I was thinking back on what I have learned about hunting, and I came to the realization that a few years ago I wasn’t taking advantage of most of the resources I find most valuable today. If you feel like you are having a hard time finding more information online for  hunting here are a few places to find overlooked knowledge on hunting.

Books

There are a few flaws with learning from youtube videos and magazines. First of all they are made to grab people’s attention and are designed for the middle 50% of hunters. If you have been reading hunting magazines for a few years chances are you know the key points they will hit each year.

If you buy a book and read it cover to cover there will be something you do not know. Now, I’ll admit some of the chapters are going to be boring, but if you stick with it you will uncover small details that magazines can’t explain.

Another issue I have with magazines is that you don’t know what you don’t know. What I find when I read a hunting book is that I didn’t realize there was more information on a topic I considered trivial. You need to get better at what you are already good at, and that requires that you sit down and read about topics you think you already know which can be challenge when picking magazines off a shelf.

Books I have enjoyed: Technical Bowhunting, Core Archery, Giant Whitetails, Growing and Hunting Quality Buck, Ultimate Guide to Elk Hunting, Radical Elk Hunting

Podcasts

The second place to find extremely valuable information is podcasts. Similar to books, podcasts are capable of getting into extensive detail because they take a lot less work to produce than videos. There are good options out there that don’t plug companies the whole time. John Dudley’s Knock On and the Drury’s 100% Wild Podcast are both good. Podcasts are good if you have a long commute or if you can’t read (Stuart).

DNR, Pheasant Forever Workers, and Wildlife Biologists

I spent a lot of time reading different articles and watching videos on food plots this year then emailed a few pheasants forever workers and a local wildlife biologist who came up with a solution in a couple days. I have found DNR workers to be extremely helpful in pointing me in a direction of where to hunt or what to plant. If you just call up your local biologist they won’t hold back on information. Imagine if you were sitting at work and someone called you up to talk about hunting, you would be pretty excited too. Some local hunting information you can only get by talking with hunters so remind yourself to stay in touch from time to time.  

Bio:

Harrison hunts in Southwest Iowa and New Zealand. He creates videos and writes blogs for Iowa Slam with his brothers Stuart and Max Hoegh.