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.
I hunted a snowstorm in Saskatchewan once when the low temperature dropped to -30 Fahrenheit, and snow totals reached three feet in 24 hours. I remember taking snowmobiles into our blinds because trucks couldn’t get there. While riding with my guide on the first morning of our hunt, I listened on the radio newscast about three people who’d been found dead during the storm after succumbing to hypothermia when their vehicles ran off the road, unfortunately trapping them in snowbanks overnight. Not exactly “pump-up jams” before heading out for an 11-hour hunt! I was wearing so many layers of heavy winter clothing that I looked like the Michelin Man when I climbed off that snowmobile to open a cattle gate we needed to cross through. And I’ll never forget, in…
There’s nothing better than putting a ton of time and effort into a property, specific deer, or just a hunting trip in general, and then experiencing success. After reading that opening sentence, you probably thought of a specific hunt from a deer-season-past where you really applied yourself and then, in turn, filled a tag. On Season 22 of North American Whitetail TV, Editor in Chief Haynes Shelton experienced one of these hunts on a lease in Kentucky. We won’t spoil the whole story for you, since this episode is currently airing on Sportsman Channel, but we’ll share enough details to get you interested! Prior to the 2024 hunting season, Haynes and the rest of the NAW staff had spent several years improving a hunting property in Kentucky. This specific lease…
In an earlier edition of North American Whitetail (Spring 2024), I compared and contrasted the two most important diseases in white-tailed deer, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and Hemorrhagic Disease (HD). The column created quite a stir among hunters, landowners and the general public, since the majority of these folks were either uninformed or ill-informed about these diseases. Now, I’d like to go a step further in discussing HD, it’s history and efforts to combat this devastating disease. HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE HISTORY In 1955, several white-tailed deer were found dead adjacent to water in New Jersey; and at about the same time, also in Michigan and South Dakota. This was not the first time dead deer were found in that region, since there were reports dating back to the 1800s! Later, scientists…
In 2025, Winchester Ammunition celebrates the 10th anniversary of its revolutionary Deer Season XP line — a product that has redefined what hunters expect from factory-loaded deer ammunition. Since its debut in 2015, Deer Season XP has become a staple in deer camps across North America, praised for its accuracy, terminal performance and affordability. With the introduction of new “heavy-for-caliber” options this year, Winchester is doubling down on its commitment to innovation and effectiveness in the field. WHY IT WORKS: BUILT FOR WHITETAIL At the heart of Deer Season XP’s success is its Extreme Point bullet, a projectile engineered specifically for deer hunting. Unlike traditional polymer-tipped bullets, the Extreme Point features a massive polymer tip — up to 48 percent larger than standard designs. This oversized tip initiates rapid expansion…
Kansas resident Cody Rolph is a very humble man. That’s quite an achievement in itself, considering his dad was one of the founders of Pizza Hut. He also happened to own 10,000 acres of hunting land in southeast Kansas. Cody’s dad left all that land to his kids when he passed away. With the help of family members, Cody now takes care of 5,000 acres of that land. Cody operates a sawmill on part of the property, creating furniture from native trees and rocks on his land. He also oversees 320 pairs of beef cows with calves. “I like cattle, because they manage grass,” Cody explains. “The cattle can eat through 5,000 acres pretty quick during dry years. We manage our pastures by rotating the cows to different pastures throughout…
The story of this buck really goes back to the fall of 2022. I had just purchased a new piece of ground that was about 90 percent over-grazed pasture with a creek running along its perimeter. There wasn’t hardly any deer using it, because of the lack of cover, but I decided to put out a camera to see what was around. I kept getting pictures of the same four does only for the first few weeks. I believe it was the last week in August when I got a couple photos of a dandy mainframe 10-pointer with a little trash on both G-2s. I figured he was breaking patterns and headed for his fall stomping grounds, because that was about all he gave me in 2022. The next day…
