It’s about this time of year when those of us who enjoy ice fishing start thinking about and making plans to go ice fishing. In the past few years, ice that is safe to walk on has been appearing later and leaving sooner than we had become accustomed to, but we still want to be ready to go fishing. Just in case.

For an expected 100,000-plus deer hunters, the long wait is almost over, Iowa’s gun deer seasons are right around the corner.

But before heading to the timber, it’s important that hunters go through their gear, sight in their gun and take time to review their hunting safety plan, said Craig Cutts, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Bureau.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will again be partnering with Iowa deer hunters to collect tissue samples to monitor for chronic wasting disease during the upcoming gun seasons.

Spirit Lake squeezed everything it could out of the 2024 football season.

Spirit Lake Park’s Cassie McKeen won the 105-pound championship and helped lead her team to an eighth-place finish at a tournament hosted by West Lyon on Monday, Nov. 25.

McKeen went 2-0 to place first in Inwood. She pinned Sioux Center’s Laura Chavez-Ramos in 1 minute, 25 seconds before earning an 18-0 technical fall over MOC-Floyd Valley’s Teresa Andres-Felipe in the championship bout.

Okoboji/HMS’ Brooke Stockdale won the 110-pound title and led the Pioneers to a runner-up team finish at a tournament hosted by West Lyon on Monday, Nov. 25.

Stockdale took the 110-pound championship by pinning Central Lyon/George-Little Rock’s Jayda Pytleski in 54 seconds and Spirit Lake’s Audrina Bennett in 1 minute, 44 seconds.

Lillie Schwager and Brilee Fauth each placed second at 100 and 125 pounds, respectively, for Okoboji/HMS.

Okoboji/HMS wrestlers Lillie Schwager and Brooke Stockdale earned first-place finishes at the Lady E-Hawk Wrestling Tournament held Saturday, Nov. 23 at Emmetsburg.

Schwager took the 100-pound title by going 3-0 on the day.

Spirit Lake’s Cassie McKeen took first place and led her team to a 12th-place finish at a tournament hosted by Ridge View on Saturday, Nov. 23 in Holstein.

McKeen went 3-0 on the day at 105 pounds, earning a 20-5 technical fall over Spencer’s Madison Stickrod in the quarterfinal before edging Sioux City North’s Khloe Eliesa by 9-8 decision in the semifinal. In the championship, McKeen earned a 16-3 major decision over SWAT’s Jazz Christensen.

Okoboji/HMS’ Kaela Weston was crowned champion at a tournament hosted by Sioux Central on Friday, Nov. 22 in Sioux Rapids. Weston pinned Sioux Central’s Ashley Alvarado twice — first in 4 minutes, 57 seconds and again in 1:56 — to win the 100-pound bracket.

Audrina Bennett, Reece Logan and Cassie McKeen led the Spirit Lake Park girls wrestling team in its season-opening tournament held Tuesday, Nov. 19 at Western Christian High School in Hull. Bennett and Logan earned runner-up finishes at 110 pounds and 135 pounds, respectively, and McKeen placed third at 105 pounds.

The Okoboji/HMS girls wrestling team kicked off the 2024 season with duals against Emmetsburg and Sioux Central Tuesday, Nov. 19 in Emmetsburg. The Pioneers went 2-0 on the night, defeating the Rebels 57-24 and the E-Hawks 66-10.

Whenever something special happens in my life, I often quote the song “Oh, what a night!” made famous by The Four Seasons. It might be a family deal, a victory in a big game or as in the case of Thursday, Nov. 14, it was the annual Fall DNR Night sponsored by the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC).

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has scheduled a virtual public meeting to update the public on statewide chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance and management efforts.

Iowa’s most popular deer hunting seasons are just around the corner, when roughly 100,000 hunters take to the timber for the long-awaited gun seasons.

Iowa’s first gun season is Dec. 7-11. Second gun season is Dec. 14-22.

Last year, hunters reported around 60,000 deer during these two seasons, which is more than half of the total deer harvested for all seasons, and wildlife experts are forecasting a similar harvest.