The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Several thousand hunters will take to the woods with a bow looking to bring home a deer in the next several weeks. D-N-R wildlife biologist Jim Coffey says the bow season has become more and more popular because of what it offers to hunters. “Probably the most unique thing about archery season is the hunting experience itself and the fact that a lot of people will hunt individually. It’s not quite as social as the shotgun season with the party system. And this gives people a chance to get that one-on-one relationship with nature,” Coffey says.

The season opened Sunday (Oct 1) and some 62-thousand hunters are expected to take part. He says on a slow deer day, there’s still plenty to see. “If there’s not deer then you are observing the squirrels and you’re observing the woodpeckers and all of the other parts of nature. It’s just a very solace type of feeling that connects you back to nature,” according to Coffey. ” A lot of bowhunters are hunting from tree stands, and that puts you right up there in intimately in the habitat itself.”

The deer movement is a little different this time of year too, as they are still in their summer pattern, moving from their bedding areas to food sources.  “We’re still fairly green,but we’re turning into an early fall mixture. The leaves will be falling, we’re looking at corn be coming out which changes the habitat evaluation — so it just makes for a different experience,” Coffey says. “A lot of times the deer hunter’s going to be looking at the bedding areas and feeding areas and not so much worried about the ruts or the physical activity of the deer that are based the deer social behaviors, they are looking at the actual day-to-day movement of deer.”

Using a bow takes hunters back to the very early days of hunting. Though Coffey says the modern bows used today are the top of the line in technology. “And that’s good, but ultimately you still have to have good woodsmanship skills — you still have got to understand your weapon — just because it’s an expensive or a better weapon doesn’t mean that you know how to operate it,” Coffey says. “You’ve got to be practicing, you’ve got to understand your abilities and distance and judging. You need to practice from shooting from that elevated position because your angles change, which means it’s not the same as shooting at a target in the back yard.”

Coffey says practicing is important to avoid accidents with your bow and he says you need to check all of your equipment to be sure you are safe. “The number one hunting-related accident in Iowa is falling from a bow stand,” Coffey says. “So checking out those bolts and screws and straps on those stands…those are the most important critical things you can do.” He says the great experience of the hunt can be ruined because a piece of equipment wasn’t checked and failed. “Going into the woods and coming out of the woods is the greatest thing you can do — not harvesting a deer,” he says.

Coffey says you should at least get a chance to see a deer. He says deer numbers are about what they were last year and he expects the total harvest from ALL the seasons should be around 100-thousand deer. Bow hunters took nearly 13-thousand of those deer last year. The archery season will close on December 1st for the shotgun seasons, then reopens on December 18th until closing on January 10th.

(Radio Iowa)

(2-0) Harlan 21-21, Carlisle 12-12
(2-0) Harlan 21-21, Ottumwa 16-11
(2-0) Harlan 21-22, Pella 18-20
(2-1) Harlan 24-25-15, Boone 26-21-11
(2-0) Missouri Valley 21-21, Heartland Christian 10-6
(2-1) Missouri Valley 25-19-15, Shenandoah 21-25-9
(2-0) Missouri Valley 25-22, Exira-EHK 23-20
(2-1) Pella 24-25-15, Harlan 26-23-12
(2-0) Red Oak 21-21, Fremont-Mills 6-11
(2-0) Red Oak 21-21, Lawton-Bronson 9-10
(2-0) Red Oak 21-21, Stanton 11-8
(2-0) Red Oak 21-21, Westwood, Sloan 17-13
(2-0) St. Albert, Council Bluffs 21-21, Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 8-9
(2-0) St. Albert, Council Bluffs 21-21, Siouxland Christian 10-9
(2-1) St. Albert, Council Bluffs 25-20-15, Shenandoah 9-25-6
(2-0) St. Albert, Council Bluffs 25-25, Missouri Valley 15-11
(2-0) Tri-Center, Neola 21-21, Fremont-Mills 6-5
(2-0) Tri-Center, Neola 21-21, Lawton-Bronson 15-12
(2-0) Tri-Center, Neola 21-21, Stanton 11-11
(2-0) Tri-Center, Neola 21-21, Westwood, Sloan 9-7
(2-1) Tri-Center, Neola 21-9-15, Red Oak 18-21-12
(2-1) Woodbury Central 21-18-15, Boyer Valley 10-21-12
(2-0) Woodbury Central 21-21, River Valley 11-13
(2-0) Woodbury Central 23-21, St. Mary’s, Remsen 21-12

ST. LOUIS (AP) – The Milwaukee Brewers were eliminated from playoff contention Saturday when they squandered a six-run lead in a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, handing baseball’s final postseason spot to the Colorado Rockies. Brewers reliever Anthony Swarzak gave up a two-run single to Stephen Piscotty that tied it in the eighth inning and a go-ahead single to Harrison Bader. Milwaukee tried to rally and save its season in the bottom half, but Brett Phillips struck out with a runner on second to end it.

Milwaukee’s loss clinched the second NL wild card for Colorado, which will play at NL West rival Arizona in the wild-card game Wednesday.  The Brewers began the day needing to win their last two regular-season games in St. Louis while the Rockies dropped their final two at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers to force a tiebreaker Monday.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Brian Lewerke threw two touchdown passes to Felton Davis in the first quarter, and Michigan State held on for a 17-10 victory over Iowa on Saturday. The Spartans (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) dominated early, and their defense forced two crucial turnovers in the third quarter. Iowa (3-2, 0-2) managed only 19 yards rushing and has now lost its first two conference games for the first time since 2008. Davis surpassed his career high in receptions before halftime and finished with nine for 114 yards. His touchdown catches of 22 and 6 yards gave Michigan State a 14-0 lead, and that was enough for the Spartans to come away with an important home victory. Akrum Wadley scored for Iowa on a 9-yard run in the second quarter, but he was held to 30 yards on 17 carries.

The Hawkeyes trailed 17-7 at halftime but were on the verge of scoring on the first drive of the third quarter. After a successful fake field goal, Iowa was inside the 10-yard line, but quarterback Nate Stanley had the ball slip out of his hand as he began a throwing motion, and linebacker Joe Bachie came diving in to catch it out of the air. Brandon Smith fumbled the ball away in Michigan State territory on Iowa’s next possession. The Spartans held on at the end after Lewerke scrambled for a first down on third-and-12 with under 4:00 to play. By the time Iowa got the ball back, the Hawkeyes were back at their own 16 with 45 seconds remaining.

The Hawkeyes lost to Penn State on the final play last weekend, but they were outgained badly in that game, and their inability to move the ball against Michigan State is cause for concern. The last time Iowa started 0-2 in Big Ten play, the Hawkeyes did rebound quickly, winning five of their final six conference games. Up Next for Iowa: The Hawkeyes host Illinois next Saturday.

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) – Eli Dunne was 26-of-36 passing for 266 yards and three touchdowns and the Northern Iowa defense forced three fourth-quarter turnovers to help Panthers beat Southern Illinois 24-17 on Saturday night in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams. Daurice Fountain had seven catches for 106 yards and a score and Trevor Allen had 75 yards rushing on 18 carries and added an 11-yard touchdown reception for Northern Iowa (2-2).

Sam Drysdale kicked a 45-yard field goal to give Northern Iowa a 3-0 lead with 4:01 left in the first quarter and, after the Salukis went three-and-out, Dunne’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Fountain made it 10-0 early in the second. Matt Sotiropoulos hit a 32-yard field goal put Southern Illinois on the board with 4:24 left in the half, but a 42-yard reception by Fountain set up a 4-yard TD catch by Elias Nessen that made it 17-3 at the break.

Kyron Watson forced, and then recovered, a fumble by Allen and, four plays later, Sam Straub hit Jacob Varble for a 5-yard touchdown that pulled the Salukis to 24-17 with 11:17 to play, but the Panthers forced turnovers on each of Southern Illinois’ next three possessions – including an interception by Jake Hartford at the 3 with 1:47 remaining.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Grant Kraemer threw two touchdown passes and Drake took an early lead and held it, beating Butler 27-16 on Saturday.

Kraemer was 27 of 40 for 329 yards passing for the Bulldogs (3-2, 2-0 Pioneer League). Tyler Updegraff ran for 69 yards and a score and Danny Donley kicked two field goals.

Kraemer threw his two touchdowns in the second quarter, the first to Steven Doran for 28 yards and the second to Connor Ostrander for 15 yards, boosting Drake’s 7-6 first-quarter edge to 21-6 with 7:34 left in the half.

Anthony Scaccia ran six yards for Butler’s only touchdown late in the second quarter and Drake led 21-13 at the break. In the second half, Donley kicked a 19-yard field goal with 10:34 to go in the third quarter and another from 38 yards late in the fourth to seal the win. Will Marty threw for 197 yards for Butler (2-3, 0-2). Drew Bevelhimer kicked three field goals.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Atlantic Trojans football team showed a lot of grit in a tough loss on the road at Glenwood on Friday night 42-20.  The final score was not at all indicative of how the game played out.

Glenwood scored a touchdown with 2:02 left in the first half after stopping the Trojans on a 4th down attempt near mid field. That gave the Rams their first two score lead of the night at 21-7 at the break.  The Rams would push that lead to 28-7 after going 61 yards in ten plays to score on their opening possession of the second half. Andrew Blum capped the drive with his second touchdown run of the night from 26 yards out.

From that point the Trojans rallied.  Atlantic scored 13-unanswered on their next two possessions to climb within 8 points 28-20.  Jaxson Eden hooked up with Logan Reilly for the first score. Chase Mullenix then picked off an Andrew Blum pass to give the ball back to the Trojans. On a fourth and goal from the 5 Eden hooked up with Gratt Reed on a touchdown pass to get to the one score margin.

After forcing a Glenwood fumble the Trojans were working their way down the field to potentially tie the game. Then on a short pass to Chase Mullenix the ball was bobbled into the air and Jake Murtfeld made a diving interception at the 10 yard line to give the ball back to Glenwood. The Rams would capitalize, going 90 yards in 10 plays capped off by a 6 yard touchdown run by Noah Carter to give Glenwood a two score lead again at 35-20.  The Rams would add another late Noah Carter touchdown run to ice the win.

Glenwood was led by Noah Carter with 205 yards on 27 carries and 4 rushing touchdowns.  The Rams finished with 480 yards of total offense as they improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in district play.

Atlantic was led by a nice passing night from Jaxson Eden who was 20-31 for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns. Chase Mullenix had 8 catches fro 133 yards on the night and he also added 23 rushing yards and an interception on defense.  The Trojans had 335 yards of total offense as they fall to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in district play.

The Trojans return home to face ADM next week.