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Lessons Learnt
By Steve Bartylla
Following are a few pearls of wisdom from a professional deer manager and hunter. Just that quick, things had gone from bad to perfect. The buck, sporting well over 150 inches of antler that had veered off just before hitting my shooting lane, was now being led back on a string. It was poetic justice in a way, since the doe that led him astray in t... READ MORE
In an Instant
By Bob Humphrey
Sometimes you have only seconds to choose whether or not to shoot. Here’s some help on how to decide. Whoa! Where’d he come from?” I didn’t remember looking away, but I must have because a very large buck now stood where seconds earlier the space was empty. “Shooter.” The word popped into my head. I knew it. I mi... READ MORE
Counting Points
By David Hart
Do state-mandated antler restrictions make a positive impact on herd health? In 1990, Larry Marchinton received a call from a Georgia wildlife biologist who wanted to discuss a novel idea for deer management. At the time, Marchinton was the deer research program leader at the University of Georgia, and the deer-hunting world was starting to look at... READ MORE
No Second Thoughts
By Maurice King III
Some say taking an albino deer is bad luck, but this hunter didn’t even think twice. On Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007, at about 6:30 a.m., I was on the way home from work when my brother called to ask if I wanted to go deer hunting. I was pretty tired and really didn’t want to, but I told him I would go for a short while. I went home, put on my... READ MORE
In Need of an Intervention
By Linda Crosslin
Self-confessed deer hunting addict finally gets the trophy of her dreams. I am the oldest of five girls reared in the country and taught by our father to shoot at an early age. My husband, Joe, has been deer hunting since the first legal Kentucky deer season in 1968. He took our two kids and me with him in 1985, and I’ve been hopelessly addic... READ MORE
No Respect
By P.J. Reilly
Why Indiana is the Midwest’s most overlooked hotspot. When it comes to premiere whitetail destinations, the Midwest is at the top of the heap. Every year, scores of hunters flock there in search of big bucks; and every year, those hunters take home more than a few bragging-size whitetails. Most often, the states these hunters head to are Illi... READ MORE
Arrow Spine Rules
By Jeff Murray
How this little understood arrow factor can make or break your setup. Just the other day, I shot a dozen arrows of an unfamiliar brand to check their performance at 50 yards. That’s a good distance for practicing, because it makes traditional whitetail distances seem like chip shots. When you practice regularly at this distance, you learn a l... READ MORE
Big Woods Bucks
By Steve Bartylla
Whitetails in large timber tracts are harder to pattern, but it’s not impossible. As the buck stood on the ridge, nose held high, it inhaled the alluring odor of the estrous scent I had placed well above its reach. It took several steps forward and began to scan the bedding area below for the hot doe. Within seconds, a blast of scent placed c... READ MORE
Antler Intrigue
By Tom Fegely
Of the recognized big buck factors, which is really most important? Several years ago, in one of my newspaper columns distributed by the Associated Press, I covered the subject of deer antlers and how they grow and are eventually dropped after the hunting season. With more than 25 years of outdoor news writing under my camo cap at the time, I long ... READ MORE
The 5 Ws of Decoying Deer
By Bob Humphrey
Who, What, When, Where, How and Why to use deer decoys It was that gloomy period known as false dawn. I was perched on the edge of a huge cut cornfield in southeast Illinois, and somewhere out in front of me, well within the effective range of my weapon but invisible to me, was a Boss Buck decoy. The anticipation of seeing the sun rise for the firs... READ MORE
When the Wind Blows
By Tom Fegely
Windy days can be miserable in the stand, but wind can help you overcome a deer’s defenses. Michael Haviland wanted to make it clear that he’d be ready whenever I decided to pull the trigger. The then-24-year-old videographer was on the viewfinder end of a pro-model video camera, braced on a limb over my right shoulder a dozen feet up a... READ MORE
Where Do All the Big Bucks Go?
By Joel S. Fawcett
Be prepared to get cut and dirty if you want to go where the giants roam. It was the second week of the Maine firearms deer season, and I hadn’t visited the deer woods because of a very successful fly fishing foray to Ontario. I was antsy to go hunting, but I first stopped by the Pine Tree Store — it’s the village’s only emp... READ MORE
Lost and Found
By Tom Fegely
How a top-10 Pa. buck almost never made it to the hunter’s wall. Much of deer hunting’s enjoyment and memories involves sharing tales experienced by friends and other lucky and wise hunters. Each year’s deer camp provides a wealth of stories of bucks seen but not shot, others that got away and some that didn’t. For those tha... READ MORE
Fetching Sheds
By Tracy Breen
Antler hunting is more fun with man’s best friend. For many whitetail hunters, there isn’t an off season. When we’re not perched 20 feet up a tree, waiting for Mr. Big to walk by, we’re hanging stands, planting food plots or knocking on doors in search of the next great lease. Many look for shed antlers just to pass the days... READ MORE
Confessions of a Cull Hunter
By Bob Humphrey
Management bucks provide plenty of challenge at a fraction of the price. Deer hunting can mean stress, most of which we thrust upon ourselves. In my case, the trouble began the moment I committed to an abbreviated, two-day hunt. A full day into it and with nothing to show, I was really starting to feel the pressure. Light was fading fast on the sec... READ MORE
The Green Menace
By David Hart
How to control weeds and keep them from ruining your food plot. There’s a monster out there — a green menace lurking in your food plot. It’s not a plague of insects or some alien disease. No, this monster is that catch-all category of plants we call “weeds.” Fescue, Bermuda and other grasses, along with curly dock, thi... READ MORE
Git ’R Done
By Ken Piper
While not a traditional deer call, apparently yelling at the family dog can yield a trophy buck. Clee Dixon has seen and killed more big bucks than most people ever dream of. Growing up in a farming family in western Illinois and carrying on the tradition today, Clee encounters deer on a regular basis, including the big bucks that raid his soybeans... READ MORE
Duo Deer Hunt
By Bob Humphrey
Sometimes you can have the best of both hunting worlds. For many Easterners, shooting a mule deer is a lifetime goal. You save your money until you can finally afford that once-in-a-lifetime Western hunt. Weeks of searching the Internet, talking with outfitters and interviewing references eventually lead to a reputable enterprise. You book the hunt... READ MORE
Dad Would Be Proud
By Steve Foate with Scott Foate
Deer management program pays off big time for father and son. Each year as I sit in my stand, I daydream of the big bucks that live in our part of the country. I paint a vivid picture of my son, Kevin, holding the rack of a trophy buck as he smiles at me and we share the closeness that only those who have been there can understand. Another wish was... READ MORE
A Buck’s First Year
By Bob Humphrey
A whitetail’s first 12 months are fraught with peril, and some won’t survive. Dawn breaks on a dew-soaked meadow. The calendar says summer is still several weeks away, but the woodland creatures know it’s already here. The grass is a yard tall, trees are fully leafed out and the colorful male songbirds now sing to defend a territo... READ MORE