For Iowa archery enthusiasts, November is a time like no other.  For the hunter, the season’s finest opportunities are at hand.  For white-tailed deer, the annual rut is gaining momentum.  Restless, edgy and itching for a scrap, mature bucks are on the prowl.   The same giant stags that have remained totally nocturnal, and therefore invisible,
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Mention the words ‘fall color’ and most people will immediately think of the red, orange, and yellow hues of an autumn woodland.  But there is another brand of fall color that, although a bit more difficult to observe, is no less spectacular in its brilliance.  But be forewarned.  If you wish to view this unique
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Familiar and seasonably abundant, the ink cap mushroom is hard to mistake for anything else.  Also known as the shaggy ink cap or shaggy mane, the ink caps are one of the very  last fungi to emerge each year.  In Northern Iowa, we've  had the season's first hard frosts during the past week.  In spite
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  The second segment of this year's Duck Season began Saturday, October 12.  It's something we always look forward to although during most years, the Second Duck Openers are nothing to brag about.  As a  rule,the season restart occurs during something of a void.  Early ducks have left the country and northern migrants have yet to arrive.  Unless you happen to
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One of the things I love most about the fascinating sport of waterfowl hunting is that once the decoys have been tossed out, you never know what “incidentals” the day may bring.  Each new sunrise seems to provide its own unique adventure.     This week, I was treated to the sight of some unusual feathered travelers when
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Yesterday's clear skies, cool temps and ripping NW winds put migratory birds on the move.  The airways over North Iowa were busy as everything from shorebirds to hawks to warblers made their way southward.  When the winds suddenly switched to the south, I hoped newly arriving geese would take a migration break and provide some
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If I had to pick one month of the year as my favorite, October would certainly rank high on the list.  October is the Gateway to Fall -- the final transition between summer and autumn.  While oak forests remain green; sumac, cottonwood, and maples are on fire.  For the most part, October skies are the
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                It's late September.  Skies are clear and afternoon temperatures have climbed to the mid-70s.  Right on cue, migrating great egrets are passing through Northern Iowa.  Currently traveling from northern   breeding grounds to southern wintering areas, the huge birds are taking a brief time out to rest and refuel.  One flock -- totaling a dozen or so
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Perfect weather.  Lots of ducks.  Happy hunters.  That's the general assessment for this year's Opening Day of the early segment of the 2013 Iowa Duck Season -- or at least that's how it shaped up in the North Central region of the state.     As always, our party began the opening weekend with a family campout; staged
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    My friend Joe Wilkinson and I spent a good part of our morning shooting waterfowl and wetland video in North Central Iowa.  Overall habitat conditions are excellent and every area we visited held ducks --mallards, wood ducks, even a few newly arrived pintails.  But the highlight of the morning came in the form of buzzing,
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  Showy and colorful, the goldenrod is one of my favorite fall flowers.  The annual appearance of the goldenrod's bright yellow flowers offer proof positive that summer heat and humidity are on borrowed time and that fall will soon arrive.  The yellow flowers also mean that blue-winged teal are already on the move and that we'll
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  It didn't take a trained meteorologist or PhD level ornithologist to read the signs.  With starry nighttime skies, daily high temperatures dropping off dramatically, and steadily freshening breezes, the message was clear.  Migratory birds would be on the move.  And for anyone who spent time poking around North Iowa wetlands on Friday and Saturday, the
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