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A newly formed congressional caucus comprised of those who generally share the views and agenda held by the country’s most outspoken and politically active anti-hunting organization has yet to make any serious legislative inroads on Capitol Hill, but deserves the continued watchful eye of sportsmen.  [ Read Full Post ]

Hunting takes patience, mental focus and drive. 

Small wonder then that the soldiers who excel at one of the toughest jobs in the military—the guys who sweep for roadside bombs and other IEDs—also happen to be hunters. 

From a CBS report that features Specialist Christopher Parsons, a member of the Michigan National Guard who is tasked with “Route Clearance Patrol”: [ Read Full Post ]

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Fifty-three hours. That’s how long I sat on a plastic deck chair inside a 4-by-4-foot ground blind, looking over the same 40 acres of Saskatchewan woods before I finally killed a buck on Friday.

This hunt for a big Canadian buck was the toughest hunting challenge of my life, and I hardly moved a muscle. Mentally straining, psychologically crushing, I sat in the same seat—actually two, since I moved blinds after the first two days in the field—for 12 hours a day straining to see a bruiser buck step out of the poplar forest. [ Read Full Post ]

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A Minnesota man with a criminal history is suspected of illegally killing a massive-racked whitetail buck that could be the largest 8-point ever recorded.

Last week, Minnesota conservation officers seized the antlers involved in the case and on Thursday, Nov. 12 filed charges against Troy Reinke, 32, of Cannon Falls, Minn. Reinke was charged by the Goodhue County Attorney’s Office with 13 counts, including exceeding his limit and failure to register a deer. [ Read Full Post ]

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Finally, we've broken the seal on Saskatchewan bucks. After two days of all-day sits on stand, the four of us hunting together return to camp each evening a little dejected.

We've seen some decent bucks, but no clear-and-present shooters. Until tonight. Check out the photo of the bruiser that Jon LaCorte put down just as legal light faded this evening.

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Here’s a story to file under the Newshound’s heading of “be careful who you pick a fight with.”

It’s also a great indicator that the whitetail rut is well underway in the state of Wisconsin.

A 7-point buck point obviously chose the wrong adversary in his testosterone-induced attempt to exhibit male dominance when it challenged a 640-pound concrete elk statue in the yard of Mark Brye in rural Viroqua, Wisc. [ Read Full Post ]

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Many deer hunters will tell you that luck is definitely a factor in any successful hunt. On the other hand, the die-hard hunters who consistently tag top-heavy bucks season after season will also tell you that a lot of hard work is involved as well. Everything has to fall into place at just the right time to connect with a mature whitetail. Locating and patterning a bruiser buck is tough enough, but knowing exactly where to hang and when to hunt a particular stand is also a difficult task. Many hunters feel this is where luck enters the equation. However, some hunters like Spook Spann who are dragging giants out the field every season disagree with this theory. [ Read Full Post ]

I climbed down from my stand this morning after a 3-hour sit, my tag still intact and still in my pocket.

I had a pretty good buck—a heavy 3x4 with a bladed brow tine—come screaming to my rattling at first light. He ran, then walked directly beneath my stand on the timbered edge of a picked cornfield. I drew my bow, but I just couldn’t let an arrow go.

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Although warmer weather for the early part of this week threatens to slow things down a bit, bucks seem to be on the move in many parts of the country right now as chase-phase activity kicks into gear. Buddy George Hamilton sent this treestand report from Friday...

Had a great morning today. The temperature was just below freezing and the winds were not too bad and out of the NW which was perfect for my setup. Off and on throughout the morning, there was a light snow coming down. Conditions seemed perfect and historically, November 6 has proven to be a good day to be in the woods. It felt like the rut to me! 

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I am not a patient hunter. I'm successful largely because I cover lots of ground and prepare to hike longer and farther and higher than the other guy. Make me mobile and '‚m going to get game.

So it's a special kind of torture for me to spend all day in a treestand, unable to get on the ground and make my own luck. We were told in our orientation here in Illinois that "walk-abouters" weren't tolerated here. And I understand it. We have so many folks on stand that if someone started meandering around the woods would screw everyone up.

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I’m heading off to Canada next week for a Saskatchewan whitetail hunt and pretty quickly settled on bringing a lever gun with me. Took my Marlin 336C in .35 Remington out yesterday to get my new scope dialed in (and an interesting little scope it is too…more on that later) and after I got it on paper I cranked off this 5-shot group. [ Read Full Post ]