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.
SPONSORS WEEK OF AUG. 1-7 “Nebraska Post-Rut”: Laden Force puts his Browning rifle to work in wide-open whitetail country. Dr. James Kroll analyzes post-season whitetail behavior, including relocation, feeding patterns and antler shedding. Haynes Shelton profiles the incredible James Cartwright buck from Washington. WEEK OF AUG. 8-14 “Wyoming by Bow”: Laden Force hunts big velvet bucks during opening week of Wyoming’s bow season at Trophy Ridge Outfitters. Dr. James Kroll discusses bachelor group dynamics. Haynes Shelton profiles Mike Beatty’s former Pope & Young world record non-typical from Greene Co., Ohio. WEEK OF AUG. 15-21 “The New Guy”: Associate Editor Blake Garlock makes his television debut on an action-packed DIY archery hunt in Nebraska. Dr. James Kroll debunks myths about the dreaded “October Lull.” Haynes Shelton profiles Del Austin’s Nebraska non-typical,…
When you meet someone for the first time, there are questions. Inevitably, part of getting acquainted is asking a person about their life, job, family and hobbies. I’m really blessed to have an awesome job, and I get asked a lot of questions about it. When I tell people I’m the Editor in Chief of North American Whitetail, it’s fun to hear their responses. I can’t help but chuckle when non-hunters ping me with something like: “Oh, wow! I had no idea there was an entire magazine about people who catch deer!” or, “You should come to my backyard; I see deer there all the time.” It’s a different story when I’m talking to serious whitetailers. An overwhelming majority know NAW. Many have subscribed for years, some for longer than…
Invasive plants can be introduced unknowingly, as landscape specimens, or as purposeful releases to theoretically benefit wildlife. Each of these modes figure into the spread of Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) and its cousin Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia). Both plants arrived in North America in the mid- to late 1800s from the Orient and Western Asia. Over the last 200 years, government agencies bent on improving diminishing game populations, have encouraged (and even funded) landowners and agencies to plant what were once considered to be great habitat or erosion control species, including invasive Autumn and Russian Olives. The irony of all this was, the same agencies who cost-shared for these plantings, later cost-shared to control or eliminate the very plants they introduced! I was just as guilty when it comes to…
Start talking sights around a group of passionate bowhunters, and opinions start to fly. Start talking about how a fixed multi-pin reigns supreme or sling lingo about how a single-pin slider is the end-all-be-all of sights, and the conversation will go from spirited to heated. The truth is, every bowhunter has their opinion on fixed vs. slider, single-pin slider vs. multi-pin slider, and on and on we go. For this reason, I don’t believe we will ever definitively solve the great sight debate. Still, I will stick my neck out and take a shot at it. FIXED MULTI-PIN SIMPLICITY I cut my bowhunting teeth while shooting a fixed five-pin TRUGLO sight. Most bowhunters over the age of 40 likely did, too. I had no quarrels with the sight — it…
In the Sligh family household, “trail camera season” is a highly anticipated time of year. Scouting is one of the most exciting parts about being a whitetail hunter, and my wife, brothers, sons and all the family seem to move up the date that we think is too early to put out trail cameras each summer. I typically get hundreds of deer pictures to look through daily, and I start the summer off by scrolling through pictures one by one, looking closely at every animal and accruing as much information about the herd as possible. This process evolves, and soon I’m going as fast as I can to sift through never-ending pictures of does and small bucks. Every time I see a photo of a buck with a nice rack,…
I’m fortunate to be a fourth-generation female whitetail hunter here in my home state of Ohio. I started out deer hunting with my shotgun during the state’s gun season, and my husband introduced me to archery hunting 20 years ago. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of harvesting several mature bucks with my compound bow over the years. But none can compare to the buck I was fortunate enough to take with a crossbow in 2021. In the summer of 2020, as we were gearing up for the coming archery season here in Muskingum County, a neighbor shared some trail cam pictures with us. He was excited to have the opportunity to hunt this 145-to 150-inch 3 1/2-year-old 10-pointer. We were happy for the neighbor and really hoped he would…
