Category: Online Articles

EHD, also known as epizoodic hemorrhagic disease or blue tongue, swept across the whitetail range like a plague during the summer and fall of 2012, killing untold numbers of whitetails. Briefly, EHD is a virus that is transmitted from deer to deer by small biting flies known as midges. EHD spreads more quickly during bad droughts—such as that experienced across much of the nation last summer—because deer come to water more often as they don’t get much moisture from the vegetation they consume. The exposed mud around the water sources is the breeding grounds for the midges. So, when deer come to a get a drink, they are at very high risk for being bitten by the bugs and “injected” with the virus. Read More at BowHuntingMag.com

It’s almost fawning season throughout most of the whitetails’ range. Many hunters don’t get as excited as I do about fawning season, but it is the key to hunts years from now. For example, my goals for the 2013 season include tagging a 4-year-old buck. My odds of success are strongly influenced by the number of male fawns that survived during spring of 2009. Bucks that will be 4 years old during 2013 were 3 years old during 2012, 2 years old during 2011, 1 year old during 2010 and were born during 2009. Read More At BowHunting Magazine….

Closing the distance on a mature buck is more art than science. Throughout the off-season, hunters like us are continually challenging ourselves to think of new techniques or improve on old ones. One technique we are continually tweaking is the creation of “hidey-holes.” Hidey-holes are miniature food plots designed to light up a buck’s taste buds while drawing him in for a close shot. Hidey-holes are a great tool for bowhunting. So, follow along as we explain the why, where, when and how to make them work for you…Read More at Bowhuntingmag.com

As I drove home one evening after spending the afternoon in one of my favorite stands, I got a call from a friend who had just arrowed a good buck. However, his voice wavered between excitement and disappointment. He proceeded to tell me that bucks were tearing up the woods where he lived as they honed in on hot does. This wasn’t a surprise, as it was the second week of November in north central Missouri. He’d been seeing some great bucks at a distance for several days. The rifle season was set to open the next morning, and he was anxious to release an arrow before the guns started booming. Read more at Bow HuntingMagazine.com….