“Tag: one track mind”

Decoys have become a large part of many predator hunters’ bags of tricks in recent years. Here are some pros and cons to using them.

If you want to shoot a whopper deer, elk or bear, you have to be hunting in an area where such critters exist. Seems like a simple concept, doesn’t it? And yet most hunters do not take the time to do the research necessary to tell them where the odds are best at scoring big.

The most popular big game animals hunted in North America—deer and elk—belong to a group of animals classified as “ungulates.” Ungulate comes from the Latin word for "hoof", and since all ungulates have hooves, it’s quite appropriate.

Bowhunt whitetails long enough and you’ll find yourself in a situation where you have to try and follow a blood trail after dark. After all, many good bucks do not make an appearance until it is almost too dark to see your sight pins. When you shoot them and they run off, you have to go find them. And while bloodtrailing is more art than science and each situation is unique unto itself, here are some rules that will help you quickly recover your deer.

Harold Knight and David Hale show you how to kill big gobblers on blustery spring days.

On a ground squirrel/coyote hunt in eastern Oregon, I had the chance to test the MVP (Mossberg Varmint Predator) in both the Varmint and Predator versions. These guns are worthy of consideration for four basic reasons. First, they are extremely accurate. Second, they accept standard AR-15 magazines (we used both five- and 20-shot mags). Third, they can take all the field abuse you can give them and still deliver. And fourth, the price is right.

Recently I spent some time with Jay Robert, a man who has a spent a lifetime hunting in the steep mountains and been a pack designer for a lot of years. He currently designs packs for Tenzing, a company that incorporates latest high-tech materials and design features for mountaineering. As someone who has hunted out of a backpack a lot, believe me when I tell you these new bags are worth a look.

I admit it. I’m an old guy, and I do not really like technology all that much. When it comes to hunting laser rangefinders and, upon occasion, a trail camera, are about as high tech as I get. I’ve never been a big fan of using a GPS when hunting, preferring the old school way—the topographic map and compass.

Waterfowl season is just around the corner. Here are 10 tips guaranteed to make you a more skilled, efficient shot on ducks and geese.