Question from a reader: Mike, what kind of rattling antlers do you use? Do the little bags and boxes work, or are they gimmicks?—Joe from PA Joe: I use a set of 140-class sheds from a mature buck I missed with my bow out on the Milk River some years ago. A buddy found the sheds the spring after I missed the old deer the previous October and made the set for me. (Picture shows me with those sheds and a buck I rattled in but did not miss this time:) Those horns are perfect, with good mass and thick tines to make the deep thudding and grinding sounds of two mature bucks locked up. You need a good-size set, [...]

There is a contingent of modern bowhunters out there who have shot their share of deer with compound bows, and now they are looking for a different challenge. “It’s not just different, it’s the ultimate challenge,” says Jonas Strong, who has hunted deer with longbows and recurves all his life out in the river bottoms of eastern Montana. “You use your skills to get within ‘wolf range’ of your quarry, mere yards where a doe or buck instinctively senses danger. Then you have to draw your bow and shoot without the animal seeing you. There’s nothing like the rush of it.” Gearing up for Traditional Archery Strong suggests a traditional, or “trad,” bow of 60, 62 or 64 inches. “The longer [...]