Scout
The Basics of Summer Scouting Whitetails
In every state, hunters kill an average of 55% to 65% of the Pope & Young record bucks during the season’s abbreviated rut phase periods. That stat being what it is, it makes sense to scout during the post-season when the rut sign is still visible (scrapes, licking branches, runways in bedding areas...
John Eberhart
Jul 23, 2021
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Hunt
Why I Love to Shoot Young Bucks
Throwing haymakers at some idiot during a housewarming party is not something I’d recommend, especially if you already have six stitches in your punching knuckle. You’ll blow them out, get kicked out of the party, and accomplish nothing except proving why sobriety is probably the right path for you...
Tony J. Peterson
Jul 21, 2021
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Scout
How to Find Whitetail Sanctuaries on Public Land
Whitetail deer might be one of the most adaptable species in North America. From the suburbs to the backcountry, whitetail can scratch out a living seemingly anywhere. While many whitetail hunters seek out idealistic habitat littered with large ag fields, food plots, flowing creeks, and ample...
Dylan Tramp
Jul 19, 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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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
Why I Love to Shoot Young Bucks
Throwing haymakers at some idiot during a housewarming party is not something I’d recommend, especially if you already have six stitches in your punching knuckle. You’ll blow them out, get kicked out of the party, and accomplish nothing except proving why sobriety is probably the right path for you...
Tony J. Peterson
Jul 21, 2021
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Hunt
Why Deer Hunting Private Land Can Suck
When public land whitetail hunting is portrayed by the hook-and-bullet media, it often falls into one of two camps.
While one side paints an uber-rosy picture of common ground deer hunting, the other wouldn’t be caught dead on public land.
The reality? Public land whitetail hunting is just like...
Tony J. Peterson
Jun 25, 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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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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Scout
Scout
The Basics of Summer Scouting Whitetails
In every state, hunters kill an average of 55% to 65% of the Pope & Young record bucks during the season’s abbreviated rut phase periods. That stat being what it is, it makes sense to scout during the post-season when the rut sign is still visible (scrapes, licking branches, runways in bedding areas...
John Eberhart
Jul 23, 2021
Read More
Scout
How to Find Whitetail Sanctuaries on Public Land
Whitetail deer might be one of the most adaptable species in North America. From the suburbs to the backcountry, whitetail can scratch out a living seemingly anywhere. While many whitetail hunters seek out idealistic habitat littered with large ag fields, food plots, flowing creeks, and ample...
Dylan Tramp
Jul 19, 2021
Read More
Scout
The Simplest Way to Become a Better Whitetail Hunter
The path to becoming a better deer hunter is a long one filled with false-starts and dead ends. It’s a path full of credit-card charges for gear that won’t deliver on marketing promises and flavor-of-the-month hunting strategies and tactics. There's plenty of failure and frustration because much of...
Tony J. Peterson
Jul 16, 2021
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Scout
Private Land You Didn’t Know You Could Hunt
Public land deer hunting has grown in popularity over the last 10 years and for good reason. There is an incredible amount of opportunity for quality hunting on these public pieces, but the popularity goes hand in hand with hunting pressure. Growing up in Pennsylvania, I’ve been able to hunt a...
Beau Martonik
Jul 12, 2021
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Scout
How to Read a Whitetail Buck Bed
Buck beds are trendy as hell and the hype very well might be deserved. These earthy ovals in the dirt are truly valuable pieces of sign. But finding a buck bed and actually using that intel to kill a buck are two very different things.
The trick to taking action on a bed is to move beyond just...
Mark Kenyon
Jul 9, 2021
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Scout
5 Best Exercises for Whitetail Hunters
Hunting and fitness should go hand in hand. We hunt for the best meat in the world, and being healthy just seems to fit with that lifestyle naturally. While we all know successful hunters who are gym rats or totally out of shape, I believe that a certain level of fitness is necessary to be the best...
Andy May
Jul 8, 2021
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Scout
3 Most Underrated States for Public Land Whitetail Hunting
I remember when I decided to focus my efforts primarily toward hunting whitetails on public land. I’d grown enamored with the idea of hunting deer that faced lower pressure and had higher chances of reaching maturity, and I wanted to tackle different types of terrain and learn how deer travel...
Tony Hansen
Jul 2, 2021
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Manage
Manage
The Easiest Way to Add Water to Your Deer Property
It’s routinely preached that deer need three things to flourish: food, cover, and water.
If this trifecta of whitetail necessities were a rock band, food sources would sing lead vocals, cover would play the guitar, and water would pluck the bass—quiet, omnipresent in the background, and rarely...
Mark Kenyon
Jul 14, 2021
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Manage
The Truth About Fertilizing Oak Trees
If you want oaks on your land to grow more acorns, forget the fertilizer and fire up your chainsaw.
Professor Craig Harper at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville routinely repeats this advice when hunters request fertilizing tips for oaks. Harper said hunters typically want a quick way to...
Patrick Durkin
Jul 6, 2021
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Manage
How to Easily Create Deer Funnels
Since the beginning of time, hunters have searched for points of concentrated travel while tracking deer movement. Centuries ago, Native Americans patiently waited over creek crossings, and today hunters try to get the drop on deer coming through bottlenecks in food plots. Taking advantage of high...
Alex Gyllstrom
Jun 30, 2021
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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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Gear
Gear
Is Hydrostatic Shock Real?
In a 1942 edition of Popular Mechanics, an article titled “Super Speed Bullets Knock ‘Em Dead” describes a new wunderkind cartridge that launches a .22-caliber projectile an astounding 5,400 feet per second. The bullet maintains a flat trajectory out to 400 yards, but its real benefit—something the...
Jordan Sillars
Jul 9, 2021
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Gear
Best Rifle Cartridges for New Deer Hunters
Caliber selection can be intimidating for new deer hunters. There are so many options, and every gun writer with a blog and an Internet connection has an opinion he’s more than happy to share.
You can read our recommendations below, but first, know this: almost every rifle caliber can take down a...
Jordan Sillars
Jul 2, 2021
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Gear
The Best Gear for Summertime Glassing
The sinking sun, buzzing mosquitoes, clinging humidity, and wafting aroma of cornsilk. And yes, of course, the flicking white tails amidst a distant sea of green.
I love this scene more than any other during the whitetailer’s off-season. Whether I’m driving the neighborhood or staking out the back...
Mark Kenyon
Jun 28, 2021
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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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Latest Wired To Hunt Podcasts
Podcasts
Ep. 436: What Would Jeff Sturgis Do?
This week on the show, I'm joined by Jeff Sturgis of Whitetail Habitat Solutions to run him through a series of challenging hypothetical deer hunting scenarios and see how he'd handle them.
Connect with Mark Kenyon and MeatEater
Mark Kenyon on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook
MeatEater on...
Mark Kenyon
Jul 22, 2021
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Podcasts
Ep. 435: Foundations - Developing a Whitetail Grocery List
On today’s episode, Tony explains why the mid-summer months are a great time to start inventorying available food sources on your deer ground.
Connect with Wired To Hunt and a href="http://themeateater.com/">MeatEater
Tony Peterson on Instagram
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube...
Tony J. Peterson
Jul 20, 2021
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Podcasts
Ep. 434: Setting Up the Perfect Whitetail Bow with Jace Bauserman
On today's show, western bowhunter turned whitetail junkie Jace Bauserman discusses his reasoning behind exactly how he sets up his whitetail bows in order to be as lethal in the deer woods as possible.
Connect with Mark Kenyon and MeatEater
Mark Kenyon on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook...
Mark Kenyon
Jul 15, 2021
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Podcasts
Ep. 433: Foundations - Cell Cams and the Changing Scouting Game
On today’s show, Tony explores the topic of cellular cameras. He argues for -- and against -- trail cameras in the deer woods, and explains why you shouldn’t rely solely on cameras for your summertime scouting.
Connect with Wired To Hunt and a href="http://themeateater.com/">MeatEater
Tony Peterson...
Tony J. Peterson
Jul 13, 2021
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