By Brandon Ray

Three years is a long time. That’s how long Kurt Stallings has been hunting a wide-racked muley buck in eastern New Mexico. He saw the big buck late each season, but the problem was always the same: Despite the December/January rut that made the buck vulnerable and more visible in daylight, it was always in open terrain and surrounded by a mob of other deer--sometimes as many as 50. Stalking within archery range was impossible.

Kurt estimates he spent 20 days hunting that buck over those three seasons. He never got close enough for a shot, until 2013.

This year was different. The old buck’s rack was going downhill in score, likely due to drought and old age, but he still had a huge frame. Kurt decided to try whitetail tactics. So he set a tree stand in a tall cottonwood near trails used by the muleys near a creek bottom, which he’d found by scouting and glassing.

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By Eric Bruce

Deer hunters everywhere want to know when the rut occurs in their hunting area, because it’s one of the best times to see and kill a mature buck.
 
Biologists determine the peak rut by examining hunter-harvested deer. Determining the age of unborn fawns in the wombs of the female deer will indicate when conception occurred, and thus when the doe was in estrus. [ Read Full Post ]

By Layne Simpson

There are lots of handgun options on the market for deer hunters, from single shot pistols in rifle calibers to a revolver that's been around for almost 60 years. Here, handgun-hunting expert Layne Simpson chooses the best pistols on the market for hunting whitetails, breaks down the specs for each, and provides a brief history of handgun hunting. The first two guns on the list are his favorites, the rest are in alphabetical order.

Freedom Arms Model 83

Type: Single-action revolver
MSRP: $2080-$2460
Chamberings: .357 Mag., .41 Mag., .44 Mag., .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .475 Linebaugh, .500 Wyoming Express
Barrel lengths: 4 3/4, 6, 7 1/2, 10 inches
Sights: Fully adjustable open sights and/or scope mount

Freedom Arms is to the revolver what Purdey is to the shotgun. While the Model 83 is priced much higher than other revolvers, it’s worth every penny. Fit and finish is excellent, the gun is more durable than its competition, and it is the most accurate by a considerable margin. Five shots inside five inches at 100 yards is considered excellent accuracy from most revolvers, but my Model 83 in .454 Casull will consistently... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

Back in the 1970s, Uncle Robert Brister told me that one of the most useful things any big-game hunter could own was a binocular in the 15x60 range. He said he never went elk hunting without one, and because I always did everything he said, I rushed right out and bought a Zeiss porro prism glass in 15x60 and it was exactly as he said, a highly specialized but invaluable tool if the circumstances were right.  Of course, like a jerk, I sold them some years later, but recently I traded a lot of stuff and coughed up some cash and got another big glass in the same power range. [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

One of the cultural phenomena I observe in deer camps is the cornucopia* of sweets that seem to lie on every table that is not already cluttered by used socks, ammo boxes, or 25-year-old copies of Playboy. Grown men who would not dream of doing so under normal conditions gobble stuff that is guaranteed to give you diabetes before it even clears your descending colon.

In the camp that I most recently decorated with my presence, there was not only candy of all sorts, but boxes of Twinkies for the lowbrows and for the highbrows like myself, terrific coffee cake that would give you diabetes before it got past your duodenum. Of course I indulged. I’ve had to fight my weight since I was 11 years old, and for the rest of the year I stay away from the sugar, but in deer camp it’s different. [ Read Full Post ]

By Brandon Ray

Overall Activity Status: Reports are mixed this week, varying from location to location. Whit Peterman, hunting the family ranch in Bosque and Hamilton Counties in central Texas, reports deer sightings were slim to none, the deer staying hid in the timber, but trail cameras showed them around feeders after dark. I hunted the eastern Panhandle one afternoon and saw a doe, button buck, and small eight point at a windmill. Despite the runoff pond being frozen, the deer managed a drink around the partially melted corner of the pond. Kyle Barbour was hunting the other end of the same ranch and saw five bucks, three of them with broken racks. He also saw three does. The activity did not start until around 4 p.m. at my spot and closer to 5 p.m. at Kyle’s blind. Meanwhile, the south Texas rut is hot right now. [ Read Full Post ]