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Should You Be Saddle Hunting?
Saddle Hunting has become all the rage these days. There’s an overabundance of info on the interwebs on how-to, which is better, and why you should. But should you really be saddle hunting?
Saddle hunting is for run-and-gun hunting whitetail deer hunters. Usually, archery equipment is the weaponry...
K.C. Smith
Nov 22, 2023
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Gear
October Madness: Clay’s .300 Winchester Magnum vs. Spencer’s .308 Winchester
UPDATE: We have a winner! Spencer's .308 Win. pulled away from Clay's .300 Win. Mag. by a commanding 179-62 vote. Most voters who supported the .308 mentioned the .308's lesser recoil and more-than-adequate power for deer. Spencer's .308 is slated to go up against Mark's .30-06 in the next round, so...
Jordan Sillars
Oct 2, 2023
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Gear
October Madness: Garrett’s 6.5 Creedmoor vs. Tyler’s .243 Winchester
UPDATE: We have a winner! Tyler's .243 Win. edged out Garrett's 6.5 Creedmoor on a 104-83 vote. Voters who picked the .243 mentioned its low recoil, solid ballistics, and fond memories of their first deer rifle. Many also picked the .243 because "it's not the 6.5 Creedmoor." Now Tyler's .243 is...
Jordan Sillars
Oct 2, 2023
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Featured Gear
Archery
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
Answering the 3 Most Common Questions About Tree Saddle Hunting
I first heard about tree saddles more than a decade ago. At the time I thought hanging from a tree by a waist harness seemed uncomfortable, impractical, and downright foolish. But it turns out I was the fool.
Ten years later I finally gave saddles a try—only to realize I’d been missing out in a big...
Mark Kenyon
Jul 17, 2020
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Gear
You’re Hanging Your Tree Stands Wrong
Between the biblical rain and plague-level ticks, I called it quits on the run-and-gun mission an hour before sunset. The late season Wisconsin birds weren’t gobbling, and it was clear the public land I was hunting had plenty of other turkey hunters. As I hiked out, I tried to salvage the day by...
Tony J. Peterson
Aug 21, 2020
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Gear
Ask MeatEater: What’s the Best Broadhead for Deer?
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.
While...
Spencer Neuharth
Aug 6, 2020
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Gear
The Archery Routine that Will Help You Kill More Deer
Fifteen minutes from my house is an extensive archery complex. It offers multiple walk-through courses and a standard range of 20- to 80-yard bale targets. It’s a great place to go to if you want to hone your archery skills—or see what not to do in the weeks leading up to the season.
In Minnesota...
Tony J. Peterson
Jun 9, 2020
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Trail Cameras
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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Scout
Are Trail Cameras Making You a Worse Hunter?
Scouting deer used to involve glassing, looking for sign, and getting in where the deer live to suss out their patterns. Now, for a lot of us, it just involves hanging a trail camera. This might be a necessity and the best way to figure out a buck, or it can be a crutch and steer us into poor...
Tony J. Peterson
Sep 29, 2020
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Gear
The Single Best Way to Get Bucks on Trail Cam (Without Bait)
Hang a trail camera in front of a pile of corn or a mineral block and you’re almost guaranteed to get an SD card full of deer photos. It used to be that simple. But with increasing concerns over disease in recent years, more and more states are outlawing the use of bait at trail camera sites. For...
Mark Kenyon
Jul 31, 2020
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Gear
Ask Wired To Hunt: Are Wireless Trail Cameras Fair Chase?
At the risk of igniting “another classic ethics debate fueled by none other than MeatEater,” as one social media commenter recently lamented, I’d like to talk about the fair chase ramifications of wireless trail cameras.
What is ethical? What is moral? What is fair chase? This is a set of questions...
Mark Kenyon
May 7, 2019
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Gear
Ask Wired To Hunt: Where Should I Place Trail Cams?
It’s obvious to anyone paying attention that trail cameras have led to a lot of whitetail bucks ending up in freezers. But the inverse is true too: Cameras have saved a lot of deer lives as well. Mostly this is because well-intentioned hunters place their cameras in the wrong locations and check...
Mark Kenyon
Jul 12, 2019
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Gear
Summer Trail Camera “Do Nots”
By Paul Annear
I’m not sure about you, but I am obsessed with trail cameras and even more in love with capturing monster bucks during those hot and humid days of July and August. The anticipation of checking a camera that has been on that prime inside corner gets me downright pumped. But as fun as...
Mark Kenyon
Jul 10, 2017
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Other Gear
Gear
The Best Straight-Wall Cartridge for Whitetail Hunting
Straight-wall cartridges are surging in the whitetail world. The best evidence of this is recent legislation.
Several big deer states—including Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, and Indiana—have passed laws in the last five years allowing straight-wall cartridges in zones previously designated as shotgun- or...
Jordan Sillars
Jan 5, 2021
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Gear
Video: How to Carry a Deer On Your Back
We all know that once a deer hits the ground the real work begins. Typically, our options for a getting our venison back to the truck are pretty simple—drag it out or quarter it up and haul it out piece by piece. However, there is a third option. You can carry the deer on your back. I learned this...
Clay Newcomb
Jan 5, 2023
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Gear
How to Pick a Good Deer Taxidermist
Taxidermists are like referees. When they do their job well, you hardly notice them. But when the job is done poorly, it commands attention in a bad way.
In many cases, exceptional taxidermy contains details that the average person won’t pick up on. I reached out to some taxidermists to ask what...
Spencer Neuharth
Oct 10, 2019
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Gear
Scent Control for Dummies
If there’s any one thing that connects the most consistently successful whitetail hunters I know, it’s a strong focus on scent control. A whitetail’s nose is its best defense mechanism. For that reason, the smart hunter will do everything possible to control the scent he brings into the woods.
Can...
Mark Kenyon
Nov 9, 2020
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Gear
Video: Which Rattling Call is Loudest?
Mimicking the sound of bucks fighting can be an effective way to draw a buck in during any phase of the rut. In this video, I compare the volume of five different rattle calls to see which is loudest.
Admittedly, volume isn’t the only thing that matters when it comes to rattling—realism is equally...
Clay Newcomb
Dec 11, 2020
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