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.
Tune in every Wednesday at 9:30 PM ET on Sportsman Channel to catch episodes of NAW TV. This month, we kick off season 20 with an exciting premier episode. AIRING WEEK OF JUNE 26: SASKATCHEWAN SLAMMERS Haynes Shelton, Editor in Chief at NAW magazine, hunts with historic Northway Outfitters in Saskatchewan, Canada. It’s a rifle hunt in early November, and the excitement of the rut is escalating just as quickly as the brutal winter weather. Watch as the mercury plumets well below zero, the snowfall deepens to feet, not inches, and giant, northern bucks hit the ground! It’s an epic adventure in the Great White North. FOR MORE INFORMATION ONLINE To contact Northway Outfitters, please call 1-306-441-8738; or visit: northwayoutfitters.ca…
A few nights ago, I pulled my pickup into the driveway around 2:30 a.m., kicked the brake on and turned the ignition off. Phew, that was a long trip! I thought to myself. My dad and I were returning from a turkey hunt for Merriam’s gobblers in northeastern Wyoming, with our friend Ralph Dampman at Trophy Ridge Outfitters. And we were successful, both tagging beautiful toms in some gorgeous, rugged country. Thanks to knowledgeable guides, an abundance of cooperative birds, and our conditioned (conditioned enough for the mountains we climbed, anyway) leg muscles and lungs, Dad and I were blessed to double on the first day of our hunt. Then we spent the next couple days driving 1,400 miles up, down and all-around Montana, taking in the views and continuing…
In the 1980s at the Institute for White-tailed Deer Management & Research at Stephen F. Austin State University, my colleagues and I began working with landowners over the entire range of the species. We soon discovered there was one common trend among deer hunters. As they matured, they became more interested in doing something good for nature and the land, rather than just killing bigger bucks. Most hunters want to l eave a legacy, a hunting heritage for their family on land they hope will remain in the bloodline for many gene rations. Not surprisingly, this was anticipated by Aldo Leopold, the acknowledged father of wildlife management in America, who felt the future of wild life in America resides as much with the private landowner as publicly managed land. In…
Every year as I go through massive amounts of trail camera data from the prior deer season, I notice similar trends that happen each fall and activity that isn’t consistent from one year to the next. But the more I have observed trail cam data, the more I have become convinced that it can have a major impact on your success for the upcoming season. EARLY AND LATE SEASONS Two of the best times of year to find a mature buck doing what he did in the past are the early fall and the winter months. These are two periods where bucks can be extremely predictable based on past trail camera intel. At the end of hunting season, I take notes on specific buck movements observed through cameras from September…
My entry to the stand that day was perfect. The southeast wind was coming directly from the bedding area and hitting me in the face. Boredom coupled with low expectations quickly overtook me, and I decided to take a little rest to help pass the time as my day had been full of daunting paperwork. My stand was only 8 feet off the ground, and cover was at a minimum. As I heard the faint crunching of leaves, I slowly opened my eyes to see a doe and a giant whitetail buck. The pair were only 20 yards away and closing the distance quickly. Somehow, I managed to free my bow from the hook it was hanging on and ready myself. The doe bolted a little as I drew my…
This story starts in 2014 when my buddy Tyson Kuhn and I went to Kansas for our first ever out-of-state hunt. After seeing 13 shooters over 140 inches and harvesting a 160-class 9-pointer, these Virginia boys knew it would be the first of many over-the-border trips. The problem was that we didn’t want to keep flying to our hunt, and Kansas isn’t a guaranteed draw. I called two buddies of mine that knew a thing or two about hunting out of state, and I asked where we should focus. They both said southern Ohio. I started searching the internet for outfitters. I narrowed them down by using two criteria: first they needed to be harvesting bucks consistently, and second, they needed to be big. Real McCoy Outdoors in Adams County,…
