Saturday morning and a large scale bird migration was in full swing.  I had hunkered into the soggy edge of North Iowa mudflat to enjoy the show as flocks of blue-winged teal, mallards, green-wings, pintails, shovelers, yellowlegs, and killdeer moved above the wetlands.  A good number of teal, killdeer and yellowlegs had stopped to explore
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  This year's dove season has been providing local hunters with some pretty good shooting.  But during the past couple of mornings, things have tailed off dramatically with fewer and fewer birds showing up in the usual haunts.  By early this week, it appeared [and sounded] as if most hunters had packed it in.  On Monday,
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            Northern Iowa's prairie wetlands have made a dramatic comeback during 2013.  Following two years of searing drought, improved water levels have led to excellent production of locally nesting mallards and wood ducks.  The fruits of those labors are currently on display as flocks gather in preparation for the fall migration. For the first time in decades,
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  The 2013 Iowa Dove Opener was accented by strong hunter turnout, unseasonably mild weather and, hunter success that ranged all the way from fair to excellent:  that's the official assessment of Conservation Officers across the North Central region.  Although mourning dove numbers were high leading into the season, birds were widely scattered and certainly less
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Black Hills pronghorns are known by many names.  Most Easterners still call them antelope; they're not.  Most locals refer to them as Speed Goats; still incorrect, though much closer to the truth.  But regardless of what you may choose to call it, one thing is certain.  The pronghorn is one very amazing creature.  Perhaps most
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    Late August and I'm sitting on a hillside in Custer State Park's southern prairie.  As is the case with most folks who visit this state park each year --- [1.8 million in 2012] --- I've come to see the bison. The timing is perfect.  The raucous all night revelry of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is past, while the guided
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  Fast, clear, and cold as ice; the streams of the western Black Hills are my favorite place to look for trout.  Although I never catch any really big ones, the trout are always super plentiful and I've yet to have a slow day while fishing in The Hills. The past week at Custer State Park has
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It might be the increase in moisture; it might be the overall cooler night and morning temperatures; or it might be who knows what.  But whatever the reason, there's no denying that this year's fall mushroom hunt is off to a phenomenal start.  Most noticeable, of course, are the sulfur shelves .  Most commonly referred
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  Looking for something to do this weekend?  You might want to hit the nearest woodland for some fall mushroom hunting.  Yea, I know what the date is; but in spite of all that I'm beginning to discover some young and succulent Chicken-of-the-Woods [sulfur] mushrooms.  Just emerged and still growing by the second, the mushrooms are
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  The results of the 2013 Mourning Dove Call Count have been released.  The annual dove report is compiled by personnel with the Iowa DNR's Upland Game Program in cooperation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Office of Migratory Bird Management.  This year, surveyors reported a 0.9 percent decrease in the number of doves heard;
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Across Northern Iowa's wetland strongholds, it's been an excellent production year for mallards, wood ducks, and hoodeds.  And although most folks aren't seeming to notice, Iowa coots have also enjoyed an excellent nesting season.  Coot broods are abundant, and most youngsters are now in the process of being "weaned" while they make the transition from
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I just pulled my latest issue of TIME magazine out of the mail box.  This week's cover story is a piece titled: A World Without Bees.  Written by Bryan Walsh, the article deals with the importance of bees to agriculture and focuses on the ongoing mystery of widespread Colony Collapse Disorder.  According to Walsh, pollination by
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