Washburn’s Outdoor Journal

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.    For Iowa Wildlife Winter Weather is No Picnic                         Winds gusting in excess of forty miles per hour.    Horizontal […]

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.Following the devastating statewide loss of wild birds that occurred last winter, highly pathogenic avian influenza [commonly referred to as Bird Flu] is once again sweeping through Iowa’s wintering bird populations.  Waterfowl are

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.If, on Sunday, December 7th, you happened to step out-of-doors anywhere in the state of Iowa, then it is likely that you heard or saw multiple flocks of southbound Canada geese.  The unfolding

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.As many of you already know, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I love the big family gatherings.  I love getting together with friends.  I love the traditional foods — roast turkey,

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.For Iowa’s 60,000 archery deer hunters, November is simply the grandest month of the year.  When it comes to pursuing the ever popular, ever elusive white-tailed deer, November is the ultimate game changer. 

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.October 2023 — Following a long and frantic search – a search in which everything I owned had been turned upside down — I had failed to find my missing decoy.  This was

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.November is a month of intense migration.  A time when high winds and, maybe even the season’s first snow squalls, send northern holdouts winging for the wintering grounds.  But not all autumn migrations

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.                                  Opening Day Meets Expectations Iowa’s much anticipated, centennial pheasant season got off to a roaring start as hunters from across the state – and in some cases, from across the nation –

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.One of the things I most love about hunting wood ducks is that quest often leads to some of the most unspoiled, picturesque, stunningly beautiful wetlands the landscape has to offer.  Shy and

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.If there was a single month of the year that I could grab, put in a bottle, and keep forever – that month would be October.  For those who love the out-of-doors, the