Last December 5 Jeff Burgess overslept. His dad came and rousted him out of bed, and when they got into the woods daylight was breaking. The story goes that Jeff was pretty upset with himself, until about 10 a.m., when this 18-pointer came cruising by. The Rutherford County buck scored 151¼, a brute for Carolina. I would argue that Jeff had nothing to be upset about, and that arriving at his stand at daybreak actually worked to his advantage. Many if not most hunters I know hunters want to get to their stands super early each morning, an hour or more before daybreak, so they can set up and “let the woods settle down.” I have hunted with friends and guides who want [...]

According to the just released 2016 Whitetail Report from the QDMA, 34% of the bucks harvested across America during the 2013/14 season were 3.5 years old or older. That is the highest number on record for older bucks in the national harvest. The trend of hunters holding off and passing younger bucks continues. In 1989, 62% of the annual buck harvest was yearling (1.5 year old) males; that number has dropped to 33% of yearlings in the overall harvest today. But back to the older bucks in the recent harvest data. I assume that the vast majority of that 34% were 3.5 years old on the money. I bet less than 5% of the bucks were 4, 5 or 6 years [...]

Deer and Deer Hunting reports that this incredible buck—look at that mass and palmation!—was hit in Walker County (north of Birmingham) the other evening by a fellow named Bryan Diehl, who was the punter on the University of Alabama’s 1992 national championship football team. What that means for tonight’s college football title game, I don’t know. The rut is just getting kicking down in Alabama, so this big boy was undoubtedly dogging a doe across the highway when he met his demise. Word is that official scorers will put a tape to this great rack soon, and DDH will let us know the score asap.

With deer season winding down, the bird hunting is just getting good down in South Texas, but these quail hunters got more than they bargained for. According to the Daily Caller, “Former adviser to George W. Bush and campaign strategist Karl Rove went quail hunting in Texas over his Christmas vacation and ended up discovering two illegal immigrants.” Story says that the illegals, dressed in black ominous clothing, were in pretty bad shape health-wise. Knowing they couldn’t hide forever from the hunters and their dogs, they eventually gave up and were apprehended by Border Patrol. This is not an isolated incident, as landowners, ranchers and hunters have been dealing with this for years in South Texas. While I have never encountered any illegals [...]