Iowa Sportsman
Why Wait Until The Snows Flies? Hunting Early Season Coyotes
Why Wait Until The Snows Flies? Hunting Early Season Coyotes By Troy Hoepker A sense of anxiousness and giddiness came over me all at the same time as I waited for the action to start! Peering over at my long time hunting partner Mark Johnston, he was busying himself with his normal routine. Grabbing the […]
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Hunting Iowa’s Common Waterfowl
Hunting Iowa’s Common Waterfowl Ive been an avid waterfowl hunter for many years and I still remember when I first found my love for the sport, one of the most fascinating aspects was the sheer diversity of species one could encounter. If my memory serves me right, there are 41 unique species of waterfowl across […]
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Another Bass Season in Iowa
Another Bass Season in Iowa The 2020 bass fishing season was a long one this year. The ice melted away rather quickly in March opening up lakes all over the state by St. Patrick’s Day. This gave the spring bite a kick-start as the year began. Those anxiously waiting to chase down some big spring […]
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Using Scents and Calls for Whitetail
Using Scents and Calls for Whitetail Sweet November! These are the days that deer hunters live for. The first two or three weeks of this month can be dynamic when it comes to buck activity. Lonesome bachelors are looking to hook up to the first receptive female and are, therefore, on the prowl! Optimistic hunters […]
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Three Strategies to Taking a Giant this November: Whitetails 365
Three Strategies to Taking a Giant this November: Whitetails 365 Last month, I stressed 3 tactics I use each October when trying to get in front of a giant whitetail. Taking advantage of bed to feed patterns, hunting active scrapes, and calling in October. October starts out all about food and bed to feed patterns, […]
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Top Tactics for Each Stage of the Rut
Top Tactics for Each Stage of the Rut By Ryan Graden I walked out this morning and it hit me! The cooler temperatures of the fall have finally showed up. Immediately, my mind went to my hunting memories. The smells, the sounds, and the scenery of my favorite hunts. The things that I have witnessed […]
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Whiskers and Ditty Poles
Whiskers and Ditty Poles One of my fondest memories of setting bank poles, or ditty poles as many call them, took place on the Des Moines River two summers ago. My friends Josh, Jarred and I fished for two nights out of Jarred’s big twenty foot flat-bottom and camped along the bank. It was one […]
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Late Season Deer Hunting Tips to Fill Your Tag
Late Season Deer Hunting Tips to Fill Your Tag It’s now the late season. You’ve hunted hard all fall and winter and yet you find yourself sitting here in the timber with an open tag. The snow is deeper, the cold wind is biting, and maybe you’ve spent too many hours away from your “honey […]
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Water Conditions and How to Fish Them
Water Conditions and How to Fish Them That crisp air that we feel each morning is a sign of things to come, fall is definitely in the air around the state of Iowa. This can be a welcome sign for hunters, hikers and anglers ready for cooler temperatures. The change in weather can also bring […]
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Calling All Rabbit Hunters
Calling All Rabbit Hunters The hunters in my family learned to hunt small game long before pheasants or deer. Our education began by plinking targets with Dad’s walnut stocked Marlin 56 lever-action .22 until we could consistently hit a nickel tucked into a hickory trunk at 30 feet. Once we passed this test, we graduated […]
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