Manage
How to Create Ideal Fawning Cover for Whitetails
The future of any whitetail herd is in the success and survival of each year's fawn crop. Deer are exceptionally adaptive but certainly require adequate cover for safety. Trying to grow "giant bucks" is futile if you fail to maintain a positive fawn recruitment rate.
What is fawn recruitment rate...
Mark Haslam
May 13, 2022
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Manage
Why Fawn Rescues Fail
Everyone knows to not disturb a bird’s nest. In fact, many folks enforce the myth that birds abandon every egg or fledgling touched by humans.
Why, then, must wildlife agencies remind the masses each May and June to keep their mitts off “abandoned” fawns curled beneath shrubs, backyard decks, and...
Patrick Durkin
May 9, 2022
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Manage
How to Improve Any Bedding Area
In the grand scheme of things, bedding areas are small. Usually, you're working with one or two core locations, and often not more than a handful of acres in size and sometimes it's as small as your living room. So it's important to maximize the overall use and effectiveness of these areas. The more...
Alex Gyllstrom
May 5, 2022
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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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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."
Read More
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...
Read More
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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Hunt
Hunt
Following in the Footsteps of a Big Woods Buck Tracking Legend
Snow softly popped beneath my boot like wet popcorn as I eased my heel, then toe, down to the ground. I leaned forward, squinted eyes searching ahead, and thumbed the safety on my rifle. It was there, I was ready. I had to be ready.
“He could be right up hee-ya,” Hal whispered back to me in his...
Mark Kenyon
Apr 20, 2022
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Hunt
The Truth About Urban Deer Hunting
“Let’s get some pho!”
“What the hell is pho?” I asked.
Pho, which I later discovered is a Vietnamese noodle dish, had never been recommended to me before as a pre-hunt menu item. But, as I’d soon learn, spicy noodles in broth would be just one of many new experiences on my first urban deer hunt...
Mark Kenyon
Apr 7, 2022
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Hunt
How to Mooch Deer Like Doug Duren
Overnight winds had swept the oaks below, blowing fresh snow into drifts higher than a whitetail’s brisket.
I knew the snow’s depth because a doe crossing the woods below me was plowing a furrow in the fluffy blanket as she approached. The doe paused occasionally in her midmorning stroll to browse...
Patrick Durkin
Jan 3, 2022
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Hunt
How to Kill a Late-Season Buck From the Ground
Having a good ground game is as important to a whitetail hunter as being able to kill deer from a tree. Versatility is your friend, and there are times of the year—like the late season—where one style can offer up an advantage over the other. If you’re looking to arrow a buzzer-beater buck, your...
Tony J. Peterson
Dec 27, 2021
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Hunt
How to Kill a Whitetail Buck in Cattails
Here's an interesting, fun fact that really isn’t relevant to deer hunting at all: Researchers have found cattail starch on Paleolithic grinding stones dating back as far as 30,000 years. This is good to know if the zombie apocalypse ever comes and you need some starch in your diet, provided you’ve...
Tony J. Peterson
Dec 23, 2021
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Hunt
How Neil Dougherty Kills Big Late-Season Bucks
Most hunters live for the rut and invest the bulk of their vacation days in this unpredictable yet exciting time of year in the whitetail woods. But Neil Dougherty isn’t most hunters.
A wildlife habitat consultant with decades of land management and whitetail success under his belt, Dougherty would...
Emily Kantner
Dec 17, 2021
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Scout
Scout
4 Ways to Save Money on Hunting Trips
If you’re into math, read on. We’ll be doing a whole lot of it. Me? I’m not a math guy. I rely on numbers only when absolutely necessary. But this discussion is one of those instances.
In Michigan, we have pretty fair turkey hunting. But a late-April opener and a one-bird limit leaves too much...
Tony Hansen
Apr 28, 2022
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Scout
Turkey Hunting Can Make You a Better Whitetail Hunter
Turkey hunting is a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, I’m obsessed with whitetail hunting. Every year when I’m chasing gobblers around the big woods of Pennsylvania, I scout new areas for whitetails. The two can go hand in hand if you like the run-and-gun style of turkey hunting that I’m...
Beau Martonik
Apr 14, 2022
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Scout
How to Scout Terrain Features for Whitetails
Pinch points, bottlenecks, and funnels are all the rage for rut hunters.
Simply locate a terrain feature that forces deer movement, put in plenty of stand time in November, and get ready for your grip-and-grin photos. Of course, if it were that easy, bowhunters in most states would have a much...
Tony J. Peterson
Mar 31, 2022
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Scout
Where to Place Trail Cameras in Big Woods
Trail cameras are a critical tool for hunting big woods bucks. I use them most of the year, minus springtime and early summer. They'll give you the confidence and confirmation in your scouting to know whether you are in the right place or need to pivot. I like to adjust my cameras based on the time...
Beau Martonik
Mar 30, 2022
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Scout
3 Places to Find Whitetail Sheds That Aren't Food Sources
Many of us don’t have the luxury of large nearby fields with standing grain to draw shedding bucks. We’ll never be able to go on a simple stroll through perfect shed hunting land and scoop antlers up left and right. It’s no secret that quality destination food sources are an ace in the hole for...
Alex Gyllstrom
Mar 24, 2022
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Scout
Scouting These Public Land Spots Will Help You Kill More Deer
When it comes to hunting public lands, finding consistency from tract to tract is rare. Each area presents its own challenges and often has very few similarities to the next one. Over the years, one trend I continue to see is that mature bucks use public lands as a portion of their home range...
Alex Gyllstrom
Mar 17, 2022
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Scout
How to Find a Whitetail's Match Set
You found a shed! Pick it up. Spin it in your hand. Marvel at the pearly bases, the cedar-stained beams, the slick curving tines. It’s a work of art, isn’t it?
OK, that’s enough. You’ve found a shed, but guess what that means? There’s a match out there, and now it’s your job to find it. Here’s how...
Mark Kenyon
Mar 14, 2022
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Manage
Manage
How to Create Ideal Fawning Cover for Whitetails
The future of any whitetail herd is in the success and survival of each year's fawn crop. Deer are exceptionally adaptive but certainly require adequate cover for safety. Trying to grow "giant bucks" is futile if you fail to maintain a positive fawn recruitment rate.
What is fawn recruitment rate...
Mark Haslam
May 13, 2022
Read More
Manage
Why Fawn Rescues Fail
Everyone knows to not disturb a bird’s nest. In fact, many folks enforce the myth that birds abandon every egg or fledgling touched by humans.
Why, then, must wildlife agencies remind the masses each May and June to keep their mitts off “abandoned” fawns curled beneath shrubs, backyard decks, and...
Patrick Durkin
May 9, 2022
Read More
Manage
How to Improve Any Bedding Area
In the grand scheme of things, bedding areas are small. Usually, you're working with one or two core locations, and often not more than a handful of acres in size and sometimes it's as small as your living room. So it's important to maximize the overall use and effectiveness of these areas. The more...
Alex Gyllstrom
May 5, 2022
Read More
Manage
The Most Underrated Type of Food Plot
Safety, cover, and high-quality forage are key for whitetail management. Provide those features and you will immediately improve the huntability of your food plots and how frequently deer utilize the space. However, you must also consider crop height, cover screens, protein levels, and soil...
Mark Haslam
Apr 29, 2022
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Manage
How to Improve Pine Stand Habitat for Whitetails
Tree farms get a bad rap by hunters and are too often viewed as “wildlife wastelands.” But proper planning and management with timber stand improvement (TSI) can make pines a wildlife paradise. They offer safety, food, and hunting opportunities. From the sweltering velvet season to the shortened...
Mark Haslam
Apr 19, 2022
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Manage
3 Ways to Get Rid of Unwanted Trees
Some of the most serious biologists agree that if they had to choose a single tool for managing and manipulating habitat, it would be a chainsaw. Thankfully we live in a world with more options. The possibilities are virtually endless when you arm a habitat manager with a chainsaw, the right...
Alex Gyllstrom
Apr 11, 2022
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Gear
Gear
Is the Whisker Biscuit Dead?
Just as the bulk of bowhunters fall on opposite extremes in the fixed versus mechanical broadhead debate, most also hold strong opinions on arrow rests. Though drop-away style products reign supreme and continue to push the boundaries of new innovation, Whisker Biscuits still seem to have a place in...
Emily Kantner
Apr 18, 2022
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Gear
How to Soundproof Your Deer Hunting Gear
Consistent deer hunting success is found in the details. Sure, there are people who wander haphazardly into the woods with no preparation at all and manage to get lucky. But if you want to consistently put meat in the freezer and antlers on the wall, this pursuit requires an obsession with getting...
Mark Kenyon
Apr 13, 2022
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Gear
How to Make Your Camping Setup More Efficient
Days are long, nights are short, and the stakes are high. As you head out of town for a highly anticipated adventure hunt, creating efficiencies in your camp setup equates to less time at camp, more time in the field, and more sleep at night. As they say in the business world, time is money. If you...
Dylan Tramp
Mar 28, 2022
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Gear
Boating for Whitetail Bucks
I slid across the lake’s surface like a skater on ice, the bow of my canoe slicing smoothly through the waves while diamonds sparkled on the water and shimmered off the antlers at my feet. This was something new. I’d seen flip-flops, fish, and beers in this context, but never antlers. I could get...
Mark Kenyon
Mar 21, 2022
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Gear
4 Ways to Cut Weight from Your Tree Stand
To be consistently successful on pressured public land, hunters must go where the deer are and other hunters aren’t. This flexible style of mobile hunting might mean moving to a new spot every sit.
But if you’re carrying in a climber or hang-on each time, it can become a real grind—especially when...
Emily Kantner
Mar 4, 2022
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Gear
The Best Time to Upgrade Your Bow
Let’s forget the arguments for and against buying a new bow. Instead, let’s pretend as if you’ve decided that this year is the year you’re going to trade in the old rig for something new.
Since bow manufacturers have been engaged in a who-can-release-it-first war for about a decade ago, the newest...
Tony J. Peterson
Mar 2, 2022
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Gear
How to Improve Your Hunting Gear Storage
Over the years, I’ve collected a ton of stuff for hunting and hunting-related activities. The problem was that I could never find anything that I was looking for when I needed it. So a couple of years ago, I decided that I would figure out a way to store all of my gear in a neat, organized, and easy...
Beau Martonik
Jan 14, 2022
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Latest Wired To Hunt Podcasts
Wired To Hunt
Ep. 514: How to Train a Shed Antler Dog
On this week’s episode, Tony breaks down the strategy for training a dog to find shed antlers through nose-work and visuals.
Connect with Wired To Hunt and a href="http://themeateater.com/">MeatEater
Tony Peterson on Instagram
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube
Shop MeatEater...
Tony J. Peterson
Feb 22, 2022
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Wired To Hunt
Ep. 513: Whitetail Therapy Session with Tony Peterson
Today on the show, Mark talks with his new therapist, Tony Peterson, about what he learned about whitetails -- and himself -- over his most demanding season ever.
Connect with Mark Kenyon and MeatEater
Mark Kenyon on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and...
Mark Kenyon
Feb 17, 2022
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Wired To Hunt
Ep. 512: Foundations - Shed Hunting with a Purpose
On today’s show, Tony discusses how to plan shed hunting routes and figure out the best timing for your antler finding missions.
Connect with Wired To Hunt and a href="http://themeateater.com/">MeatEater
Tony Peterson on Instagram
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube
Shop MeatEater...
Tony J. Peterson
Feb 15, 2022
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Wired To Hunt
Ep. 511: First Deer Stories on the Back 40 with Evan Barrett, Forrest Waggoner, and Hank Forester
Today on the show, we're talking new hunter mentorship, getting you updated on what’s happened with the Back 40 in 2021, and then diving into a couple great stories about two new hunters that I had the privilege of helping mentor on their first successful deer hunts.
Connect with Mark Kenyon and...
Mark Kenyon
Feb 10, 2022
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