Deer Hunting's FAQs

As a blogger/editor/writer for the fine publications of the NRA, I often field and answer questions from deer hunters. These queries, like the hunters that ask them, come in all shapes and sizes.

They're questions we ask ourselves, our hunting buddies, our fathers, our priests and sometimes a random guy in the hunting department of Wal Mart. The answers to these often-pondered inquiries make up hunting's holy grail.

So, I decided to start keeping a list of hunting FAQs.

My first task was to find out what longtime hunters/writers had to say on the subject. I tracked down Bob Robb, AH.org contributor and fellow chaser of big antlered beasts, to get a list of the questions fellow hunters and readers asked him the most.

"There are a zillion—what is the best (fill in the blank) ... gun, bow, broadhead, or whatever," Robb wrote. "Others are most memorable hunt, biggest buck and the biggest one that got away. But the on that sticks out in many variations is something like, how do you get a shot at a deer that is basically nocturnal? The answer is….you do not until the rut, or until late-season post-rut cold forces them to food. In both those cases you may have three to five days of opportunity, and that's it."

I couldn't have said it better myself. This is a question that we all consider on long days on stand. As an often defeated hunter, I've cursed the "Deer Gods" many times for turning my hunting labors into fruitless misery.

But when the rut kicks in things change. The big bucks change. We all get a chance to turn a ghostly giant into our next trophy.

I'm sure we will continue to ask and attempt to answer this one as long as we walk the deer woods. I'll be adding to the FAQ list in weeks to come.

What's your most frequently asked hunting question?