“mature bucks”

Kansas' almost 46 million acres of farmland provide a plethora of food for the state's whitetail herd, a veritable yellow brick road paved in corn and wheat. Add to that available mast browse and relatively mild winters, and you've got the makings for big-racked bucks. Would all those factors coincide to put a giant in front of the author? Only time in a stand will tell.

Bad moves work out sometimes, but that’s no reason to live by them.

Deer hunters know the rut produces unpredictable behavior in bucks. Acknowledge that, and you’ll understand why November is not the month to remain conservative. Instead “open the throttle” and hunt hard.

The whitetail opener can be a tale of two vastly different types of deer: Those bucks that can be relatively easy to kill, and those that aren’t. Here are some early-season strategies for both.

A hunter’s first elk and a bogged-down stalk on a desert mule deer highlight hunts with new versions of Ruger’s M77 Hawkeye bolt actions.

You have to work hard and hunt smart to find a mature public-land mule deer buck. Here are the tools you need and the tactics you should employ in your quest.

While the art of last-minute scouting won’t soon disappear, most hunters know they’d be better served having been better prepared. The season’s end is the best time to get the drop on deer movement and behavior. And you don’t have to worry about busting your spot putting boots on the ground.

Are deer just another game species, or would their disappearance destroy hunting as we know it? Two studies reveal how much emphasis hunters place on deer, and what would happen if deer hunting ceased to exist.

There’s a lot that goes into enticing a whitetail’s nose during the madness of the rut. Here’s how to master the use of scent to get a shot when the heat is on.