Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 - Hunting i North American Whitetail

WEEK OF AUG. 7–13: “Made for the Muzzleloader”: Laden Force heads to Nebraska on a late-season muzzleloader hunt with the folks at Hornady, and Dale Evans chases whitetails and mule deer in Montana. In Build Your Own Deer Factory, we discuss the importance of access trails. Haynes Shelton profiles a giant velvet buck found dead by Hayden Jeffers. WEEK OF AUG. 14–20: “Once A Deer Hunter…”: Haynes Shelton teams up with Intrepid Warrior Hunts and Veteran Anthony Villarreal to chase big Texas bucks. In Build Your Own Deer Factory, Dr. James Kroll talks the importance of mobile food plot equipment. Finally, Haynes Shelton showcases Mark Luster’s giant typical from the Iowa Deer Classic for our Big Buck Profile. WEEK OF AUG. 21–27: “Texas, Like It’s Supposed to Be”: Blake Garlock…

I like to think I am a fair deer hunter. I feel like my skillset learned from nearly 30 years of Midwest whitetail hunting is formidable enough to harvest at least one mature buck each season. I come to expect it as a yearly marker for success, but I also realize that my skillset is far from perfect! Of all my strengths, I have one glaring, pitiful, and often embarrassing Achilles’ heel: blood trailing. Over the history of mankind, of all the hunters to chase whitetails, I am unquestionably in the bottom 5 percent of the blood-trailing talent pool. And no matter how hard I try to improve, I never will; because I can’t. I am a genetic fraud! I have a form of red-green color blindness that makes red…

A minor setback just before opening day of the Arkansas 2022 archery season led Kyle Woodruff to his biggest buck ever. He and his brother, Patrick, try to only take mature deer, 4 1/2 years of age or older with 150-inch or better antlers. The caveat being that any deer they shoot gets mounted. “If I am going to spend the money for that, it has to be something pretty special,” Kyle says. “And sometimes that means passing some nice bucks along the way!” As the season was approaching, they had planned to hunt a tract of several hundred acres in northwest Arkansas, where each have had good success targeting older bucks. Kyle had his tag intended for a really nice 12-point buck that he had located there. He felt…

There have been some massive whitetail-oriented gear advancements in recent years. None, though, have impacted my success like digital and cellular scouting cameras and top-tier digital mapping apps. What started as apps showcasing 3-D aerial imagery and private/public boundaries has certainly evolved. Today, top-end digital mapping apps like HuntStand, onX, Base Map, HuntWise and others, include up-to-the-minute weather data with future forecasts to help us plan our next deer-chasing mission. Many apps have wind-direction imagery that shows the current and expected wind directions with a cone or a computer-simulated graphic that mimics wind. It’s impressive. Many apps have features related to moon data, barometric pressure, etc. Some are going the extra mile to help those chasing North America’s most beloved game animal be even more prepared with advanced, formulated-for-whitetails features.…

Wisconsin hunter Kevin McClain took a shot at this incredible whitetail during the 2017 hunting season. Unfortunately, high winds interfered with his shot and the hunter’s arrow never struck the buck. Months later, Kevin’s friend Doug Sinniger found both shed antlers lying atop a snowy field. A replica of the sheds is shown on the mount at left. When panel scored for the North American Shed Hunters Club, the gigantic antlers scored 95 2/8 (right side) and 95 5/8 (left). Photo by Shane Indrebo I enjoy all aspects of large-antlered bucks, from hunting them on the hoof to hunting for their shed antlers. I also like the big buck chatter; whether through social media or friends in the outdoor industry, it’s always fun to hear stories and see photos of…

Tom Holzer likes hunting Minnesota when the weather is warm and bordering on hot for the time of year. When the mercury rises, he focuses his efforts on making water readily available to any buck he’s after, in a place where the buck will feel secure while drinking. Usually, that’s somewhere close to a food source. Tom began making hand-dug waterholes a main part of his hunting tactics about 15 years ago, because there is no natural water on the tops of ridges where he hunts and where the deer in his area spend much of their time. He digs water holes where you would expect him to dig them — in a location where the prevailing winds will not blow his scent to the water. Entry and exit access…

As a young man, some of my very first memories are of scouting whitetails with my World War II veteran grandfather. He stressed to me the importance of reading deer sign to understand how the whitetail herd used a specific area. I was experiencing mild hunting success as a pre-teen and well into my teenage years, but the big bucks eluded my efforts. I was putting in the work, cobbling together deer stands from scavenged scrap wood, scouting, strategizing and scouting some more. I routinely situated myself among the freshest deer sign. Although I perched myself just below the canopy overlooking fresh rubs still oozing sap from the previous evening’s antler attack, daytime encounters with big bucks continued to elude me. What I had yet to understand was the difference…

Deer hunters aren’t far and few between, even those that only chase trophy whitetails. Every season, millions of deer hunters take to the woods for a chance to harvest one. If you’ve spoken to a deer hunter, you’re also aware that almost all of them have their own methods, tricks, and tactics that they believe are the key to success. What’s rare in the deer hunting community is coming across a deer hunter who constantly harvests mature, trophy-class whitetails. Darin Williams of Waverly, Kansas is one of those hunters. Darin has a dozen or more deer mounts and racks hanging in his house, all between 150 and 170 inches. He’s no novice in chasing, and more importantly harvesting, mature trophy-class whitetails. Darin started hunting when he was a sophomore in…

Whitetails are smart animals. Give one several seasons to learn the ropes, and they become downright difficult to hunt. Outwitting mature bucks on their home turf takes critical thinking, serious forethought, situational interpretation and accurate reaction. Of course, there are certain locations where mature bucks are more vulnerable to deer hunters. What follows is some of these locations and why they qualify as the best places to ambush big bucks. THE EARLY SEASON The off-season of sadness and withdrawal from tree stand therapy is over. Deer season has arrived, and it’s time to release some bullets and arrows. Of course, the latter begins first, and early archery seasons offer late summer and early fall opportunities at whitetails that are focused on predictable bed-to-feed patterns. Just as much of the year…