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.
The Great White North. The original land of giant whitetails. The place you’ve read about in deer hunting magazines and watched on television shows since you were just a pup… Saskatchewan, Canada. These were just a few of my first thoughts when I realized in summer of 2022 that, in just a couple months, I would be headed there for the first time in my life. My destination: legendary Northway Outfitters. The trip was set for the week of November 4th. I’d be joined by my good buddy and NAW TV cameraman Brad Biddle, and another very special guest: my No. 1 hunting partner, my dad, Con Shelton. DREAM. HUNT. COME. TRUE! When I was packing my bags for the hunt, anticipation already was building to monumental levels. What gear…
Millions of people know more about basketball than I do. I played in grade school gym class and in the driveway with my brother and neighborhood friends. It was a fun childhood game, nothing serious. I’m not qualified to write about basketball in any magazine, much less one about whitetail hunting. But, what the heck? I’m going to do it. In April 2020, produced by ESPN Films, the first episode aired of a docuseries profiling the rise and fall of superstar Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls. The Last Dance is the series’ name. Profiled in the film are Michael Jordan, coach Phil Jackson, Bulls Forwards Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, and more of the legendary guys they played alongside, I watched every episode. And I was glued. I…
I have been a college professor for 50 years, during which countless students have come to me for advice on a career in Wildlife Management. I often ask them why they want to be a wildlife biologist and have lost count of the number of times the answer is, “Well, I really don’t like people and would prefer to work with animals!” My response is, “You need to reconsider your career choice, then, since wildlife management is people management.” I should know, since long ago I had to admit I was a “pathologi cal introvert,” not really wanting to be around people myself! It wasn’t until I r ealized this, and took steps to train m yself in communication skills, that I really became effective in my career! Th at…
Protecting your hearing is critical, but large, cumbersome headphones that simultaneously protect and restrict your hearing are hard to justify in the deer woods. Don’t fret. Get a pair of hearing protection/enhancement earbuds, and you’ll protect your eardrums and hear Mr. Big coming long before you ever see him. If you get a bad tooth, you go to the dentist. If you get strep throat, you head to the doctor. When your eyesight starts to wane, it’s time for a trip to the optometrist. Why am I bringing this up, you ask? Each of these problems can get fixed to some degree. Hearing loss is different. When your hearing gets damaged, it can’t be repaired. Yes, hearing aids and other devices are an option, but there is no medical or…
Kate Sanford grew up around hunting. Her family butchered deer in the garage every year, and she was always helping out. But she never got “bit by the hunting bug” when she was first introduced to deer hunting as a young girl. Her father hunted the Missouri firearms deer season every year, and he wasn’t into bowhunting. Kate remembers tagging along with him one morning during the firearms season. She was instructed to sit on a bucket next to a tree while he hunted from a stand up above her. They arrived and settled in well before daylight, and young Kate wasn’t thrilled with sitting in complete darkness waiting on legal shooting light. She still teases her father to this day about making her sit on that bucket all those…
If one were to search for the definition of “The Moment of Truth,” it would describe a moment in a person’s life where reality sets forth a crucial situation that requires a decision or action. That decision or action can or may cause significant meaning or implications in one’s life. These moments usually test our character and abilities. A moment of truth can happen in many aspects of life, and the same is true for whitetail hunters. We may experience a moment of truth as first-year hunters when the experience of taking, or not taking, our first deer may impact our future afield. We may have experienced another moment of truth when we took our first buck, and possibly another when we killed ou r first mature buck. However, when…
