Anyone who has ever been at full-draw in a treestand has experienced the emotional roller coaster ride that comes with bowhunting. In many cases, it’s a game of hard knocks that is often decided by a few yards or even a couple of inches. We have all had one of those heavy-racked giants with pop can bases just a few yards out of bow range. Some of us are probably still being haunted by the one shot that was a couple inches high and barely skimmed the top of a monster’s back. However, there is nothing more painful for a bowhunter than making a bad shot that results in losing a mature trophy-class buck. In most cases, if you hunt long enough, that gut wrenching feeling is going hit you where it really hurts at some point in time. Just ask Jason Harvison of Tennessee how it feels to lose a big buck after spending countless hours in the field pursuing it. Here is Harvison’s tragic bowhunting story and how he plans to redeem himself after a loss that still keeps him up at night.

As hunters prepare to head to the backcountry for early season big game scouting, authorities in an increasing number of popular hunting locales are warning sportsmen about the likelihood for confrontations with armed and ruthless marijuana growers on public lands.

It’s a disturbing sign of our times, but more and more hunters in virtually every region of rural American may potentially stumble upon clandestine drug-making and marijuana-growing operations these days.

Recently, I spent a few vacation days bass fishing on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. The topwater action just after daylight and right at dark was very explosive to say the least. My family and I were able to catch a boatload of bass, but it was hard to concentrate on the fishing with all of the velvet bucks running around. The Land Between the Lakes region has just the right combination of hardwoods, thickets, woodlots and agricultural fields to produce some top-heavy bruisers.

As a young boy, one of my biggest thrills was pulling into Davenport’s Market in my small hometown during the November gun season. I can remember barely being tall enough to see over the tops of the tall truck beds and trying to climb up the wheels to see what kind of buck was lying in the backs of these muddy vehicles. It seemed that every hunter in the county would check in their deer at the market and just hangout swapping stories. The little country store even had a big buck contest that awarded free deer mounts and a lever-action 30/30 rifle for the lucky hunters who brought in the largest bucks. Years later progress and technology introduced the tele-check system and now hunters simply check-in their deer over the phone. Many other states have adopted this technologically advanced method, but a lot of hunters miss the old check-in stations and are quick to point out several obvious flaws with the new system.