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Raking in the Bucks
By Lee Hutcherson
Hunting is my new passion, but my wife would probably say it’s my new obsession. I took up the sport three short years ago at age 43, and I’ve loved chasing whitetails in my home state of Mississippi, as well as at my club in Tennessee. Although fairly new at it, I’m learning fast, and I’m having great success. As a newbie, ... READ MORE
The School of Loose Nocks
By Scott Stricker
Last season, I learned a valuable lesson about not paying attention to nock tightness, and what can happen if you don’t re-snap your arrow to the string after drawing your bow. It might seem like small detail, but it could have big consequences. Here’s how a nock that lost its gripping power caused me to miss the buck of a lifetime as w... READ MORE
Hailing a Taxi (dermist)
By Tim H. Martin
Taxidermy has improved since the days of neck mounted, bug-eyed bucks with ears pointed straight ahead, fading fast and hair falling out in clumps. The subject of preserving your trophy is often overlooked. These tips will allow you to admire your mounts 20, 30, 40 years from now, or longer. Many hunters are not aware of what’s available to ... READ MORE
Open Field Yardage Markers
By Neal Gagner
Open fields always seem to be my favorite places to hunt. Where I live, the deer appear at the woods edge, then enter the hay or cornfields where I then have to figure out the yardage. In the deep woods, I can use my rangefinder to mark objects such as trees, rocks and stumps. But open fields rarely have distinguishing features to mark with a rang... READ MORE
Eliminate Tree-hugger Stands
By Mike Stamp
Have you ever tried to stand up and draw your bow in a fixed-position stand that had been set up crookedly? It can be scary and dangerous. When I set up my stands, I like to get them comfortably level from the get-go. That’s why I bring a 6-inch level with me on treestand setup day. First, I lay the level on the foot platform, making sure it ... READ MORE
Set BIG PICTURE Goals
By Krissy Jean Marrall
As a female who has been hunting since 1995, I've found that setting reasonable goals prior to each season has helped me develop my passion for hunting over the years. Looking back, if someone had told me to make shooting a monster buck my biggest pre-season goal, I would have become disenchanted with hunting before my career even got off the groun... READ MORE
Clamped Tail? Better Go Trail!
By Tim H. Martin
We all know the telltale signs of a deer being hit with a bullet. The obvious reactions are a hunching of the back, a bronco-like kick, stumbling, and a changing of the deer’s gait or even the animal being completely knocked down. But one important sign is much more subtle. While hunting with an outfitter in Ohio several autumns ago, I learne... READ MORE
Bowhunting Practice: Replicate Scenarios
By Shannon Shipley and Tim H. Martin
When getting ready for bow season, I have learned to practice shooting for all sorts of scenarios. No two situations are alike when it comes to the moment of truth for shooting whitetails. I like to prepare for the unexpected, and my practice routine includes shooting at every angle imaginable. The only way to properly do this is to replicate a hu... READ MORE
Venison Confusion: Backstraps vs. Tenderloins
By Tim H. Martin
Backstraps and tenderloins: Are they the same thing? The answer might surprise you if you’re a hunting newbie, and it even might be news to some of you old-timers! The answer is no, backstraps and tenderloins are two different things, although the terms are often interchanged in conversations about venison. There is a widespread misconceptio... READ MORE
Easy Turkey Decoy (and Other Gear) Repair
By Buckmasters Life Member Jim Harkless
Turkey decoys take a lot of abuse. After several years of folding mine and stuffing them into my backpack, the seams on the undersides have begun to split and separate. This seems to be fairly common with inflatable, foam and rubber decoys. The splitting usually occurs around the area where the stakes go into place. But the busted seam will eventua... READ MORE
Take Time to Take Photos
By Tim H. Martin
In hunting, the chance to capture a special memory on film passes like lyrics to a song by Kansas: “Only for a moment, and the moment’s gone.” I learned that lesson the hard way in 1977 on Thanksgiving Day when my father took me deer hunting for the very first time, but we never took a single picture. We’d jumped a herd of ... READ MORE
Beat the Bootstrap Blues
By Frank Carieri
I wasn’t sure my tip was worth sharing, but decided to send it to help other Buckmasters fans who are getting on in years, or are a little on the heavy side. Using a climbing stand is my favorite way to hunt whitetails. But, at age 52, I’ve had four back surgeries and a quadruple bypass. I’ve also added a couple inches to my waist... READ MORE
Staying Put: Virtues and Perils
By Rich Williams and Tim H. Martin
When you are an invited guest on someone’s hunting property and they put you in a spot, DO NOT leave early or go roaming around, even if you aren’t seeing anything. Wait until your host comes to get you, because you could get lost or put yourself in a dangerous situation with other hunters. This happened to someone hunting with me; they... READ MORE
New Stand? Bring Your Compass!
By Larry Brown
Experienced hunters use a compass for more than just map reading. To make my treestands most effective during hunting season, I always carry a compass. I use it when picking out a tree and deciding which direction to face my stand. Here's why: Knowing your bearings is essential for the initial stand set up. If you guess and get it wrong, you'll lik... READ MORE
Back in Black
By Tim H. Martin
Black clothing can stand out nearly as much as white in the forest during daylight hours, but there is a place for black in the hunting world. I first learned the downside of wearing black in 2005, while bowhunting in Illinois. I'd accidentally left my camo hat in camp and had to use the only headgear I had in my backpack, a solid black fleece bea... READ MORE
Curing the Wet Slate Blues
By Christopher Anderson
Here’s a question for my fellow turkey hunters. Have you ever gotten set up on some birds just before sunrise; the hens and gobblers are all talking. You pick up your favorite slate call just as the turkeys begin to pitch down only to find morning dew has dampened the call surface and it won’t make a sound? This has happened to me more ... READ MORE
Binos & Camera Telephoto Trick
By Tim H. Martin
Photo: A sheep hunter’s tip for taking long-range photos helped Tim H. Martin photograph this wide 10-pointer from a distance. While muzzleloader hunting in Ohio in 2010, I watched an extremely wide 10-pointer bedding down in the rain. It plopped down about 70 yards behind and to the side of my ground blind, well outside of my shooting lane. ... READ MORE
No Rail Pad? No Problem!
By Marcus Bolick
Photo: Venison is a prized commodity in the area of North Carolina where Marcus Bolick hunts. The hunter proudly hunts with the same model rifle used by Milo Hanson — a Winchester Model 88 chambered in .308. My tip isn’t anything fancy, and I may not be the first Buckmasters fan to come up with the idea, but I’ve decided to share ... READ MORE
Hunting’s Most Overlooked Resource?
By James Blackmon
As hunters, we are always looking for resources to improve our scouting and hunting. If you are like me, you have spent a lot of time scouring maps, walking properties and talking to farmers and other hunters about where they’ve seen deer. We also invest a lot of research, time and money into scouting technology and hunting gear: digital top... READ MORE
Diamond-Dusted Honing for Hunters
By Rick Roesler
Seems like hunters always need to sharpen something. I have found inexpensive, easily packable items that really do the trick, even in the field. There are several types of files embedded with diamond dust or diamond grit that will put an edge on your gear. The flat kind women use to file their nails are very inexpensive, and you can find them at T... READ MORE