“whitetails”

Whether we merely drive across the state or plan a lavish safari to parts unknown, hunting affords us the chance to travel mentally and physically. As we actively recruit and reactivate hunters, it’s important to retain our own zeal for the hunt, for when it comes to refreshment there is no substitute for new game and new ground.

If you hunt deer long enough you will eventually bump up against epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD). The scourge can ruin a deer season and devastate deer populations. The author encountered EHD last year in South Dakota; here’s what happened.

Do you toss and turn late at night over memories of bucks that got away? Our man does, too. Here are a handful of sleep-robbing tales of bucks that never even gave him a shot.

Most hunters will never attend the U.S. Army Sniper School in Ft. Benning, Ga., or similar courses conducted by other branches of our military, but the basic elements of this type of training should be recognized as worthy techniques for any hunter to take to the field. Here are a few elements from their playbooks we can pocket for future success.

Nebraska’s Platte River flows through mule deer country among a smatter of crop fields—exactly the kind of landscape patient hunters can exploit to find big-racked bucks.

It is often the first installation in a deer camp. It is usually a timber cut from nearby woods but it could be a salvaged scrap pipe. Regardless, it is always a place for hunters to gather, assess and admire deer. It is the buck pole, a symbol of success to American hunters.

Sometimes, successful hunting demands staying in the woods from dawn until dusk. Here’s how to survive stand hunting’s biggest challenge.

The Woodman Arms Patriot muzzleloader is light, short and easy to carry. It shoots extremely well and, with the closed breech, can be waterproofed to ensure it goes off every time. It’s accurate enough to manage the open country, light enough to climb mountains and small enough to handle well in a deer blind.

Maine is home to a wide range of large and small game and lots of public land on which to hunt it. Could the Pine Tree State be hunting’s best-kept secret?