Nebraska Hunting

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Big, mature whitetails don't get that way by being dumb. A true trophy deer has figured out where to bed, when to move and when things just "don't seem right." It's as if they develop a sixth sense. There is a brief window of opportunity, however, when his defenses go down and that big buck turns his attention to other matters. To an avid deer hunter, there is no more exciting time of year - it's the whitetail rut. There seems to be a lot of confusion amongst hunters - almost a mystique - about the rut. Maybe that's because so much has been written on the subject.

Sweat the Small Stuff: Whitetail Hunting Primer - Part 2

Continuing from the first article that primarily covered how to find the right spot for your deer hunt. If we chose wisely and set up correctly it's simply a matter of time before game will pass by. When it finally does, you have little time to wonder or be surprised. You must simply react and do it as quickly as possible. No, this doesn't mean we jump up, raise our gun and release the safety right now. It does mean we need to formulate a game plan (pun intended) immediately, however. Make sure your movements won't be seen as you ready your rifle and make sure you do not slide your safety off until you know you want to shoot and also you figure it will (the safety) not be heard.

Tree Stand Safety

Every year countless hunters fall victim to tree stand accidents. Fall being the operative word, using tree stands can be risky business. Unfortunate but true, no one plans to go airborne, but it happens. I know several individuals myself who have suffered injuries while putting up, sitting in, or taking down stands. The good news is that commercial tree stands have evolved plenty over the past couple decades. Furthermore, by taking a few extra precautions we can avoid, or at very least minimize, the potential for tree stand mishaps.

For the Traveling Sportsman

Every year thousands of hunters across the continent book outfitted hunts. Some are booked in their home state or province; others require considerable travel by air. For those with the means, exotic trips abroad are a unique privilege. But regardless of where a hunter goes, the research, booking and travel aspects are imminent. Simple or complex, logistics are a part of the game. I've seen it more than once with first time traveling sportsmen.

Bag Your Bird on Opening Day

There's nothing more discouraging than arriving at your favorite hunting spot on the opening morning of turkey season, and not being able to get a bird to gobble. That's exactly the situation I found myself in back in April of 2008. The fact that the temperature was hovering right around the freezing mark and there was a heavy frost on the ground probably didn't help matters any. Despite the lack of gobbling activity, I knew from my time preseason scouting that birds frequented this field and it was a popular strutting ground for at least one mature gobbler.

Whitetail Scents & Sensibility

"Always hunt into the wind" - Sage words of wisdom, this is perhaps the single most important tip any neophyte hunter learns at the outset of their hunting career. Deer rely heavily on their sense of smell. So it stands to reason that if we're to avoid detection, we should use the wind in our favor. Combine this with the appropriate use of scents or scent-blockers, and you're off to the races!

Deer Diary: How to Keep a Hunting Journal

Twentieth Century philosopher George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." Chances are he wasn't thinking about deer hunting when he spoke those words, but the principal still applies, none-the-less. If you are like me, just remembering what happened on your last hunt is challenging enough. Being able to recall specific details of the hunts from years past would be dang near impossible without having some type of written account. That is why a hunting journal can be such a great resource for the serious deer hunter.

Rattling & Calling Whitetail Deer

"Clatter-clack, clatter-clack- clatter" ...as the sound of antler on antler resonated through the woods I sensed something was about to happen! Almost instantly I heard grunting and glimpsed a magnificent buck approaching from my left. Intent on seeing what the commotion was all about, he maintained a brisk pace. At the same time, another, slightly smaller buck could be seen ghosting in from my right. The situation couldn't have been more perfect.

Communicating with Big Game

Minutes after climbing into my stand I began my calling and rattling sequence. First grunting, then working the antlers, I stared down at the mock scrape I'd been religiously anointing with doe-estrus scent for the previous two weeks. I hadn't even finished my first round of clashing antlers together when I saw a nice buck run in from the heaviest cover. In a magnificent display of dominance all four feet were planted firmly in the center of my scrape as he swung his head back and forth in defiance! My efforts to communicate had sent this buck a clear message and he responded on cue.

Hunter Etiquette & Responsibility

Respectable hunters live by both a written and an unwritten code. Most of us acknowledge our responsibility to follow the formal and informal rules of etiquette. Webster's dictionary defines etiquette as, "rules governing socially acceptable behavior." Unfortunately there are those among us who choose to ignore etiquette, conducting their hunting activities with only self-serving interests in mind. At a time when our heritage activities are under constant scrutiny it behooves us to heed the importance of etiquette and ethics. As I contemplate this issue I can't help but conclude that it's really all about respect - respecting the law, landowners, the land, as well as non-hunters and hunters alike.