PHEASANTS are a huge deal for Iowa upland bird hunters. This year marks the 100th anniversary of pheasant hunting in Iowa. It is one case of an introduced species from Asia that adapted very well to its release in 1925 across much of the United States. Many states jumped on the bandwagon ...

Happy LABOR DAY WEEKEND. I trust you will be making the most of a long weekend as the end of summer nears. If you are fortunate enough to have three days off from work, how will you spend that time? There are lots of ways of course, and each person may have a special task or two, a great ...

Native grasses, those very tall and sometimes mysterious straight stemmed grass species, are beginning to show well as they strut their stuff. Some, like Indiangrass and Big bluestem, have now reached 6 or 7 feet in height. They wave and sway in the wind, pulsating back and forth as if ...

FLOODS, FISH, and FOOD. These are just some of the ingredients that allowed local wildlife, and some beginning migratory shore bird arrivals, to focus on food. Where there is food, it seems wildlife will explore and exploit it while it lasts. Flood waters from recent high rain events caused ...

WILDLIFE ADVENTURES are cool happenings. Periodically, a foray to familiar places is a good thing to recall past times and see again some iconic wildlife. With cameras at hand and time on our side, my wife and I took time recently to explore several places while going to and from the ...

OTTER CREEK MARSH will always offer a never ending challenge to wildlife biologists and managers. The trick is to work with natural weather related cycles and conditions to make the best of available opportunities to enhance certain wetland vegetation or cut back or curtail vegetation when ...