I'm thinkin' that this morning's kickoff to the 2014  Spring Turkey Season wasn't exactly what area hunters had in mind.  With heavy overcast, below freezing temperatures, a blanket of new snow on the ground, and winds gusting to 38 mph; the prognoses seemed bleak.  But it was still Opening Day after all, and no turkey
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Swarming northward from their winter resorts; tens of thousands of lesser scaup [bluebill] ducks are currently making their way through Iowa.  Ever since I was introduced to the species during the 1960s, I have loved watching and, of course, hunting bluebills.  With this spring's flight at its peak, I grabbed my camera and a big
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  The beauty of today's spectacular sunrise was enhanced even further by the rattling gobble of a nearby tom.  This morning, I had decided to visit a stand of oaks located about three miles from where I did yesterday's morning turkey shoot.  Although official sunrise was still 45 minutes away, a single bird was already sounding 
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Less than a week to go until the first segment of Iowa's spring turkey season begins --- The countdown is on.  I've been playing with the birds off and on since mid-February, and this morning was the best yet.  Although toms were actively gobbling on the roost, things cranked up even more once they hit
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For waterfowl hunting enthusiast, Greg Duesenberg, this year’s spring snow goose season has been as good as it gets.  The first big waves of migrating snow geese arrived in Northern Iowa during mid-March, and hunting has remained good since.  Success has been so high, in fact, that Duesenberg even managed to bag a goose that
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  The ice is shifting, open water areas are enlarging, and the bluebills have arrived at Clear Lake.  Although our latest 4-inch snowfall ended early this morning, the NW winds continued to rage with gusts exceeding 40 mph.  Light conditions remained gloomy, but there were just too many birds on the wing to stay indoors.  Finding
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I like to tell people that modern-day snow geese are the smartest birds in the sky.  When under the direct supervision of experienced adults, even first year geese can be almost impossible to dupe; and bagging one can present hunters with an extreme challenge.  There are still some occasional exceptions, however.  One such episode occurred
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  Iowa’s spring waterfowl migration is one of the most anticipated events on my annual outdoor calendar.  During the next several days, more than two dozen species of northbound ducks, geese, and swans will visit our local wetlands.  Dressed in their finest nuptial plumage, the feathery web-foots are a sight to behold.  And although each species
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    The spring waterfowl migration was put on temporary hold this week as another arctic cold front swept across Northern Iowa.  Yesterday's weather added insult to injury as strong winds and whiteout snow squalls raged off and on throughout much of the day.  Although such days are extremely tough on equipment, who could dream of staying
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Yesterday afternoon, my wife, Carol decided that I needed a new turkey decoy.  In reality, I probably did not.  I already have a lot of turkey decoys.  I have turkey silhouettes, folding turkeys, inflatable turkeys, hard rubber turkeys, plastic turkeys, hens, jakes, gobblers, and so on.  In my search for the perfect decoy, I feel
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The annual mass migration of snow geese is one of  creation’s most amazing spectacles.  More than six million of the snow white birds are currently moving toward ancestral breeding grounds on the sodden tundras of the Canadian arctic.  The northbound geese are unaware, of course, that nesting areas will remain locked under snow and ice
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