The West has arguably the best scenery in the nation. Hunters dream of seeing it with gun or bow in hand. And if that’s all you care about, it takes the cake. If you want a nice whitetail, it has loads of Pope and Young-class bucks. Boone and Crockett whitetails?...
After hours of catching nothing, I finally got my big break. There, just a cast away, several bass corralled a school of shad and were taking advantage of their position by blasting the bait into oblivion and gobbling up the wounded. With the wind in my face, I launched a...
Summer is here, and deer season isn’t far off. After contacting every wildlife agency and department of natural resources (DNR) in the region, it’s clear that some states are shaping up quite nicely, while others are lagging. Luckily for you, we’ve sifted through the data to produce in-depth reports. If...
Today’s gun writers can make a decent living writing clickbait. Any story titled “Top 10 Calibers for (Insert Critter Here)” is about guaranteed to pull readers in and make them argue, and website publishers love that. But the truth is, for killing deer inside 200 yards — where the overwhelming...
Do an online search for “speed bows” and you’ll find no shortage of articles and forum threads highlighting all the supposed problems associated with them for bowhunters. It’s become so common, in fact, for writers to trash-talk speed bows that we’ve created our own set of speed bow cliches and...
If you’re like me, you’d own 20 or more rifles, shotguns, and handguns, however many you could afford. But truth is, to have a blast shooting targets and hunting every species of bird and animal across America, you really only need five firearms. And those are the ones we’re talking...
Deer season is knocking on the door, and it’s time to answer questions people have about the Northeast. Hunters will be pleased to know that things are shaping up quite nicely for the region. Thanks to several consecutive mild winters, solid mast crops, improved management decisions by states, and more,...
Deer hunting in the Southeast isn’t what it once was. It’s now much better. Many southern states have taken aggressive steps — at the urging of hunters — to better manage their deer herds for older bucks and better opportunity. It’s paying off, too, as more monster deer stories are...
Right now, there’s a flatbed trailer parked in my driveway, stacked high with a magnificent pile of junk. I see an old grill, a mini fridge that hasn’t worked in five years, dull lawnmower blades, and a storm door with broken hinges. I’m almost afraid to write about it, for...
David Blanton knew he had target panic. But like many bowhunters , the 46-year veteran of the deer woods and longtime host of Realtree Outdoors had always been able to manage it, like an annoying but otherwise harmless preexisting condition. “I’ve always been a puncher,” Blanton says. “I draw back,...
I’m not saying your granddaddy isn't a good deer hunter. Chances are he’s killed more bucks with his open-sighted, lever-action .30-30 than all the local youngins hollerin’ “Smoked him,” “Pole-waxed that joker,” or my personal (least) favorite, “Just gave that ol’ slob a dirt nap” combined. And he'll shame a...
Drought has hit much of the Prairie Pothole Region, and the dry conditions will likely affect duck production in 2021. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s May water index was down 80 percent from the previous year and almost 68 percent lower than the long-term (1948 through 2020) average...
