My buddy Lucas Strommen reports on his elk hunt in northeastern Montana last fall: My hunt last week was harsh. Five days, went on a death march every day. Packed in spike camp and cached water in some rugged country. Was the closest I've been to succumbing to exposure, I believe. We started a fire under a canopy of outcropped sandstone, and stripped down to dry out and warm our bodies.   Lots of elk. Was on my knees, 50 yards in sleeting snow from a 6x6 bull, but out of my range for my bow. I was using a 1956 Bear double-shelved Kodiak with vintage quiver and arrows bought at Dick's Sporting Goods and Clothing in NY in 1959 (I have the [...]

Mike: “I encountered a funny scene a few years ago while hunting public land in Iowa. Someone had set up a tree stand a few feet off the fence line adjacent to private property. Evidently, a hunter on that private ground wasn't happy. As you can see, look close, very close to the stand I spied this old deer mount in the tree. It had a plastic machine gun and an orange coat hanging around the neck! And strung around the stand site were air fresheners and shiny reflectors. I would say someone was a little irrigated.” Love the blog, keep up the work.--John

Shane Sanderson first saw the giant last July in a hayfield on his Fremont Co. cattle ranch. He was in a bachelor group with 2 other bucks, a good 8-pointer and another nice 10, but this buck with 10 tall points and long brows was seemingly from another world. “You just don’t see whitetails that size in Wyoming,” Shane told Realtree.com. Shane watched and patterned the bucks for a month, and set a ground blind in the corner of the field where the bucks were popping out most evenings. On September 1, the bow opener, the monster 10 showed up like clockwork with some other deer, and Shane killed him at 35 yards. Shane reports that over the years he has [...]