Back in the 1960s, hunting was a man’s sport and not generally of interest to young ladies. Shooting game and traipsing the woods wasn’t considered proper behavior for the fairer sex. But some didn’t subscribe to that policy. Tes Randle was one of them. Tes was raised in a family...
We were running late, and I blamed the rock pile. While glassing from the town road the previous night, that cobbled mound of stones had seemed so conspicuous — like a beacon marking the perfect setup spot for what promised to be a bang-up mallard and honker shoot in a...
There are two types of duck hunters : those who have experienced a lights-out flooded timber shoot for greenheads and the rest of us. Do it once and you’re addicted. A quick limit leaves you wanting more, and wanting to do it again. Getting skunked also leaves you wanting to...
Pressured deer are cagey, reclusive and downright difficult to hunt. But once deer season opens and other hunters are piling on the pressure, it can be nigh impossible to find a deer that isn’t wary. Yet, there are certain tricks you can use to even the odds. Here are six...
The 2018-19 deer season was going to be a great one. My husband, Brett, and I joined a deer lease a couple hours from our house with plans to take our kids out every chance we’d get. We’d spend the weekends and holidays pursuing whitetails, hanging out by the campfire...
Today’s waterfowl aren’t like the birds of 20 years ago. With technological innovations such as hyper-realistic decoys and motorized spinning wings, and guys who can seemingly call better than real ducks and geese , the flyways have become a different ballfield. But these 24 tried-and-true tactics can put more birds...
You have no memory of this place. Lost amid a sea of cattails, you rub your hands together for warmth, trying to recall what you saw on the map. The channel should cut west, but thick bog says otherwise. You cannot go south, as flooded trees and thick willows prevent...
Deciding which duck or goose call to add to your lanyard is difficult even if you’ve hunted waterfowl for a while. It’s much tougher if you’re new. You can search Google and YouTube for suggestions, but opposing opinions can add to the confusion. Enter Sean Mann, the creative force behind...
I’ve hunted almost every day of the whitetail rut for the past 29 seasons. After all these years, I believe the opportunities we have during the rut for mature bucks comes down to less than a handful of events that trigger one really good day of hunting each. Young bucks...
Mark Zepp doesn’t remember all the predators that he’s killed over decades of hunting, but he does remember every single one that got away, right down to the smallest detail. He says those have done the most to turn him into a successful predator hunter. “I have called thousands of...
Many muzzleloader seasons open during the best days of the year, and they can be your best chance at bagging a big buck. States like Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Oklahoma open during the heat of the rut. Midwest powerhouses like Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri have late-season opportunities in...
You overheard the guys talking about the great duck hunting they’ve been enjoying, and you wheedled an invitation to go along on their next outing. What an opportunity. Time to dig out your finest camouflage and grab your calls, shotgun and shells. But not waders (see No. 8). You haven’t...
