Pheasants Take a Hit
Pheasant hunters will likely take a step back in time as the season opens, October 28. It may seem like we are back…2011. Following a saturated spring, the average number of birds seen...
Regional Breakdown
Upland game surveys are broken down over nine regions in Iowa. Results from 2013 were varied, due to regional weather and habitat patterns. A full breakdown is available...
‘Tis the Season’ (to Spot Illegals)
As bowhunters and outdoor enthusiasts, spend extra time outside…a small handful of illegal operators is busy, too. That’s when law abiding hunters—and anybody who sees something...
Lower Deer Numbers, as Fall Seasons Open
Hunters have another dry summer to factor in, as they set up for the early days of Iowa’s deer seasons. Corn acres through Iowa are already harvested; chopped for sileage because dry...
Albino Deer on the Move
Maybe the spotlight was too bright. Maybe the grass was greener. In any case, the albino deer, sighted regularly this summer near Solon, apparently pulled up roots and moved…few miles...
IWF Applauds NPR-A Management Plan
Iowa has a great tradition of producing conservation pioneers and leaders. Many of us recall Jay N. ‘Ding’ Darling; a forceful leader who epitomized Iowa’s strong conservation and...
Albino Deer
Traffic slowed on the highway. Neighbors out for a walk stuck around for the show. Word of the albino deer got around quickly through July. Many evenings…and occasionally around...
Climate Change Advocate Warns Iowans
(I rode along with National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger, this fall, on a whirlwind tour of Iowa, as Schweiger explained his life’s passion—the need to address climate...
Climate Change Not On The Way…It’s HERE now.
Iowa’s five-year streak of hostile pheasant weather is not lost on Larry Schweiger. The President of the National Wildlife Federation toured Iowa in late October; urging us to ask about...
Dropping in on Congress
One of the more satisfying chores of delegates at the NWF Annual Meeting—when in Washington DC–is the chance to sit across the table from your Congressman or Senator and tell him...
Few Deer, Fewer Pheasants…What GIVES?
One and done. That’s the route many pheasant hunters took this fall. Fair sized crowds walked the mostly picked crop fields and grassy cover on Opening Day. However, most of the...
Climate Change Affecting Iowans
Scientists from across Iowa are re-affirming that climate change is real and urging candidates to acknowledge the science of climate change and present “appropriate” policy...
IWF Schoolyard Habitat
It didn’t take long to turn back the clock, in a couple eastern Iowa schoolyards. With a grant from the Alliant Energy Foundation and a lot of volunteer planning and labor, ‘prairie...
Spring Turkeys
A few days ago a younger hunter asked me when, considering the “snow and late spring weather”, I thought the turkeys might start gobbling. When I noted that I’d already...
Winter Bird Feeding
Winter started slow, yet the birds found their backyard oases. Now that cold, wind and snow have rattled in winter for awhile, a steady stream of feathered visitors will keep checking in,...
River Clean Up
A morning on the river sounds pretty good. For hard-working high school seniors, though, it was anything but a day at the beach. As part of their senior service day, two dozen West Delaware...