By Mike Bleech

Northeast Rut Reporter Mike Bleech has been hunting whitetails in his native Pennsylvania and throughout the Northeast for more than four decades. A Vietnam veteran and full-time freelance outdoor writer, Bleech has had more than 5000 of his articles published. States covered: ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA OH, MD, DE.

This fall’s rut is not what we anticipated. It’s been great in some places and off-schedule in others. But guess what? This is normal. We can predict as much as we’d like and give averages, but things seldom happen like that in nature. Average is merely a word applied by humans to make things simpler. Just take a look at the weather. Have you ever noticed that temperatures in weather reports are almost always above or below average?

Instead of looking at the grand scheme of things when it comes to the rut, you might find some helpful information by reading the comments in this blog. I have been studying them. And the more comments, the better it is for everyone. Interaction helps to build relationships, and some of the guys who comment regularly seem like we’re old friends now.

For example, take a recent message from... [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

As I say in this video, we archers are forever trumpeting the importance of “good form,”—too often without bothering to explain just what that means. So here’s a simple breakdown. This is basic stuff, but it goes a long way toward shooting well.

(Sorry about the “that-is-a-dead-jackalope” line; that was the video editor’s idea. Damned editors.)
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By Phil Bourjaily

The Field & Stream head office (Dave Hurteau) sent all us field editors an e-mail telling us to be sure to hunt our designated “Best Day of the Rut” – November 12. Since I have not bowhunted since 1989 I planned to call my cousin Shaun to tell him to go deer hunting in my place and report back.

Before I could call him, he called me and asked if I would come help him find the deer he had just shot. We found it only about 100 yards from where it had been hit. The long, lumpy gray muzzle makes me think it is an old buck.

What makes the story even better is that Shaun made the bow in the picture. It’s a self bow, meaning it’s made from one piece of wood – in this case, osage orange. This particular style of self bow is an “ambush bow” -- a 65 pounder with a fairly compact 58” knock-to-knock length. In fact, Shaun had just finished it that same day, made a string, took some test shots, went hunting and killed a buck with it.

He named the bow for a friend who had recently died in an accident, and painted it in Lakota fashion as a tribute. The red to starry black represents the transition from Warrior Path to the Star Path.
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By Hal Herring

Few feelings in life can match it when you are going out there.

The narrow trail unfolds before you, cut into a steep sidehill that descends down—down a half-mile into a thicketed creek bottom, where through breaks in the willows and head-high elderberry and nettle, you can see the creek, tumbling whitewater and bits of long, green pools where you know the cutthroat trout have never seen a fly or a bait. The trail goes on and on, and around a bend, still high above the valley, there’s a long roll of last winter’s snow on the ridge far above you.

The view opens out. Forever. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

In our last “Shoot Me Down,” I argued that “Speed Kills” because a fast bow allows you to use a heavier arrow and larger broadhead without giving up too much in trajectory. In response, lovetohunt gave us a thesis on kinetic energy, momentum and most interestingly, bow-and-arrow efficiency. Now, as our SMD winner, he is here to rant and rave as my special guest.

Take it away, lovetohunt:

Expensive bows are worth every penny.

All too often I see people hunting with bows that look like they were made in a toyshop 15 years ago. These folks can’t seem to justify spending the money on today’s better models, but I don’t think they realize that these expensive bows kill deer better than those ancient bows do.
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By Dave Hurteau

Many an expert rifleman, our very own David E. Petzal included, will tell you that because you cannot hold a rifle perfectly still in the field, you should not squeeze the trigger so that you’re surprised when the rifle goes off, but rather pull it at the precise moment when the crosshairs are where they should be.
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