Pic of the Week

Lone coyote out on a stroll from one of those scorching July days.  My dad used to always say he kept a "coyote" arrow in the back of his quiver for such an occasion.  It's a practice I've copied over the years.  I've even been lucky enough to put it to use once, many years ago!

Squirrel Opener This Saturday

This upcoming Saturday, September 1st is the opener for squirrel season here in Iowa.  For most of us, squirrels were the first thing we ever hunted but we grew up and our outdoor pursuits shifted towards bigger game.  My brother and I on the other hand, relished the squirrel opener well into our 20's and used it as a way to get out in the woods before deer season.  We haven't gone out as much lately since we now live 2 hours apart but every now and again we get together for a bushy tail hunt. 

This Saturday morning I plan on sitting beneath an oak or hickory tree and waiting for a big red to show himself.  Check back in later on this weekend to see if I've had any success!

Pic of the week

Nice buck showed up a week or so ago.  Enticed by the apples I left behind.  Hopefully he puts on a little more growth before the velvet comes off.

Tags

Deer tags are now on sale in Iowa (and have been for a week I guess)!  If you were hoping to get one of those coveted Early Muzzleloader tags, you're out of luck.  Literally within a week of going on sale, all 7500 of them are gone!

But there's still plenty of antlerless quota tags for a lot of the different counties across the state (unless you live in NW Iowa).  From now until September 15th you'll only be allowed to purchase 1 antlerless tag for any season.  After Sept. 15th you can purchase as many as you like until the county quotas run out.

To stay up to date on the current number of county quota licenses remaining, check out the DNR's website at:  County Quotas

Pic of the Week

As this blog develops, we hope to incorporate some cool weekly/monthly pieces.  One idea was a trail cam pic of the week.  Here's one of my favorites of all time, that I just got this summer!

Hen turkey with her poults.

We all know deer reproduce with ease, but turkey and pheasant reproduction can vary significantly with the seasonal weather patterns/extremes.  It's always cool to see baby turkeys!

Getting the Itch...

As of lately on the outdoor networks they have shifted gears from summer fishing to fall hunting and I have shifted gears from watching the Olympics to watching nothing but hunting. In particular bow hunting whitetails.  This combined with a recent and rare (for mid august) cold snap has got me into deer mode. I've hung 4 trail cams in my most proven summer spots that have always produced good buck pics. However you will have to wait until after Labor Day to view them as I always leave my cams out for nearly a month at a time.  Doing this minimizes the scent you leave out in the field and guarantees you a better chance of getting pics of those old wary bucks.

However to help stave of the anticipation I will post up some of my past pics from these same camera sites. Enjoy and God bless.