|
|
When the Wind Blows
By Bob Robb
Strong winds seem to send deer underground, but you can find them. It was the right time to be there. It just seemed like the wrong day. It was a couple of days before Halloween in 2010, and the pre-rut chase activity was in full bloom in central Illinois. The days had been a bit warm, but the deer were moving early and late. It seemed like every d... READ MORE
Snow Tracking Bucks
By Bob Robb
A fresh coating of white stuff can be like a road map to a big whitetail. I didn’t grow up in snow country, so the fine art of tracking deer didn’t interest me until later in life. A spot-and-stalk hunter, my first real interest in tracking game didn’t come until my first African safari. There, I watched a pair of bushmen track a ... READ MORE
Straight from the Masters
By Fred Eichler
How predator hunting has made me a better deer hunter. I’ve learned a lot from predators over the years. They make a living killing so, naturally, they’re pretty good at it. If you hunt predators long enough, you become a pretty good predator yourself. You’re also bound to pick up a few techniques from them along the way. There&rs... READ MORE
Incredible Antlers
By Bob Humphrey
What is it about these remarkable works of natural art that so fascinates us? Humans have long been fascinated by antlers. The ancients depicted large-racked bucks on cave wall drawings, and Native Americans often sought out the biggest bucks, adorning themselves and their lodges with antlers during ceremonial events. To this day, the mere sighting... READ MORE
Profile of a Poacher
By David Hart
Whether thrill-seekers, egomaniacs, they steal from you and me. It’s probably not a good idea to brag about your illegal exploits on the Internet, but that’s exactly what Darin Lee Waldo, a convicted felon, did last year when he posted photos of deer he killed out of season on his Facebook page. It was a move that led Florida game warde... READ MORE
CSI Whitetail
By P.J. Reilly
High tech forensic science comes to the deer woods. Officer Chad Eyler knew the circumstances of the victim’s death didn’t match up with the suspect’s story. Now he just needed to prove it. To do so, Eyler turned to police tactics commonly seen on the TV series CSI. He submitted evidence for DNA testing. While TV’s CSI featu... READ MORE
The Magic of Acorns
By Bob Robb
It’s no secret whitetails love acorns. Here’s what you need to know. I grew up in southern California, where no whitetails existed. There were some scrawny California mule deer, and during hunting season, we knew where we could find them: Under the oaks, munching acorns. When I decided to hunt whitetails in earnest, it was only natural ... READ MORE
October Rush
By Russell Thornberry
A veteran hunter and smart old buck go head to head in Alberta. September 2010 in western central Alberta was a monsoon, and farmers were picking their oats, barley and alfalfa in October, a month later than usual. This created an interesting but dicey bowhunting dilemma. Bucks were still feeding in the remaining unharvested crops, which were shrin... READ MORE
Rifles Rule
By Bob Humphrey
While they don’t get much attention, rifles still rule the world of whitetail hunting. I don’t think outdoor television provides a very realistic representation of contemporary deer hunting. It’s not because they portray situations the average guy will seldom, if ever, experience, although there’s a certain element of that. ... READ MORE
Scrape Magic
By Fred Eichler
No strategy works 100 percent of the time, but scrape hunting works often enough. It seems everyone has an opinion about hunting over scrapes. Having guided many archery and rifle hunters for deer, and personally harvested whitetails in 14 states, I have one, too. Mine is pretty basic, but it works. Just keep in mind that opinions are like noses, h... READ MORE
The Two-Man Push
By David Hart
You don’t need a crowd to move deer. What happened to old fashioned deer drives? What was once a long standing tradition in deer camps all over the country is slowly fading into the annals of whitetail history. It could be a result of higher deer populations, or it could be a gradual change in deer hunting culture. Whatever the reason, big, o... READ MORE
Shooting Long Distance
By Bob Robb
Whitetail hunting isn’t always a short-range game. Growing up a mule deer hunter out West, I was weaned on the importance of being able to make the first shot count at a deer three or four football fields away. We always tried to get closer, but sometimes it just wasn’t in the cards. Most shots at whitetails are less than 200 yards, bu... READ MORE
High Mercury Whitetails
By Darron McDougal
Sweat, bugs and extra effort aside, you can take big bucks when the weather is hot. Sweat poured from my face. The thermometer read 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and the mosquitoes just wouldn’t relent. Of all the places I could be in such conditions, I found myself trudging along the border of a standing cornfield. My destination was a hang-on stan... READ MORE
Calling All Bucks
By Tracy Breen
What you say and when you say it are crucial to successful calling. Most of you have tried deer calls, and I’m sure if we conducted a poll, your opinions would be mixed. Some deer hunters swear by grunt tubes, cans and snort-wheeze calls and use them every year. It’s not uncommon to see a hunter pull into the local coffee shop with a bi... READ MORE
Shoot the Gap
By P.J. Reilly
How often does a buck show up at exactly 20, 30 or 40 yards? In a perfect world, all bucks would carry BTR racks. They’d never see, hear or smell us, and they’d all show up in daylight and stop broadside in clear shooting lanes at exactly 20, 30 or 40 yards. Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world, and bucks, especially mature o... READ MORE