Whitetail

A deer’s world revolves around its stomach. So should the savvy deer hunter’s plans. Unfortunately, most conversations about what deer eat begin and end with commercial crops and food plots. I say this with authority, because I was a guilty party to this for quite some time. Since kicking off the...

The thing about any kind of advice is that’s wholly dependent on countless individual variables, and the recipient’s willingness to even consider it. If anything is out of whack on either side, the advice is generally worthless. Such is the case with much of the hunting wisdom that is often touted...

Somewhere between 8 and 10 million folks across the United States hunt whitetail deer. That’s well over three quarters of the nation’s entire hunting population. The whitetail is our nation’s most ubiquitous big game animal, the most highly managed, and arguably the most coveted. What does this mean...

A few years ago, shed dogs were all the rage. A lot of the big whitetail names were running retrievers, that by social media standards, appeared to be antler finding machines. Average Joes were getting in on the game, too. And just like with a lot of outdoor fads that burn hot, it appeared that if...

Most hunters or their families know someone who loses their common sense or credibility over deer hunting or management. Deer. They make people stupid. Some deer hunters and wildlife professionals are immune to the disorder, though that’s rare. Far more yearn for a cure, but usually for a dear...

Here’s a controversial statement: Trail cameras can be absolutely worthless. Here’s a less controversial statement: Trail cameras are worthless when their batteries are dead. This might seem obvious, but every year hunters stick hundreds of dollars-worth of trail cams in the woods and then return...

If you give hunters a platform to gripe, you’ll hear a wide variety of complaints that generally fall into a few categories. One of the most popular centers on access to ground, or lack thereof. It’s true that outbreaks of strip malls and McMansions are eating up whitetail habitat on a daily basis...

I can clearly remember the excitement I felt following in my grandfather’s footsteps some 30 years ago as he pointed out whitetail rubs strewn across the forest surrounding our family deer camp. The bright orange slashes stood out among the trees like red lights in the distance screaming, “STOP! A...

Wardens recently concluded a three-month investigation centered around a 34-point whitetail that was poached this fall in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. Alex Laffey, Dion Laffey, and Eugene Heisler, all from Eau Claire, have been charged with multiple wildlife violations. According to Wisconsin...

“Don’t miss the forest for the trees.” It’s a common saying used in conversation when someone is so focused on the details of an issue that they miss the big picture. A similar affliction is present in many a whitetail hunter, but in our case the issue is becoming so obsessed with seeing deer or...

Tom Heberlein never missed a deer camp from 1973 through 2019, but COVID-19 concerns caused him to break that streak in November 2020. Heberlein, 75, stayed home rather than risk his health by confining himself with his buddies for five nights inside his northern Wisconsin shack along with a nine...