According to the National Deer Association’s 2025 Deer Report, “we are at historically high harvest levels, and the buck age structure is among the best in recorded history.” Final figures show a nationwide buck harvest of more than 3 million animals, the highest buck kill since the turn of the century. Bucks by Region The NDA crunched the numbers and found that hunters in 23 of 37 states (62%) shot more bucks in 2023 than their prior five-year average. In the Northeast, the harvest was up 4 percent; 7 of 13 states in the region had a higher kill last season. While the buck harvest across the Midwest was only one percent above its five-year average, hunters in 6 of [...]

One morning in Oklahoma, a guide named Jim Bob pointed me to a box blind and whispered, “When the sun comes up, you can see and shoot a country mile brother. Watch the tree line out front. Good luck.” I climbed into the box and the sun rose a splendid pink and blue. I couldn’t see a mile to the tree break, but might as well have. My rangefinder read 412 yards to the front edge of the timber. I refuse to shoot at a deer that far away, not even with a finely tuned rifle and a solid rest, so I was basically an observer the rest of the morning. Might as well make the best of it. I glassed [...]

I don’t need to remind you how tough a gig it is. After all those long, hard, deer-less days and weeks of hunting public land, you might be on the verge of hanging it up for another year. But I urge you to persevere because the potential reward is worth it. Killing a buck, any buck, on public late in the season is never easy. But keep grinding and do it, and it will be a day you won’t forget. Timber Food and Cover Right now, the last best scraps of mast and forbs for deer are too random and scattered to find and hunt efficiently on a large national forest or WMA. You’re better to take a more holistic [...]