I was out in western Oklahoma filming for a few days this week and snapped this picture of my friends Scott and Joni Sanderford. Back in January some quail hunters found this massive 8-pointer dead on their ranch, decomposing in a creek bottom near an alfalfa field. This is a mystery buck that I figure was 5 years old when he perished. Where had he been living...where did he come from? Scott and Joni are out and about on their ranch every day, feeding stock, fixing fence, driving around, doing whatever is needed to keep the ranch up and running. Each August Scott, a die-hard bowhunter, sets out lots of trail cameras, takes thousands of images and finds 3 or 4 good bucks that he and Joni will hunt in the fall. One of his [...]

From this QDMA article: 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. – Peak hours for fawn births to occur among 147 pregnant does studied by Dr. John Kilgo and others with the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station. Though fawns were born around the clock, 63% of births were concentrated in afternoon and early evening. 4 – Number of pregnant does out of 28 (14 percent) being tracked by North Carolina State researchers that were found dead at the site where tracking devices indicated they were giving birth. Evidence suggested all 4 were killed by coyotes, which may have taken advantage of the does’ vulnerable state during birth, killing both the mother and fawn. The study took place at Fort Bragg and [...]

For 95% of America’s whitetail hunters, especially those of you who hunt on public land, the answer is YES. Trouble is, too many young and/or inexperienced hunters watch too much television. A great-looking 8- or 10-pointer steps out and some guy or gal whispers into the camera, Nice buck, but he needs another year…or he’ll be shooter in a year or two… BTW, I hate that overused saying, He needs another year... Anyhow, the young hunter plays off what the TV “expert” says and does, and passes up a 120- to 140-class buck that he or she should have shot. I was glad to see my friend Lindsay Thomas of the QDMA put the right perspective on it. The QDMA sometimes gets a [...]

This picture has been making the rounds on Facebook and forums for a while. The person who sent it to me says it was killed here in Virginia (the hardwoods look right) but it is rumored to have come from a couple other states too (this is how these Interweb rumors work). Anyhow, look at the size of that thing. If legit, from the looks of it, this cat would weigh maybe twice as much as the average Virginia bobcat, which tips the scales at 25 pounds max. Something doesn’t look right about the head/neck? But who knows, it could be right, and the size of the critter is a camera angle thing. Seen this picture before? What do you think?

My best hunts of the year are the ones I take with wounded veterans like Ken (left) and Calvin. Ken served in both the U.S. Marines and Army, and was injured during one of his tours in Iraq. Young Calvin lost a foot and lower leg in Afghanistan. It was an honor for me to hunt deer with these heroes in my Virginia homeland last November. Thanks to the Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund for helping to make that happen. You will see the episode on #BIG DEER TV on the Sportsman Channel later this fall. We talked long into the nights on our hunt, and both Ken and Cal told me intense and inspiring war stories...they said that in spite of their injuries, they'd do it again [...]