|
|
Entries for February 2024
Who Needs Does?
By Steve Bartylla
Wrapped in my Heater Body Suit, the cold wasn’t an issue. If it wasn’t for the large oak swaying during the stiff gusts, I might have forgotten the strong mid-November cold front had dipped temperatures into single digits.
Everybody knows extreme temperature drops paired with gale force winds put the brakes on rutting activity as th... READ MORE
Never Underestimate the Rut
By P.J. Reilly
Some things in life are guaranteed.
The sun will rise and set every day.
Death will take us all.
The whitetail rut will occur around the same time of year — regardless of the weather.
El Nino reared its ugly head in early November 2015 around my home in southeast Pennsylvania. It was ungodly hot, with daytime highs in the mid 70... READ MORE
Molly’s Senior Trip
By Russell Thornberry
If I said Molly Darnell was an unconventional young lady, that would be an understatement. She’s a country girl through and through. She loves animals and has had pet pigs, deer and turkeys, just to name a few of her critters.
Molly was born into a family of serious hunters. For her father, Dale, and three brothers, Wes, Rush and Reese, l... READ MORE
Big Woods Bucks
By Darron McDougal
The timber giant’s sudden appearance along the edge of a year-old clearcut interrupted the serene December evening.
“I hadn’t seen the buck previously,” Jeff Aulik, a whitetail expert from Wisconsin, recalled. “My shot was well placed, and when I backtracked him through the snow, I found he’d been following m... READ MORE
Hunt, Eat, Sleep, Repeat
By Steve Bartylla
It was the highlight of my hunting life. I’d taken my oldest daughter Beth with me a few times every year since she was 6, but we’d never connected on a buck together. Now I was sure it was finally going to happen.
Part of my optimism was because my client and friend Donal Barry Jr. offered up his ground. Having managed it for three... READ MORE
He Went Where?
By Ed Waite
Working outdoors clearing power line right-of-ways can be exhausting, but it has its perks, too — like getting to see a lot of wildlife and potential hunting property.
Late in the summer of 2014, Brice Jenny was on the job in north-central Pennsylvania when he saw a buck crossing an open field.
“He was really big even then, but ... READ MORE
Does Age Matter?
By Bob Humphrey
Through dense fog that had waxed and waned all morning, I noticed what at first was just a vague shape. I could tell by the way it moved he was a buck, probably an older one. He walked along slowly, deliberately, as with an objective that would come at a time and place of his choosing.
First, the fog gradually revealed a square body, then a tal... READ MORE
12th Hour Buck
By P.J. Reilly
The Pittsburgh Steelers were losing 7-6 to the Oakland Raiders in a 1972 playoff game with just 22 seconds left on the clock. It was fourth and 10 — the Steelers’ last chance to make something happen — when quarterback Terry Bradshaw heaved a pass that bounced off two colliding players and fell into the hands of legendary running ... READ MORE
Third Time’s the Charm
By Ed Waite
It was bitterly cold during the 2013 Ohio late muzzleloader season, but Scott Beam was determined to sit tight until dark. Hunting from a ground blind on his 75-acre farm in the west-central portion of the Buckeye State, Scott was sheltered from the wind. But it was the kind of cold that didn’t need wind to make a hunter miserable.
&ldquo... READ MORE
When Opportunity Knocks
By P.J. Reilly
Sometime in late September or early October, the three lonely persimmon trees on the east side of the Maryland property I hunt are going to start dropping fruit. When they do, I will be in the stand I hung 10 yards away.
They seem to come from miles to scoop up those juicy persimmons. They’re like kids devouring Halloween candy because th... READ MORE
Next Season Starts Now
By Buckmasters
As the current hunting season comes to a close, dedicated hunters shift their focus from the pursuit of a kill to the strategic preparation for the next season. Successful hunters understand that the key to a successful season lies not only in the knowledge of the terrain but also in decoding the subtle language left behind by deer – their ru... READ MORE