to food […]
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Key Lockdown Locations to Know
Key Lockdown Locations to Know Being in a treestand during the whitetail rut here in Iowa is what dreams are made of. Waiting for a hot doe to come trotting through with a big bruiser in tow is what all of us hope for each time we climb into the tree during this time of […]
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What you Need to Know about Late Season Waterfowling
What you Need to Know about Late Season Waterfowling Arguably my favorite time of year for duck and goose hunting is late season. There’s just something about battling the elements, scraping ice off my beard and fooling weary birds that gets the adrenaline flowing. This is the time of year when a lot of scouting, […]
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In Season Adjustments: Whitetails 365
In Season Adjustments: Whitetails 365 For many hunters, they don’t get serious about their whitetail hunting until the month of November. I’m not one of those hunters. In fact, in many ways, my season began the day after last year’s season ended. That’s when I get serious. Making that yearly assessment into what went right, […]
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