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.
It doesn’t take some modern-day Nostradamus to predict that this deer season will be unique. After months of what we’ve all been through, how could everything in the woods be the same as always? If nothing else, I’m expecting to hear about a bunch of hit-list bucks nicknamed “Covid” or “Corona.” What else might be different? Will we see restrictions on over-the-counter tag purchases? Closures of some public hunting areas? Extra travel hassles? Many such questions remain unanswered as I write this, and they could be relevant if autumn brings further disruptions of daily life. There are no direct comparisons to use as a map around this obstacle in our road. But based on a blend of history and intuition, we can speculate how fall might play out. The 2001…
Tune in every Wednesday night at 8:00 PM ET on Sportsman Channel to catch new episodes of NAW TV . WEEK OF AUG. 3-9 “Dakota Bucks”: Greg Miller and Laden Force head to the drainages of South Dakota to pursue open-country bucks. In “From the Stand” we discuss productive setups for Western whitetails. Dr. James Kroll (“Dr. Deer”) explains whitetail hair color phases and markings, and Gordon Whittington profiles Brennan Huard’s giant 7x7 Saskatchewan typical. WEEK OF AUG. 10-16 “Birthday Buck”: Haynes Shelton heads to Wyoming to hunt a velvet giant on the archery opener. In “From the Stand” we highlight the advantages of permanent blinds. Dr. James Kroll discusses antler color and density. Gordon Whittington also profiles Andrea Moffett’s Indiana giant taken in 2016. WEEK OF AUG. 17-23 “Shoot…
As a teenager in Texas in the 1950s, I quickly learned I shouldn’t shoot does. That was a standard no-no back in those days. But as it turned out, it also was bad advice — or at least incomplete. In that era not long after World War II, deer-management efforts were still being aimed at restoring populations devastated by the overhunting abuses of the 19th century. The need to control deer numbers wasn’t even a significant concern in management when I was a kid. Several generations of hunters had grown aware of the need to let the herd grow. Yet I also recall that just over a decade later I stood by an East Texas campfire, trying to convince members of a hunting club that they actually needed to start…
Reversing a lower court’s decision the Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that the fact a fawn is born of a white tail doe doesn’t necessarily make it a whitetail for regulatory purposes At issue is the question of hybrids Several years ago Terry Kennedy and Johnny McDonald licensed deer breed ers in the state used artificial insemi nation to impregnate captive whitetail does with mule deer semen from out of state The goal was to produce hybrid bucks with larger racks and thus, higher value to hunters. In May 2017, an Alabama Department of Wildlife and Natural Resources (ADWNR) letter to deer breeders around the state noted that such hybrids would be illegal to hunt. State law defines only whitetails elk fallow deer and non indigenous animals lawfully brought into…
He had me. I’d failed to trim a single, small branch. Rookie mistake. My elbow snapped the twig as I hit full draw. The evening wind had died, and the sound seemed to boom through the woods. The buck quartered-to, snapped his head up and fixed his gaze on me. I wasn’t moving, but it didn’t matter. His stare was firm. Rotating my hand inward to take pressure off the hinge, I held, and held, and held some more. Never in my life have I been so thankful to have performed so many hold-at-full-draw exercises. I don’t know how long my bow was back, but it was a while. When the staredown ended and the buck calmed, he took a single step forward and turned broadside. I was shaking but…
ISAAC WHALEN is a third-generation real estate professional and auctioneer with Whalen and Company, a family-run business based in Cynthiana, Kentucky. While his business encompasses all types of real estate, he’s admittedly most passionate about recreational ground: farms and hunting land. That’s no surprise, though, as he’s a committed deer and turkey hunter. Isaac’s grandfather, Gerald Whalen, founder of the company, instilled in him a love for the outdoors. But that wasn’t his only key influence. “It was my good friend, Eli Switzer, who taught me everything I know about hunting whitetails,” Isaac points out. Top-end bucks are now his focus. Why? “It’s the hunt,” he says. “It’s more satisfying and gratifying for me to hunt for and eventually harvest a big, mature buck that I’ve targeted based on my…
