One November morning in Kansas, the rut was rocking when Greg Brownlee saw a doe walk out of a tree line and proceed to cross a CRP field. She stopped and looked back. "Oh boy, this is it," he thought. Greg’s heart dropped as he glassed a young buck with one antler come out the trees toward the doe. Then he caught more movement—an enormous rack overtook the little buck and made for the doe! The hunter started to get excited, but quickly took 5 deep breaths to calm down. "If I think about it too much, I could screw this thing up," he thought. The giant started toward the doe, but when he got about 150 yards out from [...]

This is me with a great buck I shot out in Wyoming years ago. Minutes earlier I didn’t have that nice smile on my face. I was dazed, confused and damn lucky I hadn’t blown myself up. It started when I shot a foot over the buck at a tad under 200 yards with solid shooting sticks. Even when I miss a deer, it’s not by that much. The deer bolted at the bang and ran straight toward me! I bolted another 130-grainer, fired, missed again. The buck kept churning closer and closer, and I dropped him at 60 steps. Like I said, damn lucky. As I sat muttering and wondering what had gone wrong, I happened to look down [...]

Most of you have several days to hunt this weekend, so after stuffing your face on Thursday, get out and try these tatics: On Friday, November 23, on the day the moon waxes full, you need to spend most of the day in a tree stand or blind. In a North Carolina State study several years ago, researchers said that a common misconception with hunters is that  during a full moon, deer can see better at night. But according to their data, bucks actually moved less on average at night during a full moon and more during the middle of the day, and also earlier in the evenings. With the full moon so late this November, it’s tricky to predict [...]