Whether you’re looking to add excitement to your whitetail hunting life or a new way to maximize your success, keep reading, and you’ll discover everything you need to become an on-the-ground whitetail assassin I’d love to write that I pioneered the idea — invented it — and teased it to life. That, though, would be a lie. What isn’t a lie is that I’m a hardcore, seasoned Western bowhunter who loves to get after big-game animals on the ground. Sure, I will post up in a tree or ground blind and play the sit-and-wait game, but if the option is there, I slither across the prairies or inch through ..read more

The wind was blowing just enough that it felt like a knife was cutting through any exposed skin, the temperature was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. It was around 3 in the afternoon, and I had been in the blind for about an hour. I was sitting over a 2-acre soybean field that I had scouted the past few nights. The forecast was calling for a big snowstorm to roll in around 7 if I remember right around 6 plus inches of snow. As I sat watching the 2 sides of timber, I recall I contemplated my own sanity. In my area of the country, most whitetail hunters have 3 seasons – early season, the rut, and gu ..read more

Whether you’re looking to add excitement to your whitetail hunting life or a new way to maximize your success, keep reading, and you’ll discover everything you need to become an on-the-ground whitetail assassin I’d love to write that I pioneered the idea — invented it — and teased it to life. That, though, would be a lie. What isn’t a lie is that I’m a hardcore, seasoned Western bowhunter who loves to get after big-game animals on the ground. Sure, I will post up in a tree or ground blind and play the sit-and-wait game, but if the option is there, I slither across the prairies or inch through ..read more

The wind was blowing just enough that it felt like a knife was cutting through any exposed skin, the temperature was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. It was around 3 in the afternoon, and I had been in the blind for about an hour. I was sitting over a 2-acre soybean field that I had scouted the past few nights. The forecast was calling for a big snowstorm to roll in around 7 if I remember right around 6 plus inches of snow. As I sat watching the 2 sides of timber, I recall I contemplated my own sanity. In my area of the country, most whitetail hunters have 3 seasons – early season, the rut, and gu ..read more

As a dedicated whitetail conservationist, wildlife biologist and big game hunter, I have had the pleasure of managing winter whitetails for more than 25 years. From deeryard operations in the mountains of Quebec, to counting ‘pellet groups’ in Central Ontario as part of a Fish & Wildlife program, to today managing my own backyard program in the National Capital Region. You might say managing winter whitetails is a pet project of mine, and an activity I take quite seriously! Backyard deer feeding is an enjoyable pastime and can be of benefit to whitetail herds as snow depth increases. Havi ..read more

It seems that when the mercury plummets well below the freezing mark the deer hunting action heats up. Deer need more food to fuel their bodies and will typically be up feeding longer in the mornings and earlier in the afternoons. When deer hunting in cold weather, hunters need to be prepared to be in the field, and stay there without cutting the outing short due to cold feet, numb fingers, frost-bitten ears or a wicked case of the shivers. There is more to staying warm than simply pulling on all the clothes in your closet. If you do this, you’ll look like the Good Year Blimp and be restricte ..read more

I have 20 deer seasons under my belt, and Lord willing, I’ll have many more. While I have many mule deer and Whitetail racks in my home, I’m not too proud to say that I should have many, many more. I’ve made countless mistakes over the years that have cost me big time. Of course, deer are smart critters with the home-field advantage, so many of my hunts have ended in disgust rather than a victory in a short blood trail. The cause of those errors has usually been one or two completely avoidable mistakes. Sound familiar? LESSONS 1Needlessly rushing a shot can easily result in a bad hit or a mis ..read more

An Alberta Foothills Archery Whitetail Adventure Most people think of Alberta as the place for trophy Whitetails. In many regions of the province, it is. But in the foothills where I live, trophy quality has been down for the past decade. We had severe winter kills in 2010 and then again in 2015. The overall population has rebounded, but we just aren’t seeing the big bucks everyone typically hears about in Alberta. During the 2018 season, we probably saw over 100 different bucks. I’m not sure one would stretch the tape beyond 125 inches. One night, when I was sitting in my ground blind on a h ..read more

PHOTOS: HONEYCUTT CREATIVE Here is a lighthearted assessment of serious Whitetail sleeper states to consider hunting this season. See how your state ranks. One of the finest things about America is its diversity. From coast to coast, there’s a lot of “different” sprinkled throughout. The same is true for its deer hunting, which varies wildly in kind and quality from one state to another. That statement leads me to a hot topic — Whitetail sleeper states, and which are the best places for bowhunters. Follow along as each Whitetail destination in the country is assigned to one of five bowhunting ..read more

A Playbook for Developing Your Whitetail Food Plot In the Whitetail game, if you’re not planting food plots, you’re missing one of the key aspects contributing to good deer and turkey hunting on your property. Deer need quality food and will travel miles to find it. Simply stated, “if you plant it or build it, they will come.” Planting food plots requires a little elbow grease, but a weekend or two of work will pay huge dividends this fall. FOOD PLOT BASICS In the simplest form, all you need to grow a good food plot is some dirt and some seed. But nothing is ever that simple because the dirt ..read more