Scout
3 Offseason Chores Every Deer Hunter Should Do
I readily admit the bulk of my deer season work is done during the season. I’m a big believer in the “most recent information” approach and take it to extremes. This is why I don’t spend a ton of time on postseason scouting efforts.
But naturally, there's still some work to be done between now and...
Tony Hansen
Jan 20, 2022
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Scout
How to Scout Public Land Whitetails in Winter
Many articles have been written on how to scout whitetails in the spring and winter, and for good reason. Post-season scouting is one of the best tactics we have as whitetail hunters to learn more about the deer we're hunting. For the most part the strategy remains consistent: locate somewhat fresh...
Dylan Tramp
Jan 19, 2022
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Manage
3 Easy Ways You Can Help Whitetail Conservation
If we want to keep enjoying incredible hunting seasons like the one we just had, it’s on us to keep doing the work that allows deer populations and their local landscapes to flourish. Our predecessors have done this work for decades and it’s gotten us to where we are now—what many consider the...
Mark Kenyon
Jan 17, 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
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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Hunt
3 Best Late-Season Whitetail Hunting Spots in the Big Woods
I used to think the late season was a very difficult time to kill a nice mountain buck. In Pennsylvania, rifle season kicks off during the first few weeks of December, and although some great bucks get killed every season, few hunters are consistent from year to year. In most states, hunting...
Beau Martonik
Dec 13, 2021
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Hunt
Rut Fresh Report: 12/9/21
Every week this fall, I’ll be providing updates on whitetail buck movement for the entire country. These reports are based on intel from whitetailers in each region and my own observations as a traveling deer hunter. For more info like this, subscribe to the Rut Fresh Radio Podcast and Whitetail...
Spencer Neuharth
Dec 9, 2021
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Scout
Scout
3 Offseason Chores Every Deer Hunter Should Do
I readily admit the bulk of my deer season work is done during the season. I’m a big believer in the “most recent information” approach and take it to extremes. This is why I don’t spend a ton of time on postseason scouting efforts.
But naturally, there's still some work to be done between now and...
Tony Hansen
Jan 20, 2022
Read More
Scout
How to Scout Public Land Whitetails in Winter
Many articles have been written on how to scout whitetails in the spring and winter, and for good reason. Post-season scouting is one of the best tactics we have as whitetail hunters to learn more about the deer we're hunting. For the most part the strategy remains consistent: locate somewhat fresh...
Dylan Tramp
Jan 19, 2022
Read More
Scout
How to Winter Scout for Big Woods Whitetails
My hunting nemesis over the last decade has been the big woods, primarily the miles upon miles of unbroken timber in northern Wisconsin. It’s a region with a low deer density due to a myriad factors. Predators ranging from wolves to bears to coyotes roam the landscape, and one bad winter can set the...
Tony J. Peterson
Jan 12, 2022
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Scout
The Art of Backtracking a Whitetail Buck
Late winter and early spring is, without question, my favorite time to be in the woods. A thin layer of snow, diverse habitat, and a season's worth of sign offer the makings for a whitetail hunter's best education. All the previous season’s sign stands out, and with the season having recently closed...
Alex Gyllstrom
Jan 5, 2022
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Scout
The Ideal Conditions for Late-Season Deer Hunts
It was the last day of muzzleloader season in Michigan and it was time.
A cold front pushed through, the rain faded, and temperatures were nearly 30 degrees lower than they were just 24 hours prior. Best of all, my target buck was caught on trail cam during daylight the night before. Conditions were...
Mark Kenyon
Dec 31, 2021
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Scout
3 Natural Food Sources To Hunt Late Season
Ask anyone what is the key to late-season whitetail success, and I can almost guarantee you the first word out of their mouth will be “food.”
Food is the name of the game when we get late into the year, and the reasons for that are clear. Deer are now almost entirely focused on recovering from the...
Mark Kenyon
Dec 10, 2021
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Scout
How The Hunting Public Finds Quality Public Land Deer Hunting
Tagging a buck in country that's crawling with competition is no small feat, but Aaron Warbritton, Greg Clements, and the rest of The Hunting Public crew consistently put monsters on the ground on public ground. They don’t get hung up on old-school hunting methods, and instead credit bold tactics...
Emily Kantner
Nov 22, 2021
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Manage
Manage
3 Easy Ways You Can Help Whitetail Conservation
If we want to keep enjoying incredible hunting seasons like the one we just had, it’s on us to keep doing the work that allows deer populations and their local landscapes to flourish. Our predecessors have done this work for decades and it’s gotten us to where we are now—what many consider the...
Mark Kenyon
Jan 17, 2022
Read More
Manage
What You Need to Know About Whitetail Buck Glands
Most whitetail hunters have at some point inhaled the strong stench wafting from a rutting buck’s tarsal glands. While they may recognize it as the calling card of a mature deer, that’s about the extent of most folks' olfactory understanding.
However, for the sake of pursuing an animal that...
Emily Kantner
Jan 10, 2022
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Manage
Why Deer Hunters Should Always Perform a Necropsy
Necropsy is a fancy term for digging into a corpse in order to, in most cases, figure out the cause of death. For deer hunters who are elbow-deep in a dead buck, it might seem like the cause of death is pretty easy to pin down. You shot it with an arrow or a bullet, and that’s that.
It’s not always...
Tony J. Peterson
Dec 29, 2021
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Manage
Video: How to Score a Whitetail Buck
In this video, I'll teach you how to score a whitetail deer using four categories of measurements and some simple math. I'm an official scorer for the Boone & Crockett Club and have done this hundreds of times.
You'll first measure both main beams, all the tines, four circumferences on each side...
Clay Newcomb
Oct 27, 2021
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Manage
How to Make a Horizontal Rub
The saying “there’s nothing new under the sun” sometimes seems doubly true in the whitetail hunting world. We see the same types of products, ideas, and hunting storylines trotted out year after year. But about a decade ago something truly original did arrive on the scene: horizontal rubs.
These...
Mark Kenyon
Oct 4, 2021
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Manage
Best Food Sources for Big Woods Whitetails
For years, I watched outdoor television with whitetail hunters hunting big food plots and crop fields, telling myself how lucky they are to have those designated food sources. As I grew older, I became obsessed with figuring out how to hunt whitetails in the big woods. I realized there are many good...
Beau Martonik
Sep 17, 2021
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Gear
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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Gear
What to Look For When Purchasing a Youth Bow
When I set out to buy my twin daughters their first real bow in December, I was surprised at the quality and quantity of youth options. It also made me realize that someone could easily be overwhelmed with the task of outfitting their future deer slayer with a decent rig.
Countless variables go into...
Tony J. Peterson
Jan 7, 2022
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Gear
5 Gear Hacks for Cold Weather Deer Hunting
Late season hunts pose a unique set of challenges, the most apparent of which is staying warm. This is especially true for whitetail hunts when you’ll be sitting nearly motionless for hours on end, generating little to no excess body heat. To combat the cold and make the hunt an enjoyable experience...
Dylan Tramp
Dec 1, 2021
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Gear
The Pros and Cons of Rubber Boots for Deer Hunting
Rubber boots might be the most popular footwear for whitetail hunters, especially over the last decade. There are many reasons they’re beloved among whitetailers, but they’re not perfect for every hunter in every scenario.
I hunt the big woods, Appalachian mountain region of Pennsylvania and much of...
Beau Martonik
Oct 25, 2021
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Gear
How to Sight in a Bow in 25 Minutes
We’ve all been there. Bow season is just a few days away and we decide it’s time for a new sight. Or maybe a new bow. Or, let’s be honest here, we haven’t spent as much offseason time as we should sending arrows downrange.
Regardless of the reason, the reality is that sometimes you need to get your...
Tony Hansen
Oct 14, 2021
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Gear
This Cartridge Doesn't Get Enough Love from Deer Hunters
The .223 Remington was designed for the battle, not the field. Militaries want a cartridge that can inflict enough damage to take an enemy off the table, while remaining light and small enough to pack conveniently.
Of course, hunters have adopted a wide array of cartridges originally designed for...
Jordan Sillars
Oct 7, 2021
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Gear
Clay Newcomb’s Whitetail Hunting Kit
Whitetail hunting can be gear intensive, but I like to keep things as simple as possible. When hunting Texas in Episode 3 of Season 10 of MeatEater, we were constantly changing setups. This called for different gear than what I traditionally use for my whitetail treestand hunts. Here are five things...
Clay Newcomb
Oct 4, 2021
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Latest Wired To Hunt Podcasts
Wired To Hunt
Ep. 464: Finding Whitetails Fast with Levi Morgan
Today on the show, we're joined by world champion archery and bowhunter Levi Morgan to break down his techniques and practices for finding, scouting and hunting whitetails when time is short.
Connect with Mark Kenyon and MeatEater
Mark Kenyon on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook
MeatEater on...
Mark Kenyon
Oct 7, 2021
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Wired To Hunt
Ep. 463: Rut Fresh Radio 10/6/2021 - Beating the October Lull
This is 2021's sixth episode of Rut Fresh Radio! In each show, Spencer interviews hunters across the country to get the latest intel on whitetail buck movement. This week he talks to whitetailers from Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma. They discuss trends like weather patterns, moon...
Spencer Neuharth
Oct 6, 2021
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Wired To Hunt
Ep. 462: Staging Areas and Overlooked Whitetail Hotspots
On today’s episode, Tony discusses his strategy for figuring out where the bucks relocate to after a couple of weeks of hunting pressure ushers them into survival mode.
Tony J. Peterson
Oct 5, 2021
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Wired To Hunt
Ep. 461: The Art of the "Whitetail Pivot" with Jared Shaffer
Today on the show, we're joined by DIY West Virginia bowhunter Jared Shaffer to explore the art and science of making quick adjustments and hard pivots in strategy when chasing whitetails.
Connect with Mark Kenyon and MeatEater
Mark Kenyon on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook
MeatEater on...
Mark Kenyon
Sep 30, 2021
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