Each issue of North American Whitetail brings you effective techniques for outsmarting monster bucks. You'll learn the success secrets of North America's most accomplished, most knowledgeable whitetail hunters - riflemen and bowhunters alike.
Were it not for the rut, I guess I’d have far more set aside for retirement. I’d have saved many thousands of dollars I’ve personally spent on travel, deer tags and taxidermy: all money I could have been saving for dentures, cataract surgery and eventually, maybe even room and board down at the retirement center. But not I. No, I had to give in to my dreams of going here and there, spending as much of the rut as possible in such far-flung places as Saskatchewan, Kentucky and Mexico. Trying to figure out just how many spots I could hit from the time bucks started chasing does in one place until the last ones stopped chasing them somewhere else. And then, as soon as it all ended, I’d start dreaming…
Tune in every Wednesday night at 8:00 P.M. ET on Sportsman Channel to catch new episodes of North American Whitetail TV presented by Quick Attach. Each week, our team of whitetail professionals offers advice on hunting and managing trophy whitetails throughout the continent. This month, we’re excited to bring you the following programs: WEEK OF OCT. 21- OCT. 27 Huntin’ Buddies: Old friends Dr. James Kroll and Gordon Whittington head to the Texas coast to hunt the Bar J ranch, managed by Rob Hughes. Laden Force discusses overlooked scent-containment strategies in our “From the Stand” segment, while Haynes Shelton profiles the Buddy Deville buck. WEEK OF OCT. 28-NOV. 3 Mexico Memories: Dr. James Kroll takes us south of the border to Mexico to chase giant whitetails, and some special guests…
The white tailed deer is a high ly adaptable colonizer, as evidenced by its abundance across much of North America And the species keeps spreading out — even into some areas few would call whitetail country. One such place apparently is the coastal region of southern Alaska, a land known for whales, eagles, bears and glaciers. Historically, the only deer present has been the Sitka blacktail. But wildlife officials suggest whitetails are now on the doorstep of the 49th state — and that a few might in fact have already stepped inside Where are they coming from? The east With the expansion of agricul ture into northern British Columbia and southwestern Yukon over the past century, whitetails have been on a steady march to the north and west. But only…
Each year, at some point during the rut, social media and hunting camps will be abuzz with talk that bucks are in “lockdown.” They’d been moving well in daylight but suddenly aren’t. Nobody’s seeing much at all. So it’s easy to conclude that virtually every buck in the area has paired up with a receptive doe and simply isn’t moving. This concept has become so ingrained in the lore of whitetail hunting that you risk peril if you even question it. Yet that’s exactly what I’m about to do, so hopefully you can gain a better understanding of what’s happening when bucks vanish. A SHORT LESSON IN RUT BIOLOGY Before getting into the scientific side of what we call “lockdown,” let me note that I have a lot of faith…
SAVAGE MSR-10 HUNTER Cartridge: .338 Federal Action: Semi-Auto Barrel: Carbon Steel, 5R Rifled w/1-in-10 Twist Barrel Length: 18” Magazine Capacity: 20 rounds, detachable Weight: 7 lbs., 12. oz. Website: savagearms.com Before I hunted with a modern sporting rifle, I’d owned several. The bulk of my experience with them was time spent blasting steel targets and spraying bullets into inanimate objects like soda bottles, milk jugs and whatever other junk was lying around the shooting range. Of course, like so many other red-blooded American boys, I developed an affinity for the AR-15 and AR-10 rifle platforms early in life. Barely old enough to be trusted with a BB gun, I’d already watched enough war movies, not to mention hours of History Channel, to know our armed forces often use the AR…
THE BIG 10-pointer was 100 yards out when I spotted him strolling across the frost-covered cut soybean field in that steady rut walk. He wasn’t looking left or right; nor did he seem the least bit concerned with wind direction or potential predatory threats. By all appearances, he was focused strictly on breeding. I had a buck decoy standing 20 yards straight in front of my stand and figured the buck would saunter over to challenge it once he saw it. So I picked up my grunt call and let go with a couple subtle urps. The buck immediately locked up, took a quick glance at my decoy . . . then flicked his tail and continued on his route. Over the next couple minutes, I threw everything I had…
