Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

When you’re pedaling hard, you don’t want to have to pause to search for your water bottle. (Unsplash/Guillaume Techer/)

We’re not talking stroller cup holders here. You might need something to hold your Starbucks when you’re shopping or to clip on the stroller when you take little Wesley for a spin about the ‘hood, but you don’t need a 360-degree rotating holder on your bike. You DO need a bottle cage that’s lightweight, accessible and grips your bottle. Consider these factors when choosing one for you.

This popular bike bottle cage weighs only 2.1 ounces and is made with an aluminum alloy. (USHAKE/)

The best bike bottle cages are made of weight-saving carbon fiber or aluminum. Some are made of hard plastic or nylon. Lightweight and durable is key to maintaining speed and not feeling weighed down by your bottle.

This cage is designed to be mounted in pre-existing bike frame locations, or custom-mounted with Velcro straps or zip-ties. (50 Strong/)

Your water bottle needs to be mounted so it’s easily accessible when riding, and so it doesn’t interfere with your legs while pedaling. Mounting location will vary depending on the type of bike used. Some bikes come with mounting hardware pre-installed.

This cage is designed for a secure grip. (PRO BIKE TOO/)

Water bottles are useless when they’re a half mile back down the trail. The best bike cages grip the bottle securely, preventing bottle loss, particularly important when biking rough terrain.

Put the heat to the job. (Pexels/)

There are tons of times when you need a quick, hot sear—to melt cut cords so the ends don’t fray, to knock back weeds around the hunting camp and even to put a tasty crunchy sear on a good steak. There are lots of propane torches that can do a pretty good job at multiple tasks, but some propane torches for home and camp use are specifically designed for tough outdoor chores. If you purchase a torch for general use, you’ll want a burner head with a wide range of settings so you can dial in the heat to the job at hand. And make sure it fits readily available propane tanks so you don’t run out of gas in the middle of the job. Here are three propane torches that will bring the heat.

This product is compatible with standard cylinders from 5 to 100 pounds, and has a half-million BTU output. (Flame King/)

A handy weed burner will make quick work of clearing weeds around buildings and driveways. Look for a long hose to give you plenty of working room without having to move the tank too often—and look for models that offer a long flame to reach corners and crevices in a jiffy.

A handy run-lock button allows the torch to stay lit for continuous use. (Bernzomatic/)

A small handheld torch fueled by a propane cylinder has a world of workshop uses. They’re perfect for starting small fires, melting the ends of nylon ropes and web strapping, and you can even put the final finish on processing game birds by searing off pin feathers. Look for a quick auto start function so you can grab it and apply flame almost instantly.

This product puts a sizzling finish on meat with the mess of using a cast iron pan. (Booker & Dax/)

Outdoor cooks have a secret weapon: a radiant heat propane torch that provides a perfect sear to steaks, sous vide recipes and slow smoked meats. By spreading the heat of a propane torch over a wider surface area, it’s a snap to produce that professional-kitchen crunchy sear on meats and vegetables. Universal attachments can connect to many hand-held propane torches, and works great for reheating pizza, as well.

A warm fire when you need one, a table even when you don’t. (U-MAX/)

There’s no doubt that a fire table on your porch or patio will lend intimacy to the space, and be a central gathering place for family and friends. Their cheerful warmth draws folks close, and fosters communication and connection. Fire tables are growing in popularity, which means you have plenty to choose from. But you’ll want a quality piece of furniture that functions just as well in summer’s heat as winter’s chill, and will last season after season. If you’re thinking about turning up the heat on your back deck or front porth, here are three things to think about when choosing a fire table.

Decorative glass rocks reflect flames for a stunning look. (Outland Living/)

A fire table lends a fabulous aesthetic to an outdoor living space, but you may want one that does more than simply look awesome. If you plan on entertaining around the fire table, look for one with plenty of tabletop space. Those flames are stunning, but you’ll want a little room so cold drinks don’t get warmed by the fire. And being able to spread out a board game or a deck of cards will double your enjoyment of a fire table.

This product stops flames from being blown out by gusts, keeping them tall and beautiful in all weather conditions. (U-MAX/)

While many fire tables are fueled with a propane tank hidden inside the table structure, there are lots of great natural gas choices that will hook up to your home gas line. A natural gas table is convenient, and over time fuel costs are much lower. But you’ll lose the ability to move the table from place to place. Think about how and where you want to enjoy your fire table before deciding.

This piece of outdoor furniture features brushed steel sides for durability with a natural rattan look. (TACKLIFE/)

A well-fitted, smartly designed, attractive cover is a key consideration. It converts a fire table to a standard coffee or end table during warmer weather; even during cold seasons, a sturdy cover increases a fire table’s utility.

Making too many e-collar mistakes can kill a gun dog's drive. (Joe Genzel/)

I’ve hunted from too many ducks blinds, walked pheasant fields aplenty, and stomped through countless timber stands, chasing squirrels and rabbits. The one commonality I have found enjoying all these pursuits with working gun dogs is that sometimes there is an instant disconnect when a handler straps an e-collar onto his or her dog. You can tell almost immediately that the dog was not properly trained with the collar, because it will shut down just as soon as the hunting begins.

Many of us have been frustrated by our dogs, and I am here to tell you that it’s your own damn fault. I have a 5-month-old holy terror of a squirrel dog ((West Siberian Laika), and have made a few obedience mistakes already, though we are not utilizing an e-collar yet. I don’t fret too much over the blunders that come with not having owned a hunting dog since high school (at least not yet). I know that it will cost you more than a little frustration if you don’t properly train your dog before introducing an e-collar. So before you ruin a well-bred pup, make sure have checked all the boxes that need checking. Then your dog will hunt as he should—eager for a morning in the marsh, milo, or woods.

1. An E-Collar Will Not Solve Any of Your Dogs’ Problems

E-collars do not train obedience, they reinforce it. (Joe Genzel/)

I’ve spent a lot of time talking with Tom Dokken, who is considered by many to be the foremost authority on bird dog training. One of the things he always told me was that if your dog doesn’t know how to sit, stay, and come on a leash, he won’t be able to do it off leash with an e-collar around his neck. That means before you use an e-collar to reinforce commands, you have to train your dog to follow those commands on a leash or long lead.

For instance, you put the lead on your pup, tug at it, and tell him to come. You get him to sit and stay—all on leash. Then there is a transition period where you introduce the e-collar on its lightest setting while the dog is still on the lead. When you tell the dog to come, tug that lead, and give pup a nick with the e-collar. He will associate that little buzz from the collar with coming to you (eventually), and when he does that repeatedly, only then can you can take him off the lead.

The author with his granddad’s restored .410 shotgun. (Andrew Hetherington/)

There’s a .410 single-barrel shotgun that sits in my closet most of the year. The gun has a tendency to choose corners, and has done so for the last century. When I was in high school, it sat in the corner of my ­granddaddy’s office. And I would ­pester him about it: Where had it come from? He told me that it had belonged to his stepfather—Mr. Parker, as he referred to him. My grandfather acquired the gun after my great-grandmother passed away. He wouldn’t get rid of it, but he never did anything with it either. For years it sat there, rusted, corroded, and unemployed.

Even though the gun came from a Mr. Parker, it was nothing like the Parker shotguns that so many folks romanticize in upland bird hunting lore. In the early 20th century, most Black folks weren’t bird hunting for sport. They were trapping game, mostly for two reasons: They likely couldn’t afford a gun, and trapping was the best way to guarantee that the meat could be sold in the best possible condition. High-end shotguns were unaffordable for almost any Black man. They were nothing more than a dream.

After Emancipation, Black Codes had been put into place to severely constrain the mobility and liberty of African Americans. Under these codes, guns were virtually inaccessible to Blacks, which meant they could not hunt game. And even after the codes morphed into Jim Crow laws, some Southern states banned the cheapest guns or implemented high taxes on firearms to prevent Blacks from purchasing them. Black folks had to find alternative methods of hunting and ­providing for themselves, or they’d be forced back into servitude.

The author’s pointer, Vegas, steady after a pigeon flush during a training session. (Andrew Hetherington/)

As I learned our history, I was struck by the ­notion that maybe this shotgun was my ancestor’s attempt at establishing some form of freedom. It didn’t matter how used the gun was. For us, having a good hunting dog and an old pot-metal shotgun was liberation at its best.

I never got to meet Mr. Parker, but I can guess that his old piece had multiple uses, including home defense and hunting everything from quail to raccoons. During the days after Emancipation, hunting and trapping often grew boys into men, and their efforts enabled African American families to live off the bounty of public lands.

The best part of having an outdoorsman on your holiday shopping list? There’s almost an infinite number of gear items you can get for them. We’ve got all kinds of gift ideas for duck hunters, deer hunters, and bass anglers. But if you want to get the hunter on your list something special, a product that’s top of the line, a product has been tested and vetted and objectively chosen as the best, well, look no further. Below is our list of gear-test winning guns, bows, crossbows, riflescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, fishing rods, and reels. Each product is either the best in its category or chosen as the greatest value buy in its category. At the end you’ll find a list of products that I’ve personally been using hard this year (and absolutely love). Sure these items might be spendy, but they’re all field proven.

Gun Test Rifle Winner: SIG Cross Rifle

SIG Cross Rifle (SIG/)

This rifle won our annual gun test with its smart design and excellent performance. Here’s what shooting editor John B. Snow had to say about it: “It’s not just a bolt-action thrown into a chassis with AR-15 dimensions. The Cross has attained the elusive goal of being a portable mountain rifle (8.5 pounds scoped), with a hefty dose of battlefield DNA thrown into the mix. The stock adjusts every which way for a custom fit, and it folds down so the rifle can be carried in a pack. The three-lug action is snappy and quick. It runs great from the shoulder and is crazy accurate. With few exceptions, this 6.5 Creedmoor was a one-hole gun, shooting nearly all types of ammo in tiny clusters to the same point of impact. The tight tolerances on the mag well helped it feed flawlessly from the 5-round P-Mag it came with, and were in keeping with the rifle’s feel of rugged reliability.” SigSauer.com; $1,780

Gun Test Rifle Great Buy: Tikka T3x Lite Roughtech

Tikka T3x Lite Roughtech (Tikka/)

Of the rifles tested this year, this is the one I’d most like to see under the tree this Christmas. Here’s what shooting editor John B. Snow liked about it: “It is a smooth-running bolt gun with great balance, so it’s lively and fast-handling. The single-stack 3-round magazine loads easily and feeds ammo into the action perfectly every time. You can also throw a single round into the action and it will never fail to chamber, something a shocking number of rifles struggle with. In addition to its fine ergonomics, the rifle is accurate. Ours, chambered in 6.5 Creed, shot sub-MOA groups.” Tikka.fi; $1,100

Imagine hunting in a place where a 180 deer is considered a decent buck, but not particularly noteworthy; where 200 is a realistic goal, achieved by several hunters every season, in a place where there are no high fences or ear tags. While the rest of the whitetail world measures bucks in inches, hunters from the Northeast prefer pounds. “You can’t eat antlers,” they say in a thick Downeast accent. The first question asked of anyone said to have killed a big one is, “What’d he weigh?” While they may not garner as much attention outside of the Northeast, heavyweight bucks here are the equivalent of a Boone & Crockett buck. As with big-racked whitetails, these scale-tippers are rare, and their relative value increases with size. What follows are some of the most impressive examples of big-bodied deer.

1. The Moore Buck

The Moore Buck was officially weighed at 300 pounds. (Brendan Moore/)

Nationwide, there is an elite informal group called the 200 Club. Admission requires that you harvest a deer scoring at least 200 inches. The Biggest Bucks in Maine Club also has a 200 minimum, measured in pounds. Now run by The Maine Sportsman magazine, the BBMC awards a patch and certificate to hunters who register their bucks, which must be weighed on a certified scale, with all internal organs removed. The Club receives between 400 and 500 entries each year, and it’s widely acknowledged there are probably at least as many of these huge deer taken each year that never get entered. Most weigh in the low to mid 200s, but every so often one is felled that far exceeds the minimum.

Most of Maine’s biggest bucks come from the more remote regions where light hunting pressure allows them to live long enough to realize their full potential for body growth. It was in just such an area that Brendan Moore and his hunting partner Chris Griggs began their 2018 hunt in typical Northwoods fashion, driving the logging roads in search of a large track in the snow.

The first couple days produced several tracks and a few deer sightings, though not of the caliber they sought. On Day 3 they found a fresher, larger track and formulated a plan with Moore taking up the trail and Griggs circling around to where they thought the buck might be headed, based on the previous two days of hunting the area.

Most ARs are extremely capable weapons, but the upgrades you make will determine how accurate and useful it is. (Chris Mudgett/)

You just bought an AR-15 with the intention of accessorizing it with top-quality components to get the most out of the rifle. And there are a myriad of variables to consider, such as your intended use, geographic location, and more. But if you want one gun with the right aftermarket modifications to cover all the bases, there are some specific upgrades you need to make. My choice ingredients capitalize on the AR’s versatility, and act as a blueprint to help get you set up with the ultimate rifle.

Before we begin, know that the AR is such a modular platform that you can easily pick and choose your setup. If a specific component doesn’t work for you, simply pick one that does. The configuration of your rifle is completely up to you and, after some experimentation, you’ll eventually discover what components work best to fulfill the role you need them to.

If I set up your AR (a do-it-all weapon), the following are the modifications I would make. After years of trial and error, I’ve meticulously selected a list of components that have been thoroughly compared with other products in their categories and selected the ones that provided a significant increase in my performance, as well as the handling and function of the gun in all shooting conditions.

Optic Options

A look through the Vortex Razor HD Gen III. (Vortex Optics/)

After you’ve decided on a rifle, the next priority is to select an optic that best compliments the capabilities of your new AR. Choosing the right optic is arguably as important as the platform itself, and where the majority of your funds should be spent. All too often, folks purchase an expensive rifle, only to bolt a cheap red-dot sight and an equally cheap mount to the top rail. Realistically, you can do a lot more with a cheaper rifle coupled with a high-quality piece of glass. In many cases, I’d recommend spending twice the cost of the rifle on a good optic and a solid mount.

Beka Garris and her daughter, Isabella. (Beka Garris/)

Like most deer hunters, my day starts before the sun comes up. Unlike most hunters, my alarm clock stands 2½ feet tall and wears pajamas printed with unicorns.

It takes me longer to get ready for a hunt than it used to. Persuading a 2-year-old to leave the house at 5:30 a.m. is no easy task, and it doesn’t always go as planned. I usually prepare snacks and drinks the night before so that I can get myself and Isabella dressed, then grab coffee, and get going without much else slowing us down—if we’re lucky.

On one particular morning this November, nothing seemed to go as planned. I was tired and unmotivated after not seeing many deer, despite weeks of hunting. Isabella couldn’t decide how many toys she wanted to bring along. And once I had my boots on and took a sip from my mug, I realized I hadn’t replaced the Keurig pod and was drinking stale coffee. By the time we finally climbed into the Jeep, the sun was already rising and the waning moon was starting to sink.

Warm days in November tend to discourage me from hunting. Despite knowing that deer will move in literally any weather, I rely too much on cold fronts. You simply have to be in the right place at the right time during those less-than-ideal conditions. But when you have a toddler in tow, you just have to hunt when you can.

The one upside to the warm conditions that morning—nearly 50 degrees by 8 a.m.—was that Isabella and I didn’t need to layer too much. Dressing kids for the weather ultimately plays a big part in whether or not they enjoy a hunt, but it’s also half the battle when you’re trying to coax a kid out the door. I layered fleece pants and a fleece jacket over Isabella’s pajamas (easier than trying to undress her and start from scratch before dawn), then added a lightweight camo jacket and a hat. Although dressing her is time-consuming, Isabella enjoys the process of getting bundled up in her hunting gear, which makes my life easier. She knows that getting dressed means we’re going on an adventure.

We don’t typically consider most furbearers good table-fare. (John Hafner/)

“Eat what you kill,” is a common phrase in hunting media these days. That ideal seems like a very reasonable, honorable principle to live by. Of course, we all enjoy wild game. But sometimes you’ll see a slightly different take on that messaging that goes something like: “If you’re not going to eat it, don’t kill it.” This mantra is frequently used in response to hunting or trapping of animals that aren’t typically considered table-fare, like grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, and other predators and furbearers.

Here in Alaska, we have a long, controversial history of predator hunting and trapping. And with the gray wolf being delisted in the Lower 48, there are going to be a whole lot more folks (hunters and non-hunters alike) thinking about the ethics of predator hunting and trapping.

Here’s the thing though: It doesn’t matter to a wildlife manager whether you eat your wolves or not (or at least it shouldn’t). The reality is that many of our personal convictions and beliefs about what should be done with game don’t have much teeth when it comes to the big picture of proper wildlife management. We often divide ourselves as an outdoor community, simply because we are unwilling to see past our own bias. Just as hunting is about much more than just the meat to all of us, there are more factors to take into account when we consider things like targeting animals for hides and predator management.

I’m not saying that predator hunters and trappers have an excuse to be intentionally or ignorantly wasteful—only that each of us has a different perspective, and the standards we place on ourselves are usually somewhat arbitrary. Yes, strong moral convictions help hunters be good stewards of the land. But we also need to understand that our way usually isn’t the only way.

For example, let’s say someone who identifies as a “meat hunter” kills a deer in a state that legally requires only the quarters, backstraps, and inner loins to be salvaged from the deer. For the sake of argument, let’s say that hunter also salvages the neck meat, but leaves the ribs in the field because there’s not much meat on them. I think most of us will agree that this hunter has fulfilled his legal and moral obligation for salvaging meat. But now let’s put that same hunter in Alaska, and if he salvages exactly the same meat as in the first case (leaving the rest in the field) he would be guilty of wanton waste according to Alaska law and could be jailed because of the stricter standard. My point? There are different standards and regulations for different situations and locations. At a certain level, almost all of us leave edible parts of animals (tongue, stomach, intestines, head meat, organs, feet) in the woods or on the mountain.

Keep your stuff dry and safe in an insulated, study carrying container. (YETI /)

This year, more than ever, we’re thankful for spending time outdoors. But whether you’re hiking, hunting or fishing, bringing the right gear—and the tools to carry it—with you is vital. To save you the time of looking at page after page of items, we’ve pulled together the best YETI Black Friday deals available right now. Check out those items below, and make sure to bookmark this page and check back—we’ll be updating this list as new deals come up!

Shop our Cabela’s Black Friday picks

Save on GoPro Black Friday gear

Check out our Bass Pro Black Friday guide

Best YETI Black Friday Deals 2020

One of the author's knapped stone arrowheads, hafted to a wooden arrow shaft. (Dan Forbes/)

I was sweating in my waders in the June midday heat, my bloodshot eyes straining to find even the smallest drop of blood as I searched on hands and knees. finally I had to accept what I had known within 15 minutes of taking up this trail nearly 14 hours earlier: this grizzly wasn’t dead, and likely wasn’t going to die. completely exhausted, I walked a mile back to my treestand to collect my gear and replay the hunt in my head just one more time.

At about 11:00 that night (there’s still daylight here in Alaska in late spring), the crack of a stick shook me out of semi­consciousness. It came from a stand of dark timber maybe 100 yards away, across a small creek from my bait site. Then I heard another snap. There was no doubt now, so I readied myself for the shot I’d been hoping to get for the past six months. When I heard him slosh across the creek, I knew he was committed.

The big grizzly approached on the most ideal trail, swung in front of me, and turned broadside. My heart was racing, but I focused on breathing and telling myself, Just execute the shot. I drew my longbow, settled, let the string blow through my fingers, and watched as my stone-tipped arrow buzzed in perfect flight…but then seemed to fall out of the sky.

Shit! I thought. That was low, but still probably hit the heart. I listened as the grizzly crashed down the trail, across the creek, and into the timber. “He should be down,” I said aloud to myself, straining to hear any more noise in the distance.

After a long wait, I put on my waders and took up the trail. Across the creek, the blood trail was massive. As I rounded each tree, I expected to find the bear, lying dead. Within 100 yards, the blood trail evaporated. Another 200 yards later, just after midnight, my gut told me that it hadn’t been a lethal hit. But I still spent the night crawling down foot-wide bear trails through the ­alders and grid-searching after I ran out of blood. I repeated this process into the afternoon the following day, when I finally had to accept reality: I’d made a bad shot.

Corey Kloeck with his opening day 10-point buck and gator. (Corey Kloeck/)

Cory Kloeck certainly got more bang for his buck on Minnesota’s deer opener than he bargained for. The hunter killed a 10-pointer...and an alligator.

On Nov. 7, Kloeck sat in a blind next to a small pond at a friend’s farm, filled with the anticipation that accompanies every opening day of deer season. He had prepared for weeks, scouting prime deer habitat and travel routes.

“Sure enough, one of my 10-pointers that I had on my list stepped out 25 yards right in front of me,” says Kloeck.

Kloeck typically hunts with a rifle, but took this buck with a shotgun due to the regulations where he was hunting. While tracking the fallen buck around the pond, he spotted an alligator less than 10 yards away in the sawgrass. As a hunter growing up in Minnesota, he had seen a fair share of lizards, snakes, and salamanders—but never a gator.

“I stood there for five minutes or so and looked at it before I did anything. I was just confused. I thought maybe it was a rubber one that somebody put there as a trick,” says Kloeck. “But then I recalled I heard thrashing in the water [that morning] as I was getting in my blind. It all started clicking when I saw it move.”

The pup you pick will set the tone of your hunts for years to come. (Steven Meyer/)

There were a couple hundred mallards resting on the lake when Steve suggested we get closer. We’d been sitting behind the only cover around for an hour and a half, watching small parties of ducks taking off to feed. I still hoped some would pass our way, even as I braced for disappointment.

I heard shots fin the distance, and not for the first time did I wonder how Steve’s father had managed to shoot more ducks than either of us in the past five days. Steve and I had hiked miles, kneeled in cattails for hours, and crawled through bean stubble in the rain. We covered what felt like every piece of property with a pond in Ransom County, North Dakota. At the end of the day, Steve, my partner who crawled just a little farther and waited just a little longer than I did, would bring back a few ducks. His father, who preferred easy access, consistently outgunned us both.

That day, Steve’s dad had stayed next to a small pond near a gravel road. While the remaining mallards on the lake sat tight and safe from us, he’d shot the only birds of the day as they made a pass that, to me, looked like chance. We might have had more energy, but he had luck on his side. And he had something else we didn’t have: a black Lab named Lady.

I had only considered getting a dog once, after Steve shot a pair of mallards that fell across a tidal slough at high tide back home in Alaska. Nothing we could think of would get us across the muddy bank and, finally, without a fishing rod or a safe way around, we gave up for the evening. The next day at low tide, we found only one of the two mallards. Steve mentioned for the first time it would be nice to have a retriever.

My first thought was about how everything in my house was white: the new sofa set, a fluffy rug, and the goose-down comforter. Sure, a dog would be nice to have in the field. But what would I do with it at home? Visions of muddy floors and clothing covered in dog hair dissuaded me. I preferred to be miserable and filthy out on the flats. I didn’t want to turn my living room into a kennel.

The GoPro HERO9 can film video in 5K resolution and take 20-megapixel photos. (GoP/)

Spending time outdoors feels more necessary now than ever. And filming your outdoor adventures? It’s never been easier—or more affordable, thanks to the GoPro Black Friday sale. Because of advances in camera technology, you don’t need to worry about missing the action due to poor framing. Just check the front-facing screen or your phone. Cameras, lights and other equipment, which once needed multiple people to carry and set them up, now fit in the palm of your hand. And accessories like magnets, clips and waterproof cases mean if you can dream up a shot, you can film it. From high in the trees while camping or hunting to below the water’s surface while fishing, there’s almost nothing you can’t capture using a GoPro.

This year saw the debut of the GoPro HERO9 Black—its newest and most advanced model to date—as well as the GoPro Zeus Mini Light, a waterproof LED panel that magnetically sticks to a clip and doesn’t require a camera to operate. It’s not even Black Friday yet, which falls on November 27th this year, but there are already loads of GoPro Black Friday holiday shopping promotions. Check them out below!

Shop Cabela’s Black Friday and Cabela’s Cyber Monday sale

Save on GoPro Black Friday gear

Shop the Walmart Black Friday sale

Find the perfect give for the favorite hunter, angler, or camper in your life. (Jacob Campbell via Unsplash/)

If there’s one thing many people learned in 2020, it’s that the convenience of online shopping can be a silver lining in an otherwise turbulent time—and it can become quite the timesuck. To save you the time of looking at page after page of items, we’ve culled the list of Cabela’s Cyber Monday deals available right now. We found a list that will put a smile on the face of your favorite hunter, angler, or camper this year. Get great deals on some of the finest gear plus the convenience of online ordering and home delivery. Translation: Bye-bye long Black Friday checkout lines. Have fun shopping!

Shop Cabela’s Black Friday and Cabela’s Cyber Monday sale

Save on GoPro Black Friday gear

Shop the Walmart Black Friday sale

Best Cabela’s Cyber Monday Deals 2020

Know how and why deer move is key to taking a mature buck this fall. (Brad Fitzpatrick/)

There’s more research about whitetail deer behavior than most any large mammal on earth. And somehow, many aspects of whitetail behavior remain a mystery. Researchers don’t yet have a complete picture of how deer move within their environment in response to precipitation, temperature, and many other factors, but each year wildlife biologists add to our collective knowledge of why deer behave the way they do. As hunters, we benefit from this growing body of research on deer behavior. The more we know about a whitetail’s life and habits, the better equipped we are to hunt them.

Dr. Stephen Webb, staff scientist of range and wildlife ecology for the Noble Research Institute in Ardmore, Oklahoma, helps us translate data gathered from recent studies on whitetail deer that could help hunters this season. What’s new in the world of whitetail research? A lot, actually. And the more you know, the more likely you are to be successful this fall.

What We’re Learning About Whitetails

First, a caveat: Whitetail deer, like humans, are individuals. Different deer are subjected to different pressures, and they respond differently to those pressures. So implying that all deer behave one way or follow a single pattern is both inaccurate and impractical. Some deer are aggressive and bold while others are more retiring and reserved. There will always be an element of luck involved in most successful hunts. Knowing the basics of deer biology, however, will help stack the odds in your favor.

A recent study conducted by Dr. David Stone at the University of Georgia followed the movements of collared deer (both does and bucks) during the pre-rut and rut, and his research yielded some surprising results. Most hunters know that deer go through distinct pre-rut and rut periods in the fall, but few could have guessed how differently deer behave during these two periods.

Matt Brunswick with his mid-200 non-typical. (Matt Brunswick/)

Matt Brunswick works as a K9 handler for the local Sheriff’s Department. But his hobby is killing big whitetail deer.

He started shotgun hunting as a kid. Then, once in high school, he got a crossbow. At age 16, Brunswick tagged his first buck. He didn’t bag another one until he turned 23, though. Then, it was on. He shot a 170 in 2008, another 170 in 2009, and then a 160 in 2010.

Unfortunately, this year, he lost one of the properties he frequently hunted. That spurred him to look for a new spot, and he’d seen big deer in—one particular area of Hancock County, Ohio.

“That made me target this spot,” says Brunswick. “I knocked on a door, met the owners, and they were kind enough to let me hunt their property.”

He immediately put out a trail camera. On July 3, his first card pull revealed a mega giant. The photo just showed the buck’s left side, which was really thick and almost appeared palmated. It reminded Brunswick of moose antlers, and so naturally he called the buck “Moose.”

Mike Holm of Federal Premium took this buck on the final night of the hunt. (Joe Genzel/)

Most of my whitetail hunting has been limited to treestand sitting, but this fall I traveled to West Texas with Mossberg’s Linda Powell to hunt bucks among the sand and cedars of the Davis Mountains, close to the U.S.-Mexican border. It’s rugged country: dry and desolate, where no Midwestern whitetail would care to live. You have to be one tough-ass buck to survive here.

During our week in camp, I spent most of the time in the passenger seat of a rusty 1985 Dodge Power Ram, soaking up knowledge from our outfitter Steve Jones of Backcountry Hunts and Linda, who is one of the best hunt-camp hosts around. Going on three decades, she had picked guides that can not only put clients on animals, but teach them a bundle (if they are willing to listen). Both Steve and Linda have hunted the world over for more species than I can count, and their knowledge shows. (In fact, I think Linda has completed more world turkey slams than I have killed gobblers.) The point is, they both have a lot of experience, which helped me kill a buck on the first morning. I spent the rest of the week with my eyes and ears open. Here’s what I learned.

1. Don’t Go Too Fast

Hunters take a break to glass from a hilltop overlooking a canyon. (Joe Genzel/)

You will see this concept pop up many times throughout this story, because it’s key to killing mature deer. On the first morning of the hunt, Linda, Steve, and I were into whitetails almost as soon as the old Dodge rumbled onto the ranch. Right off the bat we spotted a decent buck, though he wasn’t a shooter in those first five minutes of the hunt. A few minutes later, we saw two more good deer. They were browsing in a bottom that funneled into a draw with mountains on both sides. In this part of Texas, the desert isn’t barren. It may be dry, but there’s still enough vegetation to make things challenging. The two deer kept appearing in the scrub and disappearing behind small cedar trees. We pursued them for a while, but only succeeded in pushing both bucks farther and farther away.

To keep from spooking them away entirely, Steve backed out of the bottom and we parked on a hilltop to glass. It was likely both bucks had not scampered off into the hills yet, and were still holding tight in the brush below, where they seemed most comfortable. There was plenty of cover, water tanks, and a natural food source nearby—all indicators that the bucks were not going to stray far.

The author and friend, Mike Stock Jr., with a Montana mule deer on the tailgate of an old Chevy pickup. (Tom Fowlks/)

Michael Eugene Stock Sr. is memorialized by a granite headstone in a Midwestern cemetery and the name he passed down to his son, along with his love of deer hunting.

Michael Ellis McKean shares that very same legacy, handing down a middle name and a love of hunting to his eldest son.

The two men, products of America’s Corn Belt, never met, and while they are commemorated by a lot more than tombstones, they shared a dream of hunting the West. They also passed on that itch to their sons, who had the good fortune of meeting and becoming friends at about the time that their respective fathers were passing on.

One characteristic of a good idea, just like a good joke, is that nobody can remember who came up with it. It might have been me who suggested that Mike Stock Jr. and I should hunt somewhere in honor of our late fathers. Or maybe it was Mike, an executive engineer with Winchester Ammunition, who said that if we did, we ought to hunt in the style of our dads when they were our age, with the gear and the spirit that they would have carried. No matter the source, the idea caught fire with both of us, but we had to bank it for a couple of years while we figured out where to go and just how to memorialize these men."

Here’s the deal," Stock said last spring. Exasperated by the endless planning, he was ready for action, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a caribou or a mule deer doe. We do it this fall.