Gear
Are High Front-of-Center Arrows Overrated?
Hop on your favorite internet hunting forum, podcast, or YouTube channel and you are likely to come across bowhunters debating arrow setups and advocating for high front-of-center arrows, often abbreviated to FOC. Trends come and go in the archery world, but this one has been a trendy subject for...
Dylan Tramp
Jun 23, 2021
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Scout
How to Age a Buck on the Hoof in Summer
It happens every summer. Sometimes it’s a trail cam pic, sometimes it’s a sighting at the back of a bean field. Regardless of what form it takes, the adrenaline rush and the questions are always the same. Is that a shooter? Is that going to be the buck?
For some people, the answer to those questions...
Mark Kenyon
Jun 21, 2021
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Hunt
How to Train Your Dog to Blood Trail Deer
Western hunters are lucky in a lot of ways, but whitetail hunters have an advantage in tools available for recovering game. If you draw a line along the western borders of Idaho, Utah, and New Mexico, you’re looking at the demarcation for legal use of dogs to aid in game recovery efforts.
Anywhere...
Tony J. Peterson
Jun 18, 2021
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Contributors
Mark Kenyon
Mark Kenyon is the author of That Wild Country, founder of Wired To Hunt, and host of the industry-leading Wired To Hunt Podcast. He is a nationally published writer, a QDMA certified Deer Steward, and MeatEater's resident "whitetail guy."
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Tony J. Peterson
MeatEater Contributor Tony Peterson has penned hundreds of hunting articles, several books, and developed multiple podcasts. Peterson’s whitetail-related contributions stem from real-world experience and a passion for hunting new ground each season. He's considered one of the top whitetail hunters...
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Spencer Neuharth
Spencer Neuharth is the director of web content at MeatEater, producer of Wired to Hunt, and founder of Rut Fresh. His writing has been featured in over a dozen magazines, including Field & Stream, Petersen's Hunting, and Men's Journal. His work is a reflection of his roots as a whitetail hunter and...
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Clay Newcomb
Clay Newcomb is a 7th-generation Arkansan that grew up in the Ouachita Mountains. He's a hunter, mule skinner, curious naturalist, and observer of rural culture. He's also a writer, filmmaker, podcaster, and owner/publisher of Bear Hunting Magazine.
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Hunt
Hunt
How to Train Your Dog to Blood Trail Deer
Western hunters are lucky in a lot of ways, but whitetail hunters have an advantage in tools available for recovering game. If you draw a line along the western borders of Idaho, Utah, and New Mexico, you’re looking at the demarcation for legal use of dogs to aid in game recovery efforts.
Anywhere...
Tony J. Peterson
Jun 18, 2021
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Hunt
How to Kill a Late-Season Buck Without Hunting Food
Several years ago I was sitting on a Minnesota buck tag as December rolled in. I figured filling that tag was a long shot, but I also had nothing to lose by trying. I made a plan to split my time between private and public ground with the realization that I didn’t have access to a single acre of a...
Tony J. Peterson
Dec 23, 2020
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Hunt
How Weather Impacts Late Season Deer Movement
Santa Claus, Christmas carols, and candy canes be damned—now is not the time to get distracted from deer hunting if you still have a tag. The late season can be one of your best chances to kill a buck, but only if you play your cards right. That means paying attention to the weather.
Why?
By the...
Mark Kenyon
Dec 17, 2020
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Hunt
3 Overlooked Deer Hunting Tactics for Late Season
Many hunters claim that December is often the best time to kill a mature buck. After all, the rigors of the rut caused them to drop 25% of weight, and packing on pounds is of utmost importance. So, simply hop on your side-by-side and drive out to your favorite box blind to shoot a hitlister over...
Tony J. Peterson
Dec 16, 2020
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Hunt
The Truth About “The Void” in a Deer’s Chest
No biologist, veterinarian, or medical professional believes the popular bowhunting claim that deer have dead space high in their chest.
That void, it’s said, lets a broadhead pass through with little harm to the deer if it just happens to exhale as the arrow hits, supposedly opening the space...
Patrick Durkin
Dec 14, 2020
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Hunt
How To Kill a Late-Season Buck On Public Land
If you want one of the biggest challenges in whitetail hunting, set your sights on a mature buck in December. If that’s not enough, commit to doing it on public land. After general gun season resets the deer herd to survival mode and the rut winds down to nothing, it becomes challenging just to see...
Tony J. Peterson
Dec 11, 2020
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Scout
Scout
How to Age a Buck on the Hoof in Summer
It happens every summer. Sometimes it’s a trail cam pic, sometimes it’s a sighting at the back of a bean field. Regardless of what form it takes, the adrenaline rush and the questions are always the same. Is that a shooter? Is that going to be the buck?
For some people, the answer to those questions...
Mark Kenyon
Jun 21, 2021
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Scout
A Whitetail Terrain Feature that Works From Montana to Maine
Deer behavior, hunting culture, and tactics can all vary wildly by region. But one fact remains true from Montana to Maine and all whitetail country in between—creek and river bottoms are dynamite for deer hunting.
These winding water systems provide food and cover, funnel deer movement, and provide...
Mark Kenyon
Jun 14, 2021
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Scout
How to Use Mock Scrapes in Summer
The summer months are filled with anticipation and a curiosity to see which bucks survived the winter and how they will grow this year. Mineral sites and other food sources are effective ways to attract bucks to your area and to get pictures of them on your trail camera, but they’re illegal on a lot...
Beau Martonik
Jun 11, 2021
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Scout
The Cheat Code for Deer Hunting Swamps
As a born and bred Michigan whitetail hunter, I was raised on the gospel of deer hunting swamps. Grandpa solemnly preached the virtues of seeking out the black-booted bucks that called these wetlands home and implored me to become a “swamp stomper” as well. I listened, and I've experienced the...
Mark Kenyon
Jun 7, 2021
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Scout
The Underappreciated Art of Trimming Shooting Lanes
Shooting lanes are not sexy. Whitetail fanatics don’t binge-watch shooting lane videos on YouTube or drool over artsy tree trimming pics on Instagram. Wow factor be damned—the art of trimming shooting lanes is crucial to deer hunting success.
Yes, it is an art. Determining just the right time to cut...
Mark Kenyon
May 28, 2021
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Scout
The Fool's Gold of Deer Scouting
Summer is the whitetailer’s season of anticipation. At no point during the year does the excitement rise more rapidly or to such a fever pitch than those last months leading up to opening day. For that reason, we deer hunters exert a whole lot of energy each summer seeking out, watching, and...
Mark Kenyon
May 14, 2021
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Scout
The Truth About Shed Dogs
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...
Tony J. Peterson
Mar 30, 2021
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Manage
Manage
10 Natural Food Sources Every Deer Hunter Should Know
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...
Mark Kenyon
Apr 23, 2021
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Manage
5 Trees Every Whitetail Hunter Should Know
“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...
Mark Kenyon
Feb 26, 2021
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Manage
The Easiest Way to Improve Any Deer Property
The most common question I get from deer hunters related to land management is some version of this: What’s the easiest thing I can do to improve my property?
The issue of where to start is a stumbling block that many aspiring land managers run into. With countless websites, podcasts, videos, and...
Mark Kenyon
Jan 15, 2021
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Manage
How Crop Rotations Impact Deer Movement
Agriculture dominates the landscape of America’s heartland. The same can be said of its influence on the deer and deer hunters that live there.
The presence of crops that deer eat dramatically impacts where deer live and travel, as do any changes to those crops. Due to an agricultural practice known...
Mark Kenyon
Oct 9, 2020
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Manage
Ask MeatEater: Is It OK to Shoot Fawns?
You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers (and if we don’t, we’ll make them up). Every day, fellow MeatEaters send us more than 100 emails regarding hunting, fishing, cooking, conservation, and more. So, we decided to publish a series dedicated to our favorite FAQs. This is Ask MeatEater.
Decisions...
Mark Kenyon
Sep 25, 2020
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Manage
2020 EHD Report
Epizootic hemorrhagic disease is the most common ailment among whitetail deer. It’s transmitted by biting midges and typically kills the host within a week. In the final days of an infected deer’s life, they’ll experience high fever, ulcers, difficulty breathing, loss of awareness, and swelling in...
Spencer Neuharth
Sep 15, 2020
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Gear
Gear
Are High Front-of-Center Arrows Overrated?
Hop on your favorite internet hunting forum, podcast, or YouTube channel and you are likely to come across bowhunters debating arrow setups and advocating for high front-of-center arrows, often abbreviated to FOC. Trends come and go in the archery world, but this one has been a trendy subject for...
Dylan Tramp
Jun 23, 2021
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Gear
5 Best Cartridges for Western Whitetails
Open country, high elevation, and long shots are staples of Western whitetail hunting. Your rifle cartridge better be able to handle it.
In most scenarios, the .30-30 Winchester that shines in the thick foliage of the Appalachians won’t get the job done in the Great Plains or Rocky Mountains. You...
Jordan Sillars
Jun 17, 2021
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Gear
3 Mods That Will Improve Your Mobile Hunting Setup
In the last few years, mobile hunting has boomed and manufactures have answered the cry of hunters for lighter and more compact equipment. It’s a great time to be a mobile hunter because of improved gear, but there are still some simple mods and additions to make your mobile hunting setup even more...
Andy May
Jun 16, 2021
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Gear
5 Mistakes Deer Hunters Make with Trail Cameras
Setting up a trail camera to capture quality images and videos isn’t rocket science. It’s also, strangely, not an exact science either. The very nature of nature means that all of the settings available on your chosen cam, coupled with your exact desired location, require more thought than a quick...
Tony J. Peterson
Jun 7, 2021
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Gear
3 Common Reasons Broadheads Fail
I quit drinking eight years ago. Since then, I’ve discovered a special kind of hell that occurs when someone is hammered and tries to have a deep conversation with me. This only gets worse when that someone is a stranger and the topic is bowhunting.
This past turkey season, while eating a burger in...
Tony J. Peterson
Jun 3, 2021
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Gear
How to Select the Best Hunting Arrows for Deer
Deer hunters love to debate. We argue over broadhead styles. We fight over who makes the best bow. We will nearly come to blows over baiting versus food plots versus hunting natural movement.
What we don’t get overly passionate about is choosing the best hunting arrows.
I talk to a pile of whitetail...
Tony J. Peterson
May 21, 2021
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Gear
How to Make Trail Camera Batteries Last Longer
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...
Mark Kenyon
Mar 22, 2021
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Latest Wired To Hunt Podcasts
Podcasts
Ep. 427: Foundations - Taking E-Scouting for Whitetails to a Granular Level
Today on the show, Tony discusses the subtle terrain features, food sources, water sources, and stand sites you should look for when really digging into your e-scouting efforts.
Connect with Wired To Hunt and a href="http://themeateater.com/">MeatEater
Tony Peterson on Instagram
MeatEater on...
Tony J. Peterson
Jun 22, 2021
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Podcasts
Ep. 426: All of the Ways Deer and Dogs Are Connected With Jeremy Moore
Today on the show, guest host Tony Peterson interviews dog trainer and avid bowhunter, Jeremy Moore. Topics range from blood tracking with dogs, to the weird ways in which sporting dogs can help you improve as a whitetail hunter.
Connect with Mark Kenyon and MeatEater
Mark Kenyon on Instagram...
Tony J. Peterson
Jun 17, 2021
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Podcasts
Ep. 425: Foundations - Big-Picture E-Scouting for Whitetails
Today on the show, Tony breaks down taking a macro view of e-scouting for whitetails, whether you’re hunting at home or on the road.
Connect with Wired To Hunt and a href="http://themeateater.com/">MeatEater
Tony Peterson on Instagram
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube
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Tony J. Peterson
Jun 15, 2021
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Podcasts
Ep. 424: Summer Scouting, Prep, and Big Wired To Hunt News with Spencer Neuharth, Tony Peterson, and Hayden Sammak
Today on the show we answer a pile of listener questions about summer whitetail scouting and prepwork AND share big news about the future of Wired to Hunt.
Connect with Mark Kenyon and MeatEater
Mark Kenyon on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube...
Mark Kenyon
Jun 10, 2021
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