Great Season Opener

The bows are sighted in, the guns are ready to go and Youth and Disabled Hunter Season is set to kick off this weekend. Anticipation is high for the beginning of another deer hunting season here in Iowa, and it looks like the weather will be just about perfect.

Canadian high pressure... ahh, music to hunter's ears in the early season. The cooler weather gets the deer moving, and we'll high pressure coming down into the Midwest this weekend. With a heart of frosty, Canadian cold expect some crisp and cool mornings. Dry air will heat up pretty quickly with this system, and the afternoons will be nice and mild.

If there is a downside, it's in the winds. Highs are notorious for busting hunters with winds beginning from one direction and then turning 180° to 270°. Expect the wind direction to be shifty Saturday morning. Many don't particularly enjoy playing merry-go-stand, but the cool weather will make it nearly perfect for hunting. Another big perk this weekend -acorns!

Deer love acorns and they are coming down in pretty good numbers here in central Iowa. Many of the big oaks in my area have produced giant acorns, and in scouting I've noticed substantial sign below a few select trees. Curious as to why, I sampled a few. While both tasted like a bitter pumpkin seeds to me, the bigger acorns were a little "tastier." Perhaps the deer feel the same... In any case, I suspect a nice crisp morning on an oak ridge might be just the ticket to filling a tag this weekend.

Good luck all, may the wind be in your favor! Less than two weeks for Iowa Bowhunters!

Outdoor Report

The heat has finally broken and it feels great to be back to average!

Now that temps are back on even keel, let's hope we get some rain!

Interestingly, this year has been below average on the whole here in Iowa. Meanwhile, global temperatures are still way above average. Global climate change is a touchy topic. According to the University of Alabama in Huntsville it is very apparent that we have been in a warm cycle for the past several years on the planet.

This is a plot showing global average temperature anomaly. The zero line would be "normal".

This year a western heat ridge has been dominating the weather pattern. At the same time it has been unseasonably cool for the eastern U.S. Most of the moisture has been pushed to the south of Iowa with Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and most of the Southeast seeing flooding rains.

Notice the orange indicating a very large, unseasonably warm pocket
 in NW North America in August.

It will be interesting to see what this Fall and Winter bring to Iowa. I'll take my annual long shot at the 1, 2 and 3 month outlook a little later this month.

The Outdoor Report airs Friday and Saturday at 6 and 10pm.

I'm also proud to announce we are also putting out an Outdoor Report sponsored by Stivers. We'll focus on the hunting and fishing weather and give you the barometric pressure trends and wind direction forecast for the following day.

Summer Vacation, Heat and Drought

Although we've seen little more than 1/2 the 90s we did last year,
more are on the way!

While the calendar says Fall is near, the thermometer is still throttled forward! It is apparent this year's short Summer is not done with Iowa yet. The strong seasonality can be a bear, but I feel it is one of the best things about living in Iowa. Each season has it's time and merit and while I'm anxious for Fall, Summer doesn't care. It's still in full swing.

I didn't catch a thing in the fog. Although my stomach was hungy,
my soul was happy.

One of the best facet's of Summer is vacation. I was blessed this year with some very nice vacations. Most recently, Heather and I went down to Branson Missouri to explore the beauty of Ozark country and some of the finest Missouri trout streams I have seen. If you haven't been, I highly recommend it.

Apparently, '76 was hotter...

Back in Iowa, temperatures are planed out like a 16' fiberglass at 20 mph on the water. The mercury will be pegged in the 80s and 90s again this weekend. While not quite the heat of '76, this late season blast of searing sun is unusual. One of the strongest contributors to the heat is the expanding drought in the western ½ of the U.S.

Extreme heat fans the flames on the Rim Fire in California. This picture
is courtesy my friends at NASA and is a visible shot from space.
 This fire's so big, you could see it from space.

Drought is also expanding across Iowa and the severity is worsening every day. After a near record wet Spring, over 98% of the state is now in a drought.

Over 32% of Iowa is now in Severe Drought status.

We are in the midst of a drought cycle here in the Cyclone state. Dry ground feeds into the dry air and when combined with sunshine that means more heat. When it gets hot, things dry out faster and fields are sun-baked lawns across the state.

Rain would break the cycle down. Until then, we have to wait for
 the sun's intensity to Fall with the next season.

The latest blast of Summer exhaust may make it seem like hunting season is light-years away, but in a few short weeks I'll be sweating these temps out in a tree stand. And hopefully you will too. One thing's for sure, the heat makes me miss the mystic and solace you can only find fishing in the cool fog along the banks of a clear, cold-water creek. It also makes me miss hunting. So, I tip my hat to Thee, summertime, and at the same time pray for some cooler weather.

Table Rock Dam, Missouri. Ozark country.

Extreme Weather will Impact Iowa Archers

From late spring snow to early 100s then record cool this summer and back to an incredible heat wave -this year we've seen it all it seems. This is taking it's toll not only on area farms, our state's Whitetail population has been enduring all of these extremes.

As we approach the archery season, not only should Iowa bowhunters be prepared for just about every type of weather, we'll have to deal with some big challenges with the Whitetail habitat this year.

Heavy soaking rains flooded farm fields most of the spring. In addition, that record May snow retarded soil temps and the combination delayed planting. Many corn fields went in several weeks late. This will push harvest back into the middle of rut for some, and it means a golden jungle of crunchy cornstalks until then. Where standing corn may pose a giant road block for some, others see this as an opportunity. The extensive security habitat is going to make it tougher to see, but it also makes big bucks feel pretty darn comfortable. They may be patternable well into the pre-rut phase

This latest dry spell is now a full fledged drought. Drought conditions are often accompanied by extremely hot temps and whereas the Iowa State Fair was nice, the end of August will feature heat for the record books. Hot and dry weather take their toll, and water sources will turn back into a hot commodity for hunters in the early season.

Vegetation is also being degraded by this heat, and this is changing the preferred browse for Whitetail. Acorns are falling and have been in some areas since the beginning of August. That oak stand might just be dynamite by opening day... or it might already be cleaned out as the trees give up on this year.

As we sizzle outside with some serious late season heat in August and early September, it may be important to look back at this year's tendency and history in general. This year has been predominantly cool with Des Moines' average temp is 4 degrees cooler than the normal value. There have been several instances where late season heat reverted into early frost, freeze and even snow! Click here for more.

Whether it's an early season snow and bitter cold surge followed by a mini heat wave or just the standing corn that's hiding a herd of deer from your view - extreme weather will impact Iowa archers this year. It might be time to learn how to still hunt a cornfield!