Decide If You Want “Low Scent” Or “No Human Scent”. You are never going to be 100% scent free, but you can keep hunting clothes from smelling like your house, your truck, and last night’s bacon. I store my hunting
My Take After Using Both Calls In Real Hunts If I had to buy only one today, I would buy the Flextone Headhunter for $12 to $20 and spend the savings on fuel and sits. I have carried both the
Pick a Call That Sounds Like a Real Adult Buck, Not a Squeaky Toy The best snort wheeze call for mature bucks is the one you can run with confidence at 20 yards without over-blowing it, and for me that
How Often I Actually Grunt Call During a Sit. I grunt call less than most guys think. In most whitetail woods, I hit a grunt call every 15 to 30 minutes at most, and only when I have a reason.
Pick a Tarsal Gland Scent That Matches the Phase of the Rut The best tarsal gland scent for rut hunting is real buck tarsal from a fresh deer you trust, used sparingly on a wick 15 to 25 yards downwind
Yes, You Can Use Too Much Deer Scent, And It Will Burn You. Yes, you can use too much deer scent. If your scent is stronger than the woods, or it is in the wrong place, deer notice it and
How Long It Lasts, In Real Hunting Terms. Doe estrus scent on a wick lasts about 2 to 6 hours in the woods before it starts getting weak. If it is 42 degrees with steady shade and light wind, I
Pick One Based on Season, Not Hype. If I can only carry one deer scent in my pack, I pick acorn early and apple late.. Acorns match what deer are already eating in most hardwood country, and apples are a
Start With This Decision: Food, Scent, or Movement. The best legal deer attractant in your state is usually not a magic bottle. It is legal groceries, legal minerals, and smart stand placement that takes advantage of where deer already want
Pick Your Start Date Based on One Thing: When You Want the Site to Peak The best time of year to start a mineral site is late winter into early spring, about 6 to 10 weeks before green-up in your
Lucky Buck Mineral vs Whitetail Institute. Which One I Would Actually Buy. If you want a cheap mineral to keep deer stopping for trail cam pics in spring and summer, I would buy Lucky Buck Mineral. If you want a
My Take After Using Both Scents If you want my blunt answer, I trust Code Blue more than Tink’s 69 for getting a buck to finish. I still carry Tink’s 69 in November, but I treat it like a “pull
Make the Call Up Front: Are You Trying to Stop Theft, or Just Make It a Pain? If you want to keep trail cameras from getting stolen, you need two things. Hide the camera like you mean it, and lock
Pick One That Actually Triggers Fast, Not One With a Fancy Box The best budget trail camera under $50 that I trust to actually work is the WOSPORTS 16MP trail camera, as long as you run lithium AA batteries and
Pick the App Based on Your Patience, Not the Spec Sheet. If you want the least headache on a normal deer lease, I run Moultrie Mobile. If you want the cheapest way to get photos on a bunch of cameras
Check Them Less Than You Want To. I check trail cameras every 10 to 21 days during summer, every 14 to 30 days in early season, and every 3 to 7 days only when I am making a specific hunt
Buy This Card and Move On The best SD card for most trail cameras is a 32GB SanDisk Ultra SDHC, Class 10, UHS-I. If your camera is older, picky, or in a cold swamp, I drop to a 16GB SanDisk
Pick a Varmint Guard That Actually Matches Your Feeder The best varmint guard for most deer feeders is a wide, metal cone-style baffle that mounts on the feeder leg or hanging cable and sits 30 inches to 36 inches above
Pick the Right Feeder for Thick Woods, Not the One That Looks Cool in a Catalog. The best deer feeder for thick woods is a small, tough spinner feeder with a metal varmint guard, hung low enough to service fast,
Stop Trying to “Outsmart” Raccoons and Start Beating Them With Setup The real way I keep raccoons out of a deer feeder is to control access, not smell. I hang the spinner high, use a real varmint guard, and set
Do You Actually Need an Official Score? No, your deer does not need to be officially scored unless you are chasing a record book entry, selling a mount with paperwork, or you just want a clean number you can trust.
What I Actually Pay for Deer Taxidermy. Most deer taxidermists charge $600 to $1,200 for a shoulder mount, $125 to $250 for a euro mount, and $250 to $600 for a basic deer hide tan. If you want a lifesize
Do This First, Or You Will Hate How It Turns Out If you want a clean European mount at home, the fastest path is this. Skin the head, remove as much meat as you can, simmer it at 170 to
What I Do Right After a Storm Ends I hunt the first 2 to 6 hours after the storm breaks, and I set up on the downwind edge of the best food close to thick bedding. I do not march