Iowa Sportsman

Steady Dog Training Tips

Why Your Dog Isn’t Steady

Why Your Dog Isn’t Steady If you talk to any hunt testers they will tell you that there are two kinds of dogs; dogs that do not break, and dogs that haven’t broke yet! It is a subtle joke that stems around the idea that all dogs have the possibility of breaking, both in a […]

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Iowa’s State Parks

Iowa’s State Parks In the last 25 years of technological advancements, I have watched our culture advance at a tremendous pace that, I worry, will never slow down. Phones, computers, iPods, iPads, GPS, electric cars, automatic vacuums, auto lawnmowers, and more! We are certainly making things easier for our lifestyles, but we are also creating […]

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Three Sisters Three Deer One Season

Three Sisters Three Deer One Season

Three Sisters, Three Deer, One Season Are you a dreamer? I’m sure if you are reading this magazine, you are an outdoorsman, but do you have dreams? You know, the dreams that pertain to your hunting future. Dreams like shooting that 200 inch buck, or traveling to Alaska to get your moose, bear, and sheep. […]

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Life of a Successful Hunter

The Unbalanced Life of a Successful Hunter

The Unbalanced Life of a Successful Hunter Successful hunters are not balanced. Most often, their lives are out of kilter from October through January 1. The family suffers. Football goes unwatched. The leaves pile up. Successful hunters hunt. I have many friends who hunt. I would consider them casual hunters. If the local college team […]

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Buying Whitetail Hunting Land

Whitetails 365: Buying Recreational Land, Part I

Whitetails 365: Buying Recreational Land, Part I Owning your own recreational land to use and manage can be one of if not the most rewarding experiences you could ever have. For me, managing my own farm is almost more rewarding than the actual hunt itself. It extends the season outside the traditional fall months making […]

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Buying Recreational Hunting Land: Part III

Buying Recreational Hunting Land: Part III When you are buying any investment, the most important part about the “buy” is not letting your emotions get the best of you. It is the same idea when buying recreational hunting land. Our emotions can get us to think we need something we really don’t. They can get […]

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Best Crappie Baits

Best Crappie Baits   Crappie…animals that forage for discrete, isolated resources are often characterized as either “ambush” (sit-and-wait) or “cruise” (active) searchers. Juvenile white crappie, Pomix annularis, search for zooplankton prey using a salutatory search (SS) strategy. Unlike ambush and cruise, SS involves… Had you readers going there for a moment didn’t I… Well lucky […]

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Raising an Outdoors Child

Train Up A Child   When I was a child I had my life, and my parents had theirs; they did not try to weave their lives into my life; we were not best friends. I did what was normal for a nine-year-old boy, while my parents worked, mowed the yard, went to church suppers, […]

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Final Hour Gobblers

Final Hour Gobblers

Final Hour Gobblers By Aaron Stonehocker I absolutely love late season turkey hunting. Some hunters head out religiously for season one or two in hopes of beating the ol’ toms at their own game. The logic: The birds have yet to learn the difference between counterfeit and authentic calls and perhaps a bit more aggressive […]

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Using Decoys to Hunt Coyotes

Using Decoys to Hunt Coyotes

Decoying Coyotes   As I sat and watched the terrain, I couldn’t help but think that if I were a coyote, I’d sure be intrigued by those spinning feathers that whirled around the caller. Heck, I’d even catch myself watching it in moments of boredom while waiting on a customer to show up. The decoy […]

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