When to Bow Hunt Whitetail Deer, Turkeys, Bear, and Big Game

The 35 Best Photos From Field & Stream's 2012 Spring Trail Cam Contest: Round II

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:15:02 -0400

Who says trail cams are only fun in the fall? Set yours out this spring, then send us your best photos. You could win a new Bushnell Trophy Cam HD (MSRP $323.95).

Here's how it works. This contest will have three rounds. The first, Round I, began, March 12, and closed on April 12. Round II ran from April 12 to May 12, and Round III from May 14 to June 14. We're giving away three Bushnell Trophy Cam HDs (MSRP: $323.95) in each round, one cam each to the top three entries, as chosen by our editors.

Congrats to users luna, mod70 and Semibald, who each have won a Trophy Cam for their shots in Round II.

So go set your trail cams up already. And have fun! --The Editors

Click here for more info on the prizes.

Click here to enter ROUND III of the 2012 SPRING TRAIL CAM CONTEST

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from April 2012

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:25:49 -0400

Each month, Field & Stream editors review the hundreds of photos submitted by readers to our Trophy Room. If your photo is chosen to be printed in the Game Faces section of the magazine, you’ll win a Rapala Fish ‘N Fillet knife!

Submit your photos here!

Here are the other best reader photo collections from this year:

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

The 50 Best Photos From Field & Stream's 2012 Spring Trail Cam Contest: Round I

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:22:02 -0400

Who says trail cams are only fun in the fall? Set yours out this spring, then send us your best photos. You could win a new Bushnell Trophy Cam HD (MSRP $323.95).

Here's how it works. This contest will have three rounds. The first, Round I, starts today, March 12, and closes on April 12. Round II runs from April 12 to May 12, and Round III from May 12 to June 12. We're giving away three Bushnell Trophy Cam HDs (MSRP: $323.95) in each round, one cam each to the top three entries, as chosen by our editors.

Congratulations to users Kim Doucette Kelly, Isham C. Shelby and Stephen Schimacher who each will receive a camera for their entries in Round!

So go set your trail cams up already. And have fun! --The Editors

Click here for more info on the prizes.

Click here to enter ROUND II of the 2012 SPRING TRAIL CAM CONTEST

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from March 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:00:43 -0400

Submit your photos here!

Here are the other best reader photo collections from this year:

January 2012

February 2012

Enter The 2012 Spring Trail Cam Photo Contest to Win a $323 Camera from Bushnell!

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:59:09 -0400

The 2012 Spring Trail Cam Photo Contest

Who says trail cams are only fun in the fall? Set yours out this spring, then send us your best photos. You could win a new Bushnell Trophy Cam HD (MSRP $323.95)!

Here's how it works. This contest will have three rounds. The first, Round I, started March 12, and closes on April 12. Round II runs from April 12 to May 12, and Round III from May 12 to June 12. We're giving away three Bushnell Trophy Cam HDs (MSRP: $323.95) in each round, one cam each to the top three entries, as chosen by our editors.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER YOUR PHOTO IN ROUND I!

Meanwhile, click through this gallery of the best photos from last year's Spring contest.

The 45 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of February 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:46:15 -0500

Submit your photos here!

Here is the gallery of the best reader photos from January 2012.

The 50 Best Shots From The 2011 Field & Stream Fall Trail Cam Contest

Online Editors — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:03:25 -0500

Here are the editors' picks for the 50 best entries in our 2011 Fall Trail Cam Photo Contest. Congrats to KSwhitetails who took first place with his "Bobcat catches a turkey in flight" shot and will receive the grand prize: a pair of Steiner 10x42 Predator Xtreme binoculars.

Congratulations to all this year's winners and thanks to everyone for the hundreds of great submissions.

You can check out the top photos from each round of the contest here:
ROUND I
ROUND II
ROUND III
ROUND IV

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From January 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:06:52 -0500

Submit your photos here!

Here are the monthly Best Reader Photo Galleries from last year:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 2

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:34:22 -0500

Bruce: Lessons from Deer Season

Online Editors — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:32:57 -0500

Rut Reporter Eric Bruce has been writing about hunting and fishing for newspapers and magazines for 25 years and hunts deer all over the South, including near his Georgia home. States covered: AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC, FL.

Another season has come and gone. I was able to get out and hunt about 70 times this fall. Some were successful, some finished without ever seeing a deer. A few hunts were only an hour long; others included public land hunts, an island hunt and an out-of-state hunt. Here are some of the things I learned along the way.

#1 - Helping someone achieve success can be as enjoyable as experiencing it yourself:
I had the fortune of being with my two sons when they bagged bucks this season. I sat on the ground besides my 13-year-old son, Tucker, when he nailed a handsome six-pointer with his .243. A few weeks later, when he was in a stand by himself, he bagged a spike on the same property. When I approached after the shot, he stood there with his arms held high in jubilation, and that feeling was shared.

I took my hunting buddy and his brother-in-law, who had very limited bowhunting experience, on a morning hunt in late October. An eight-pointer followed a doe by his stand. Though no shot was taken, he was ecstatic from seeing such a nice buck up close, and my buddy thanked me over and over for providing him that encounter.

The state of Georgia hosts an adult/child quota hunt on Ossabaw Island off the coast below Savannah. I went with my son and another father and son duo that had never taken a deer. On the second morning of the hunt, I was with the boy, Robbie Stroup, when he raised his rifle and took his first deer. I'll never forget the sheer joy on his face when he looked back at me after the shot and exclaimed, “I got him!” The photo above shows my son Tucker (on the left) with Robbie and their Ossabaw Island deer.

After returning from the island hunt, I went bowhunting with my older son on a Sunday morning. After seeing several does and small bucks, a good eight-pointer stepped out between us and walked toward my son. I heard him shoot so I called him. “Did you hit him?” I asked. “Yeah, I saw him go down,” he responded. “Let's go get him,” I said. We inspected the buck, his biggest so far, after I gave him a bear hug. The buck was in the back of our truck when we went to church later that morning. I would have liked to take that buck myself, but I was much happier and prouder knowing that my son took it. Such is the case when you share a hunt or harvest with a family member or friend.

#2 - There's something special about hunting a place for the first time:
I was able to secure permission to hunt a new property this season. The land appeared to be thick with deer and not used by other hunters. During my first hunt in that property in early October, I saw about 10 deer and killed a doe and an 8-pointer with my bow. I called my son to see how he was doing and he replied, “I've killed two so far!” He took one more to make a total of five bow kills that morning. I returned in early December with a friend and sent an arrow into an eight-pointer right after dawn. I called my friend later in the morning and he replied, “I've killed two so far!” That hunt yielded three kills for a total of eight archery kills in two morning hunts. Got to love hunting a new area.

#3 - Know your laws and make sure you have permission:
Hunting in suburban areas, I am sometimes confronted by law enforcement and have to prove my permission. I had several encounters this year, again. Even if everything is in order, it is important to have written permission letters on hand, and to know the property lines and local regulations. On one occasion, I had three campus cops flash the blue lights on their cruisers at my truck when I came out. They clearly did not know the regulations concerning hunting despite me repeating it to them several times. Having my permission letter from the landowner helped me with that situation. Now I leave the permission letter on my truck dashboard when I'm in the woods.

#4 - Calls and scents can work:
I rattled up bucks on four occasions this season, which is highly unusual for me. But it can work given the right conditions, so keep a rattle bag or antlers with you. I also incorporated scent bombs in my stand setups. I clipped three deer scent filled canisters to branches around my stand before climbing up. Bucks would come into my area, and they seemed to hang around longer than usual, which provided excellent shot opportunities.

I also learned that urinating from your stand does not seem to have a detrimental effect. While this topic may be controversial, I personally had bucks around my stand that did not seem alerted by human urine. I also sprinkled a few drops of deer scent afterwards, but there may be some validity to the notion that all urine smells like ammonia after a period of time. I've known of some hunters who urinate in scrapes, and bucks still visit them.

As you reflect back on your deer season, I’m sure you also had your share of successes, failures and lessons learned along the way. And while we may grow weary after the long season, I'm sure that you, like me, are already looking forward to next season. I can't wait for September.