By Dave Hurteau

All hunters have something important to share, and never before has it been more important for us to share it--with our kids, the neighbor’s kids, our nieces and nephews, anyone who wants in. But before you commit to mentoring a new hunter, you should understand that there are certain inherent risks, especially when dealing with the young…and fit.

This summer I outfitted my nephew Jeremy with everything he’d need to hunt deer in the fall. I nagged him to get his hunter-safety certification and to buy his license and tags. I taught him to shoot, etc.

After an exciting bow season, in which he didn’t get anything but had some close encounters, he joined my brother-in-law Geoff and me for our annual Thanksgiving rifle hunt. He saw three deer but couldn’t get a shot. At the end of the day, he got a little turned around, so he called Geoff's cell phone and described where he was. 

By Dave Hurteau

Well, my efforts to give away a rack are foiled again. As you know, I spent last week bowhunting with Bestul on his home stomping grounds in southeast Minnesota. It was one of those hunts—any of you who carry a bow a lot will understand—when the deer you want are just out of range or blocked by brush and the ones you don’t want are licking your tree steps.

Plus, there just weren’t many of the former on their feet, it seemed. We saw only two P&Y-class bucks during the week. All the other good bucks, apparently, were busy with does.

Those of you who guessed in the 130s were about a foot away from being right, as a tall, clean 8-pointer—the only shooter that stepped within bow range—only needed to clear a small honeysuckle bush for me to get a shot. Of course, he didn’t. But that’s bowhunting. For those of you who guessed zero, as in no deer, you win the satisfaction of being right and an invitation to gloat in the comment section below. What we did manage to shoot were some video tips, which we will bring to you shortly.

By Dave Hurteau

To those of you who’ve been following the “Help Me Kill My Buck, Win the Rack” posts: First, thanks for the great suggestions. Second, I’ve run into a problem—or a problem ran into the buck, as it were. After a few more hunts and no sightings, I figured he was off chasing does on another farm. But according to the landowners, he was actually off chasing does in the big woodlot in the sky, after being hit by a car. What a rotten end for such a fine buck.

Nonetheless, I’m still determined to give away some antlers. All this week, I’m bowhunting with Bestul on his home turf. As you read this, I am freezing my butt in a southeastern Minnesota treestand, waiting for something with four points on one side to do something stupid. So in the meantime, let’s turn our usual scoring contest on its head: Usually, we show you a picture of a buck and ask you to guess the gross B&C score of the rack. This time, your challenge is to guess the gross score before you see the buck—and before I shoot it.

By David Hurteau

I’m not saying that if I can screw up an easy bow shot, anyone can. But if I screw up an easy bow shot…. Well, anyway, this doe was 20 yards away and just barely quartering away. Easy, easy shot--and I missed by a good 8 inches, too far back.

I suspected it was a bad shot after I let it go, and I knew for sure when I got down and found the arrow covered in green alfalfa slime, presumably from the field where this doe had been feeding before she picked her way cautiously into the woods and under my stand, with a yearling buck in tow, last Friday morning. Both deer ran about 70 yards at the shot and disappeared into a tall screen of phragmites at the edge of the swamp.

I waited five hours, came back, followed the blood trail to the spot I’d last seen her, and there she lay, stiff, just inside the tall, grassy stalks. I got lucky. The shot wasn’t quite as bad as I’d thought, but bad enough that it could have easily resulted in a lost deer.