Waterfowlers prepare fanatically for the season and individual hunts. We repaint decoys, check lines and repair blinds. We make sure our boat batteries are charged and trouble-shoot motor problems. We shoot frequently to hone our eyes. And we scout like fiends, noting bird numbers, location and movements. Before the first...
A friend of mine watched a buck for several years that had only three legs. Its right antler always had a “T” shape at its end, and the deer had a small rack. My friend finally shot The T-Handle Buck when it was 6 1/2 years old. It wouldn’t have...
Blood trailing isn’t just a skill. It’s an art. It takes years of practice and a lot of blood trails to gain the experience it takes to become proficient. To accomplish this, don’t just blood trail your own deer. Help other people blood trail theirs, too. This will increase your...
By: Realtree Staff “Go West” was 19th century publisher Horace Greeley’s advice, and now, more than a century later, it appears North America’s whitetails may be heeding that same advice. The prolific and adaptable species is expanding into areas once the primary domain of the mule deer . And where...
I’m still a fairly young man; but those who know me call me an old soul. I like new-school, hi-tech bowhunting equipment; but I take just as much enjoyment from shooting a recurve. Call me conflicted. Call me whatever you want. But I love it all — both tactics that...
The bear advanced, completely unaware of me. I sat high above him with my legs dangling, I was suspended and strapped to a tree in hopes of catching a glimpse of a black bear. Now, here he was ambling toward me, for many bear hunters just sighting a bruin in...
Some say work hard. Others say work smart. I say do both. And when it comes to hunting whitetails, both are important ingredients for success. Which leads me to one of the most important tactics known to bowhunters — hunting near deer crossings (or pinch-points). These are key to hunting...
Waterfowlers love to talk about physically “tough” ducks — birds that shake off seemingly lethal charges of shot in the air or on water and then dive or swim to escape. The idea is a bit misleading, I think, because hunters are often responsible for creating seemingly rugged birds. Poor...
Folks casually use the expression “lightning strikes” when describing chance events. But unfortunately for some waterfowl , lightning sometimes actually strikes — with fatal results. According to an April 8 article by Nate Eaton at EastIdahoNews.com , more than 100 light geese were killed April 7 and fell into a...
A lot of turkeys are tagged during the first week of the spring season. A lot of turkeys aren’t. Never give up until you have no days left to hunt. Early Birds Challenge : Dominant gobblers are likely henned-up. Some satellite two-year-olds and jakes might travel with the group –...
I love the challenge of a do-it-yourself roadtrip for whitetails. I suppose that’s why I have been on about two dozen of them in the last 15 years. I have had some exciting successes and some crushing failures during these hunts, but I have learned from each one of them...
In practice and concept, the act of a dog retrieving a dead duck appears simple. Real-world hunting , however, sometimes complicates the process. Poor shots, missed marks, human or canine error, and other factors often lead to retrieving adventures. And when you factor in conditions and the personality of the...
We love wild turkey. The tender breast meat on a big gobbler has way more flavor than you find in his barnyard cousins. Unfortunately, the breast meat is often all that gets saved from wild turkey. Believe it or not, there is a lot more to a turkey than fried...
As winter gray melts and gives way to the green of spring each year, I find myself looking forward to time spent in the turkey woods with my kids. Hunting with them over the last few years has made me change the way I go about chasing spring birds. The...
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