-- It seems some folks here at the Buckmasters offices are snake-bitten. Of all the hunts that myself or the editors have taken, no one I know of has harvested a buck, or a doe for that matter. Every year I have been here, someone has gotten a really nice buck, and most have at least put a couple of does in the freezer, but this year is different. It is palpable.

Even the television guys are having a hard go of it this year.

I'm the type of person who needs to have things make sense. This whole season doesn't make sense. Maybe it's global warming. That is a joke, by the way. Don't get me started on that scam. Whatever it is, the reason eludes me, but like I said, you can just feel that something is different.

March 1, 2008, is the deadline for bucks to appear in the next edition of "Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records." All entries received after that date will not appear in print until 2011.

Like other record-keeping organizations, Buckmasters updates its record book every three years. The fourth edition, which included more than 9,000 awesome whitetails, was published during the fall of 2005. The fifth will be published next fall, and it'll contain an additional 1,500 to 2,000 deer - those that have been measured since the last book rolled off the press.

The fifth edition will feature the most up-to-date roster of trophy whitetails, including several new state- and even a couple of new world records.

Anyone interested in having his or her trophy included in the next ...

-- Every five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service takes the pulse of American hunters and anglers through its National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

Results of the latest survey, just released, show that 37.8 million of us like to hunt and fish, but there are 6 percent fewer of us than in 2001, the last survey period. The good news is hunters aren't leaving the sport as fast as they did in the 1990s, and big game hunting is remaining stable.

The survey also breaks down hunting by the type of game pursued and the number of days spent in that search. The white-tailed deer continues to be far and above the most popular game animal in the ...

I am back from the Wisconsin hunt, and pretty much the only thing I have to show for my efforts is a few more pounds lost, an increased knowledge of scouting techniques and I'm a walking map of the Tiffany Wildlife area in western Wisconsin.

We arrived there about lunch time last Monday, and were greeted by gale force winds and an advancing cold front. While the cold was a good thing for the hunt, the wind doesn't do archery hunters many favors. (Or firearms hunters for that matter.) So we decided to use the remaining sunlight to scout and pick out a few stand locations for later in the week.

We found heavily used trails, droppings, big and small rubs and scrapes galore. The l ...

Final preparations are being made, the details are coming together and I am ready to go. The hunting crew leaves tomorrow for Wisconsin.

The weather report keeps getting colder by the day. Last week the extended forecast called for highs in the 40s, and lows in the 30s. Today you can knock off 10 degrees for both the high and the low temperatures. This should make for great hunting and hopefully the big boys will start looking for those does. The prediction of snow changes every day. Yes one day, no the next. We'll see.

The light cardio workouts continue. I'll be back in the gym as soon as my trip is in the books. 

Getting ready to go hunting is a MAJOR undertaking -- at least for me.  Being primarily a bowhunter, scent is my biggest concern, and I spend a lot of time agonizing over it and looking for new ways to reduce my "scent footprint."

I learn something new every year, whether from reading the articles for Buckmasters, from other hunters, or just by accident. This year was no exception.

As I was getting ready to head to Dreamwoods Adventures hunting camp in southern Illinois, I gathered up all my hunting clothes and equipment. My bow, arrows, quiver, etc., are not a problem since I shoot pretty much year-round, but the clothes and other gear seem to get scattered out over the course of the off season. Having finally gathered ev ...

It's crunch time folks. I have 18 days left until I make my way to Wisconsin. 

Archery practice hit a new plateau. My confidence level is growing daily and I'm shooting out to 45 yards. I have practiced from a sitting position. The only thing I have left to do is to practice while wearing my hunting clothes.

Speaking of clothes, I am more than a little concerned about what I'll need to wear. Hunting in Wisconsin during November can offer a WIDE range of temperatures. The advice given to me from my fellow co-workers is to dress in layers. This will give me the option to add or take off layers as needed. It is the unpredictable Wisconsin weather that has me frazzled.

I have also been stocking up on hunting gear and noticed that my old grunt call was looking a little tatter ...

I'd like to apologize for not posting an update in a couple of weeks. As you may expect, this is the crazy time of year here at Buckmasters, and extra time to write is at a premium.

Add to that the fact that my family has been battling one sickness after another. Plus, every extra minute I have has been devoted to getting ready to for archery season, and that is a recipe for lackadaisical posting and exercising.

I feel good about the progress I have made. I have lost 20 pounds since this project started, and I do not get winded nearly as easy as I did before. I feel confident that I can walk in to any hunting environment, and not have to wheeze my way to the stand.

On this hunt, we will be boating into some pretty remote locales, and the thought of that used to fill me with trepida ...

I don't know how this happens to me every year: All summer it feels like hunting season is never going to get here; then it's upon me so fast that I'm not even close to having anything ready.

I'm sure that part of the problem is that it's so hot for so long here in Alabama. October is here and we're still getting highs in the 90s every day -- not exactly stand-hanging weather.

But even if it wasn't for that, I'd still be behind. It seems that nothing goes right for me when it comes to equipment.

Actually, I should qualify that; my bow is shooting very well. When I do my part, it hits exactly where I'm aiming. It even seems to cut me a ...