HUNT EVERYTHING
Sitting in a treestand all day can be a very effective strategy or a real drag. You need to know the reason a buck would be moving at midday, what calling tactics to use, and what day offers the best weather conditions for bucks to move all day. This is our 2018 report for choosing which day to spend in the stand this November.
Continue reading “Which day to take off Work to Sit All Day this November”
Right now the 2018 harvest season looks like it is going to end sometime in 2020. This creates an obstacle for both hunting and scouting deer. Typically there are not a lot of deer to see until the crops get harvested, but this year there may be no other option but to hunt standing corn and beans. Here is a game plan for the 2018 week of the October lull and plenty of standing crops.
Continue reading “Strategies to Use When Crops are Still in the Field”
Growing up whitetail hunting I had about three hunting spots. Sometimes I would check the wind, but for the most part I just hunted a stand until I quit seeing deer and then started hunting a new location. If you are new to whitetail hunting it can be tempting to rush out to your best stands as soon as the season starts. Here are five rules you can follow to see more deer, and especially big bucks, this season.
Stuart recently bought a new bow and a new rest to go with it. The majority of hunter switch to a drop away rest as they progress through the sport. The accuracy of a well tuned drop away is superior to other rests, however this means the rest must have proper timing. Furthermore, many hunters are moving from string-driven rests to limb driven drop away rests. I do believe that the limb driven rest is better than a string driven option. When I switched over I noticed more consistency while practicing, however I also have caught the string while hunting a number of times. Depending on your style of hunting you have to find a balance in between having a rest that is reliable and a rest that is high performance.
Continue reading “How to Select a Drop-Away Rest for Your Style of Hunting”
A few years ago I listened to Bill Winke describe how to establish a food plot for, “only $1000.” Meanwhile, I had roughly $1,000 total in my bank account. Over the last couple years I have planted 60 trees on our property while spending less than $200. Here are a few tips to plant trees effectively without breaking the bank. Continue reading “How to Plant Trees for Habitat Without Breaking the Bank”
Stuart and I grew up hunting in Iowa. If we could get within bb gun range, we hunted it. We started with sparrows, then pigeons, rabbits, raccoons, and finally deer. As we progress as hunters we have started to add Western hunts to our plans. Last year Stuart and I each shot an antelope and plan to hunt elk as well this year. We believe that as an Iowa hunter you can still shoot an antelope, elk, and mule deer each year. Here is how we will approach the season.
Continue reading “How to Shoot an Elk, Mule deer, and Antelope Every Year While Living in Iowa”
There never seems to be enough time. After each season many of us have several skills we’d like to develop to improve for next year, but other responsibilities in the spring and summer can push hunting to the back burner. I spent the past two months working in a warehouse in Las Vegas. I assisted with assembling booths for conferences, and because peak season comes in the springtime, the company had us working over 60 hours per week. Though the money was good, the demanding hours left little time to develop as a hunter. Despite my schedule, I found ways to squeeze in some arrows and learn new tactics in the limited time I had. I hope you enjoy my tips for improving with so little time. Continue reading “So Little Time: How to improve despite a busy schedule”
A couple of years ago I went out to stalk deer with an experienced hunter. It was early summer in New Zealand, and we were in the southern region of the South Island hunting the Waikaia Reserve. The sun was setting at around 9pm. The reserve is beech forest bordered by grass. The fresh spring growth was drawing deer out at dawn and dusk. For the remainder of the day the deer would bed down in the beech. Our plan was to camp in the beech and stalk the edge of the grass in the evening. Continue reading “Lessons from New Zealand: Stalking Deer and Elk”
In the past year I have hunted both solo and with partners for elk, whitetail and coyotes. At times when hunting solo I found myself wishing I had someone to share the experience with, while on other hunts I felt like strangling my hunting partner for making so much noise on the way in. This blog provides a list of pros and cons for solo hunting. Continue reading “The Pros and Cons of Solo Hunting”
