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.
WEEK OF OCT. 31–NOV. 6: “The Finale”: Haynes Shelton takes his Browning rifle to Alabama to chase whitetails at the Pushmataha Plantation. In Build Your Own Deer Factory, the team talks management maintenance. In a brand-new Big Buck Profile, Haynes Shelton profiles the Joe Volitis buck from West Virginia. WEEK OF NOV. 7–13: “Bar J. Classic Pt. 2”: Rob Hughes and Dr. James Kroll are back for part two of their hunt at the Bar J Ranch in South Texas. In Build Your Own Deer Factory, the team identifies what existing elements are on the Kansas lease. Haynes Shelton profile’s Ohio’s famous Hole in the Horn buck. WEEK OF NOV. 14–20: “Persistence”: Jeremy Moore chases big whitetails during Wisconsin’s late muzzleloader season. The NAW TV team talks about summer and…
I like to sit either on my front porch or at my kitchen table in the mornings and quietly check my emails before touching base with my teammates here at North American Whitetail to discuss our plans for each workday. I use the downtime to gather my thoughts about whatever issue of the magazine we’re working on, articles and videos we’re editing, or upcoming hunts I’m planning. I keep several notebooks and hand write to-do lists, in effort to keep tabs on the various projects we keep going. A huge part of that work, and no doubt my favorite part, is scheduling the incredible trophy buck articles we publish. Many people tell me the big buck features are what they most enjoy in each month’s magazine. And I can’t blame…
In the late 1970s I was invited to a ranch near Athens, Texas, by one of my old students to do some rattling, to both inventory his bucks and enjoy the sport! One of my early hunting heroes was Bob Ramsey, a Hill Country rancher and biologist who can legitimately be called the “Grandfather of Rattling.” Ironically, Bob’s ranch was very near where I killed my first buck at a ranch just outside of Hunt, Texas. We set up over a large food plot adjacent to a wooded drainage just before daylight. As the light began to increase, we saw a huge mature buck feeding in the middle of the plot. We decided to see how he would react to rattling, as it would be instructive to have a clear…
I’ve always been a decoy geek. I can’t recall the video I was watching the first time I saw a rut crazed buck eat an arrow over a decoy, but it hooked me. Not only is decoying one of the most effective ways to hunt whitetails, to me it’s the most exciting. There’s just something about letting the air out of a big buck when his ears are pinned and he’s rolling in like a bulldozer! The thought of decoying whitetails from the ground, however, didn’t become a serious consideration until 2015. That was the year I lost the biggest whitetail of my life. I was hunting Western Kansas, where the open terrain leant itself to spot-and-stalk tactics. I had found an absolute giant and managed to slip within range.…
We have all heard the saying “Michigan can’t grow big deer.” But ever since I killed my first 200-plus-inch deer in Illinois, my top goal was to kill another one — this time in Michigan. The story of the buck we called “Firecracker” all started back in the summer of 2018 when we captured our first trail cam photo of a great 2 1/2- year-old. Sporting 10 points including two double brow tines, we instantly knew this buck had the potential to become a true giant. I encountered Firecracker a handful of times that deer season and knew that if he could just make it to an older age class, he could be a world-class whitetail. As the 2018 season came and went, I failed to punch a tag on…
In October 2020, an acquaintance shared a picture of a nice buck that was said to be from within our county here in North Carolina. At 3 1/2 years old, the buck showed some great potential and some unusual non-typical characteristics, but I didn’t pay too much attention at the time. Little did I know, this would be the start of one of my most memorable hunts. Fast forward to early September 2021, when I received a picture of the same deer. I couldn’t believe my eyes! In less than a year he had grown into a giant. His rack was so big and had so many tines going everywhere that I began to question whether the picture had even come from this state, let alone the reported county and…
