There is no sound in nature that stirs my blood like the daybreak call of the wild turkey. No wild chorus incites more anticipation, produces more goose bumps, or penetrates deeper to my core than the ancient, staccato rattle of a mature spring gobbler. The closer you can get to spring gobbling, the louder and more
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  It’s the 23rd of April. For today at least, it appears as if spring has finally arrived in Northern Iowa. With sunny skies and temperatures soaring into the lower 60s, we’ve melted a foot of snow during the last day and a half. About all that’s left now are a few scattered patches along the
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For those of us living in Northern Iowa, it’s been a spring to remember. Or perhaps I should say, a spring to forget. Our extreme weather has been so over the top that most of us can’t even remember how many late season storms or how many inches of wet snow we’ve received since the
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  Iowans are used to dealing with extreme weather. We take it in stride. But you have to admit that at 19-degrees, winds gusting to 26 mph, and several inches of bright snow on the ground, that the Opening Day of the 2018 Iowa turkey season was a bit out of the ordinary. We really hated to
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  Early April is not only a good time to put the finishing touches on spring turkey scouting; it’s also a great time to hone your calling skills.  Nothing sounds more like a hen turkey than, well, a hen turkey.  Spring hens will never be more vocal than they are right now.  If a hunter really
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    The redhead is one of my favorite ducks. I know. I say that about a lot of ducks. But when it comes to redheads; I really mean it. All things considered, there’s really nothing not to like about these incredible heavy bodied, broad breasted, monster-webbed, red headed deep divers. They’re big. They’re beautiful. And they readily
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When Pursuing the World’s Ficklest Fowl, You Just Never Know What’s Going to Happen The phone didn’t ring until late afternoon. It was my friend, Curt Stille calling with the latest, most up to date snow goose report. Surrounded by a spread of white wind socks, Curt was currently perched atop a prominent North Iowa hillside
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 WINTER STORM UMA MARCH 23 & 24, 2018     Promises. Promises. Promises. After a full season of hyping those great big winter snow storms that never ever materialized, the Weather Channel finally got it right. Dubbed by the channel as Winter Storm Uma, the massive system that plowed across parts of Iowa Friday night was a real winter
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Sometimes the Simplest Methods are the Best “Can I get you anything?” the guy behind the Fareway meat counter asked. Stopping my cart, I replied, “No thanks,” and then mentioned that we were having fresh snow goose for supper. “Hmmm; snow goose,” he mused. “Don’t they melt when you put ‘em in the oven?” “Good one,” I said.
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We’ve all heard how one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel. That’s kind of the way it is with sparrows. Imported from Great Britain during the 1800s, the house sparrow [also called English sparrow] took America by storm. Today, it has become one of our most familiar – and despised – bird species. Universally
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