Editorial Director John Zent and Development Manager Tom Rickwalder were in Canadian, Texas, with Winchester Ammo last month for a "R&D" outing, testing a new load that's still in the development process. Early indications are that the developmental load—due for release in January, 2015—will be great shakes for deer hunters. Mt. Hide Outfitters did a fine job putting the hunters on deer on this north Texas ranch.
A white-tailed deer in the Oklahoma Panhandle has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), marking the first confirmed case in a free-ranging wild deer in the state.
Until manufacturers make clothing and laundry soaps that eliminate human movements, deer hunters should realize they face bigger worries than which camo or blaze-orange clothing hides them best.
Did this happen to you this past hunting season? Before opening day you found a really good buck using your trail cameras, so you set stands, were all a-twitter—then never saw him again all season. Did you think you did something wrong, and forced him to go nocturnal? Maybe—but probably not.
When it comes to deer hunting, perhaps no game is more vexing than the wary bucks that inhabit the East. To put the odds in your favor, break from tradition and go rogue.
It took the author a decade to learn these lessons about when, where and how to hunt and kill big bucks. Some of them may not be big news, but any number of them should reveal something for anyone.