You’ve waited all year for this, the rut baby! No matter which week in November you take off work, your Number One strategy is simple: Spend every minute you can in your best stands because you never know when a good buck will prowl by, or come a running hot on the heels of a doe. Here are 29 more tips to help you punch your tag. #2 In addition to big rubs, look for clusters of antler-mangled saplings or cedar branches. These “violent rubs” are sign of an aggressive buck, the kind you want to hunt because he’s apt to move in daylight. Set a stand in the area. #3 Several studies show that deer rut hard when the [...]

The 2023 archery opener started with very warm and humid weather in most states, but after that first week, the bowhunting has been golden. The best early October archery season I have seen in years. Why? A wave of cold fronts has swept across the country the last couple of weeks, dropping temperatures from 70- and 80-degree highs to the 40s (early mornings) and with clear, high-pressure afternoons in the upper 50s and 60s. That trend is expected to continue for at least the next week. Deer are moving, bucks are rubbing madly and scrape-making early. Bowhunters from Iowa to Ohio to Virginia are capitalizing on the cooler weather and shooting some massive whitetail bucks (like the hog Andrew Schram [...]