Hunter’s First Deer Is an Old, 8-Point Leucistic Buck Just ask John Bralley from Draper, Virginia. In the days leading up to his first successful deer hunt, the 40-year-old happened to make a new friend, secure an invite to a new patch of land, get rare vacation time, and borrow a muzzleloader. Sitting in a … Read more
How to Take High Percentage Shots on the Dove Opener and Hit More Birds For wingshooters, the dove opener is a kick-off to a fall full of rooster flushes, covey rises, and greenheads over decoys. It’s tough shooting because doves are small, fast, and change direction quickly. Shooters tend to improve later in the season … Read more
Are Deer Dogs a Problem for Deer Hunting in the South? Past an old logging gate, a gravel road snakes through a stand of pine. Meandering through the stand, my truck headlights brighten the back wall of a tin building that looks more like a feed shed than a deer camp. Inside, a makeshift counter … Read more
Don’t Hunt (or Kill Game) If Your Heart Isn’t in It ONE OF THE most unsettling perspectives on hunting that I’ve read in a long time was published in Bon Appétit, of all places, under the headline “I Eat Meat. Why Was Killing My Own Food So Hard?” The article follows a modern and trendy … Read more
Dr. Grant Woods on How to Use Trail Cam Artificial Intelligence to Improve Your Deer Hunting Before trail cameras, Dr. Grant Woods (Growing Deer TV) conducted wildlife research by sitting in a treestand and taking notes. As a young researcher, he monitored whitetail behavior around scrapes, but by hanging out in the area, he was … Read more
A High Schooler’s Perspective on “Trophy Hunting” This story originally ran in the 2021 No. 4 Issue of Outdoor Life. Find out how to read more stories from that issue here.In early November, on a warm, breezy evening a few days after my high school’s football team lost a state playoff game, I filled my … Read more
Rabbit Season: The Ideal Time for Traditional Bowhunting As winter sets in, ending deer season for most of us, there is still an opportunity to be found in rabbit hunting. If you’ve been wanting to try traditional bowhunting, now is the perfect time to venture into the woods. Rabbit hunting aligns seamlessly with traditional bowhunting … Read more
Ohio Bowhunter Tags Tall 10-Point, and Finally Bests His Old Man Austin Shepherd remembers the 10-point his dad killed when he was just a kid growing up in Carrollton, Ohio. They entered the 175-inch buck into a local contest, and Shepherd bragged about the deer to schoolmates. “I thought it was a huge deal back … Read more
Mule Deer Hunting Tips “Mule deer are dumb.” I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that infuriating statement. My sarcastic response is, “if they’re so dumb, then why don’t you have big bucks lining your rafters?” Hunted mule deer all my life and guided in prime mule deer country in the … Read more
Jim Shockey on the Real Trouble With the Border Closure: Here’s Why It’s Not So Easy to “Roll Over” Your Outfitted Canadian Hunt The Canadian border will likely open in the next few weeks, but American hunters who booked trips last year will have a difficult time making their dream hunts happen this year. Canadian … Read more
