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
How Warm Is Too Warm, Really? For most whitetail hunting, once the afternoon hits 65 degrees, I stop expecting “good” daylight movement and start hunting like it is an early-morning-and-last-10-minutes deal. If it is 70 degrees or warmer during prime
Does a Cold Front Actually Make Deer Move More, Or Is That Just Hunter Talk? Yes, a cold front usually makes deer move more, especially in the first 12 to 36 hours after the temperature drops and the wind settles.
Don’t Guess the Wind. Check It Twice. The best way to check wind direction while hunting is to use a small wind checker in your pocket for micro-wind at your stand, and confirm the bigger wind with a weather app
Pick Your Sit Time Based on Pressure, Not Hype The best barometric pressure for deer movement is usually a rising barometer in the 30.00 to 30.40 range, especially right after a front when the sky clears and the wind lays
Pick One App and Stick With It, Or You Will Second-Guess Every Sit The best weather app for deer hunting, for most guys, is OnX Hunt paired with a real hourly forecast like Weather Underground. If I had to keep
Drag or ATV. Pick One Based on Access and How Far You Really Have to Go. If I can legally drive within 200 yards of the deer, I use an ATV or side-by-side. If I am on public land, steep
Pick Tires Based on Your Mud, Not Your Ego The best tires for a hunting ATV in mud are aggressive mud tires with deep, widely spaced lugs, in the biggest diameter your machine can pull without rubbing. If your “mud”
The Answer I Give My Friends For most deer hunters, a UTV is better because it hauls more gear, keeps you drier, and is safer on rough trails. If you hunt tight, nasty public land like the Missouri Ozarks, an
Get It Quiet Fast So You Do Not Blow Out Your Spot The fastest way I have found to keep an ATV quiet for hunting access is to fix exhaust leaks, stop plastic rattles, and slow down to under 10
Pick One Based on This, Not the Brochure. For most deer hunters, I’d buy the Can-Am Defender if you want a tougher “work first” rig for rough public land and heavy hauling. I’d buy the Polaris Ranger if you want
Pick the ATV Based on Your Terrain, Not Your Ego. The best ATV for hauling a deer out of the woods is a 4×4 utility ATV in the 450cc to 700cc range with a low range, a winch, and real