Forty degrees. Clear skies. Moderate breeze. Hard to imagine more perfect conditions for a morning turkey hunt. Things were already looking good. The stars were just beginning to fade when, from farther back in the oaks, a roosted gobbler began to go completely off his rocker. Deciding not to move
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The performance begins at sunset. As the evening sky explodes into a dazzling array of color; a long-billed, oddly-shaped, quail-sized bird rises from the forest floor. Spiraling ever higher, the creature soon becomes a speck, hovering more than 300 hundred feet above its woodland home. With the flight now at its zenith,
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Blessed with extraordinary hearing, keen eyesight, and a profound ability to detect danger; the eastern wild turkey is America’s most challenging gamebird. The Long Beard’s instinct for survival is legendary. No other creature has been the subject of more hype, myth and folk lore than the elusive gobbler. In spite of major
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Turkey Season Kickoff: The great state of Nebraska is one my favorite destinations for pursuing wild turkeys. Nebraska’s early archery season begins in late March and for the past nine years, Dave Thomas and I have used the early days for our turkey season kickoff. Nebraska has some of the best turkey hunting
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PRESEASON SCOUTING CAN BRING EARLY SEASON SUCCESS The first segment of Iowa’s four-part, spring turkey season begins April 8. With snow drifts melted and mature gobblers currently making the timbers ring, hunters are already pacing the floor in anticipation of the upcoming season. But what a lot of hunters don’t realize is that there’s no reason to
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It would be hard to think of a bird exhibiting more cunning, speed, and raw savagery than the crow-sized Cooper's hawk. Equally at home in wilderness forest and suburban hedgerow, the highly maneuverable Cooper’s is perhaps best known for its surprise attacks on backyard bird feeders -- raids that usually result in an unfortunate dove,
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Considering the dramatic mix of weather we’ve endured during the past several weeks, I’m guessin’ that it would be hard for most of us to think of Northern Iowa as a Sunny South, winter destination. You know, the kind of place you’d go to escape unreasonably deep snow cover, extreme cold, polar wind chills and
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Rabbit hunting is one of my favorite winter pastimes. I especially love getting out in new snow. Fresh, crisp, and clean; the winter woodlands are never more beautiful. The rabbits sit tight, and every track is fresh. I’m not alone in my enthusiasm. An important link in the natural food chain, rabbits have
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Tailless black-capped chickadee – Feb. 7, 2019 Here in northern Iowa, the first week of February has provided an incredibly diverse mix of weather – everything from 40-degree temps to double digit, below zero wind chills and new snow. On Feb. 6th, prolonged periods of freezing drizzle turned to snow during the overnight hours. As snow
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No one will argue that our Iowa winter has been one of weather extremes. Gone but not forgotten, the month of January provided our most dramatic example; offering everything from unseasonable warmth to polar blasts of life threatening cold and minus 60-degree wind chills. The month included a rich variety of rain showers, freezing drizzle,
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Regardless of Species – Winter is a Hard Time for Iowa Wildlife You probably don’t need a reminder that Iowans have just endured one of the most vicious mid-winter cold snaps on record. The multiday event began with significant snowfalls which quickly gave way to plunging temperatures, followed by winds gusting to 50 plus mph. As
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Following a brutal three day siege of polar air and gusty winds, the North Iowa weather had finally moderated to a comparatively balmy minus twenty degrees. Winds had diminished to the point where wind chill values had risen to minus 46, according to the weather channel. At the Nature Conservancy’s Clausen’s Cove [located along Clear Lake’s
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