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Scouting Homework
By Jeff Murray
Find bedding areas now to make your fall season a success Deer hunters end up in the darnedest places for the darnedest reasons. Some just hunt where they used to hunt. Others rely on tips (from the UPS man to website scuttlebutt). Still others follow the sign (beds, trails, droppings, rubs, scrapes, you name it). It doesn’t really matter how... READ MORE
The Waiting Game
By William T. Strickland
Practice, patience and perseverance pay off... eventually. In July 2004, my good friend Clay Young, owner of Mexico Outfitters Unlimited in Del Rio, Texas, called and said he had an unexpected opening for a five-day hunt on his premier low-fence ranch in Mexico. The La Margarita is a 33,000-acre cattle ranch that has been under a strict trophy deer... READ MORE
Big Nasty
By Rob Brennan
With a rack like this, there could be only one name for this buck. In 2005, I bought my third trail camera. The first week, I got some photographs of a tremendous buck in one of my Biologic food plots. When my children saw the pictures, they described the deer’s rack as “big and nasty.” That led to our nicknaming it “Big Nas... READ MORE
No Time for Nerves
By Rob Meade
It took only a few seconds to make a memory that will last a lifetime. The alarm went off at 3 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2006, and Justin Metzner rose from his bed to prepare for a bowhunt in southern Ohio. Once dressed, he headed out to pick up his buddy, Jeremy Fannin, and the two hunters began the three-hour drive to Adams County. Their destination was a... READ MORE
Muzzleloader Gremlins
By Tom Fegely
Attention to detail before the hunt is even more important with smokepoles.
It doesn’t take much to spoil a muzzleloader hunt.
On one of my first flintlock outings more than 30 years ago, I wasted a valuable part of an afternoon following the clean miss of a doe I encountered on my way to a backwoods treestand. After firing, then verifying ... READ MORE
Shoot More Does ... Or Else
By David Hart
Are our grandfathers’ views on shooting female deer still valid today? There’s something about antlers we just can’t resist. Put a healthy doe and a pencil-horn spike in front of a guy with a .30-06 in his hands and the odds are he’ll center the crosshairs on the buck. Every time. While some dedicated deer hunters have come ... READ MORE
Misconceptions
By Bob Humphrey
If you repeat something often enough, people will think it’s true. The sun and the temperature were well up, so I decided to abandon my stand in favor of a stroll around the woodlot. Deer movement was nil. There was a chance I might jump one, but I was more interested in doing a little scouting. I’d just cleared a thick patch of firs wh... READ MORE
Scouting with a Purpose
By Jeff Murray
Just like the rut, scouting has phases that come together to complete the process.
“Patience is bitter, but its fruits are sweet.” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I view seasonal scouting as an event leading up to a promising hunt — something to be savored, much like a bowl of homemade soup. Unfortunately, most hunters view scouti... READ MORE