Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2021 i North American Whitetail

Since I was a kid, I’ve studied the pages of North American Whitetail not just to look at photographs of giant whitetail bucks, but to learn where , when and how they were killed. Always eager to fill my mind with the coveted tactics of expert whitetailers, I look for details that might give me an edge. As a Southerner who often hunts out of state, I’m hungry for data that could improve my odds of finding success on foreign soil. Especially in recent years, a trend I’ve watched closely is the impact of cold weather fronts on hunting success. I’m not a meteorologist, but like many outdoorsmen, I pay attention to the weather — especially in the fall. And in fall 2020, you needn’t have been an expert to…

Watching the giant buck through his riflescope, Trenton Lenz followed every step the deer took. He wanted to shoot, but the deer was walking toward him, only offering a straight-on and less-than-ideal target. The closer the buck came, the more excited Trenton seemed to become. As the buck continued to approach, the combination of adrenaline, nerves and the crescendo of his pounding heartbeat had the hunter hyperventilating! Trenton managed to calm himself down enough to realize that his moment of opportunity was at hand. Applying the fundamentals of firearm handling and using proper form, the hunter aligned his crosshairs on the buck when it stopped walking. Fighting to hold his barrel on target, Trenton held his nerves steady enough to release a slight exhale of breath, while slowly squeezing the…

As I drove to my hunting area in the pre-dawn darkness, the rain which had been pouring all night was still coming down at a steady pace. I checked the radar before leaving the house and it looked like the rain would end around daylight. The conditions were perfect for the stand I had waited two years to hunt. There was an old bruiser of a buck running the area that I had named Joey, and although I had three years of trail camera history with him, this would be my first hunt for him. The property that I was hunting had only a small brushy area no more than three or four acres in size. I had placed this stand more than a year earlier, but I let one…

They say the best time to kill a buck is whenever you can get in the woods, but there are certainly better times to hit the deer woods than others. Factors such as weather, time of year and hunting pressure can play a huge role in whether you even see a deer, let alone have success. Last year, many deer hunters across the country ended their season scratching their heads — especially those who put all their time and money planning their hunts around the month of November. Generally, November is considered the best month to hunt whitetails in North America. But last season was far from a complete bust for those who got an early start in October. Beginning in mid-October and running through the end of October, whitetail…

Ethical archery hunters wish for all blood trails to be easy and short. But reality is a one-way train that travels in the real world, and sometimes, the stop is a weird, hard-to-follow track. Most of us have dealt with these bizarre blood trails, and those who haven’t likely will at some point. Being prepared for these can mean the difference in recovering wounded deer, or not. TYPICAL BLOOD TRAILS To understand what a weird, abnormal blood trail is, you must know what it is not. In other words, you must know what a “normal” blood trail looks like. And even though no two blood trails are exactly alike, there are ways to know if the sign you’re seeing is good or bad. Knowing where you hit the deer, what…

1 Caleb Olson shot this incredible 11-pointer in Oconto Co., Wisconsin. He had two years of history with the buck, and it green-scored 164. 2 Rylan Masters shot this beautiful buck on Oct. 31 in Overton Co., Tennessee. It was Rylan’s first-ever deer, and he shot it on his family farm. 3 Dink Roedig shot this incredible mainframe 8-pointer in Gallatin Co., Kentucky. After chasing the buck in 2019, Dink caught up with it on Nov. 18, 2020. 4 Maddox Wilkerson shot this 10-pointer in Payne Co., Oklahoma with a muzzleloader. It was his first buck, and he made a 120-yard shot. 5 Mike Helsel shot this huge whitetail with his bow on Oct. 17, 2020. Mike killed the buck on public land in southern Ohio. HAVE YOU SHOT A…

DR. DEER The nutritional needs of whitetails are ever-changing, influenced by habitat quality, weather and the unique physiological needs of bucks, does and fawns over the annual “deer cycle.” There are two stress periods for deer, late summer/ early fall, and late winter/early spring. These are transition times, in which the physiological needs of deer change dramatically. I often have said that whitetail bucks and does might as well be separate species. When bucks are fat, does are skinny; and when bucks are skinny, does are fat! A buck comes out of the winter having lost as much as 30 percent of his body weight. In spring, he must quickly recoup lost resources, grow a summer coat and grow antlers. This creates a very high demand for digestible energy, protein…

The right tools make any job easier. This is especially true of extracting a deer from the woods when you cannot get your truck to the site of the kill. Make sure you have the gear to get your meat from the field to the freezer. • Backpack capable of comfortably handling 100-pound loads • Two sharp knives • Lightweight knife sharpener • Latex gloves (2 pair) and long gutting gloves • Field wipes and paper towels • Game bags if you are quartering or deboning in the field • Unscented garbage bags for miscellaneous and backpack liners •Ziploc storage bags for inside loins, heart and liver • Water for drinking and cleaning any accidental spills on meat • Hunting cellphone app • First aid kit • Coolers full of…

As a whitetail hunter, I feel we are living in the best of times. Deer populations are pretty much stable across the spectrum; habitat and management are improving in many regions, and record book bucks are falling across North America. It wasn’t too many years ago that a 150-inch buck was highly sought after throughout much of the whitetail range. Nowadays most hunters are within driving distance of decent hunting, and the chances of taking a trophy buck are probably higher today than they have ever been. We all expect the Midwest states to produce their yearly giants. States like Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and Illinois are continually making headlines with their big deer. The Canadian Provinces are going to add their share, then add in places like the Dakotas, Wisconsin…

At the age of 34, Kentucky native Jeremy Huffman has a long history of shooting mature whitetails and has the trophy room to prove it. When Jeremy is not selling cars, he spends his time pursuing big game all across North America. In the fall of 2016, Jeremy became a team member of Southern Hog Slayers, The Rootin’ Life. If you keep up with their television show, you have seen Jeremy harvest several big deer over the past few years — and in multiple states. Last season was no different, but unlike most years, he did not have to travel far from home to bag his biggest buck yet. LOCATING A GIANT In the summer of 2017, Jeremy began to receive trail camera pictures of a nice buck on his…

There are many myths out there pertaining to blood trailing. Some of these are losing steam, but most persist. And many of them play roles in weird blood trails. I know because I’ve experienced each one. MYTH NO. 1: No blood automatically means a miss. That just isn’t true. Depending on the hit, the deer may bleed internally but not externally, later but not initially, etc. MYTH NO. 2: You should never recover a deer immediately. Some hunters feel a need to wait extraordinary amounts of time after shooting a deer. For some shots, such as paunch, single-lung and liver hits, that might be necessary. It isn’t with a heart or double-lung shot, though. Waiting too long can lead to ruined meat, or even allowing time for other hunters or…

BLINDS AND TREE STANDS MILLENNIUM A highly versatile blind, Millennium’s Q200 Buck Hut meets the needs of bow and gun hunters alike, and its roomy interior measures 7.4’ x 4’ x 7’. This means you can shoot from a seated or standing position, and each window is fitted with an adjustable shooting rest. The tower has a pair of adjustable legs to help it conform to uneven ground, and the heavy-duty powder coat steel construction ensures years of use. The Buck Hut comes complete with a removable platform pad and a stabilizing kit. (millenniumstands.com) LONE WOLF A climber that lets you roam where you please and hunt where you want, the Assault Hand Climber Combo is the lightest climber (14.7 pounds) in Lone Wolf’s climber arsenal. Fitted with the same…

Coyotes are not known for being beneficial to deer hunters. However, on the first day of the 2019 Texas deer season, a coyote became the catalyst for a successful morning for my wife, Jody, as we were hunting my target buck! Three times in 2017, I saw what I thought was a 3-year-old buck I named Tall Tines. That year, he showed great potential: impressively tall with decent mass, but marginal for the legal 13-inch inside spread required for antlered bucks in our county. I got several trail camera pictures of him that year. I felt that if he survived, there was a chance he could someday turn into something special. For the entire 2018 season, based on trail camera shots, Tall Tines stayed nocturnal; I never saw him. In…