Author: Brad Fenson

Having hunted cougars or mountain lions several times, I longed to chase a big tom. Most of the excursions were in British Columbia, and most ended with poor results. Big cats are challenging to find and they are even more difficult to catch up with and tree. Many years ago, a landowner granted me permission to hunt a cat while on private ground, but only if we harvested any cat we treed. After an all-day chase, I did take a nice cat, but it wasn’t the monster tom I had dreamed of chasing. My desire to hunt a big cat…

Visiting Mexico for a Coues deer hunt, I looked forward to warming temperatures compared to the frigid, sub-zero deep freeze at home. The elevation of the Sierra Madre mountains in northern Mexico, combined with the winter months and the sun being low on the horizon, generated warm days and cold nights. Leaving camp in the moist, predawn air, a heavy layer of frost forced me to pull on an extra jacket to pre- pare for our drive to the hunting area. Hunting Coues deer means using the early-morning darkness to reach a vantage point. From there, you can spend the…

Hunter-and-Gatherer Challenge Several years ago, there was a television show that challenged participants to live for a year sourcing all food and beverage within 100 miles of their home. The concept seemed easy enough, but watching the show revealed just how challenging it must have been for our forefathers to fill a plate throughout the year. As a hunter, the challenge, fun and reward come from procuring enough wild game to feed my family for an entire year. Adding the diversity of game meat is a blessing many early settlers did not often encounter. Although I have lived most of…

A quick stop at a local sporting goods store put my license and tag in my pocket for a third-rifle season elk hunting in Colorado. We then headed for Fred Eichler’s ranch and lodge, where he operates Fulldraw Outfitters with his wife, Michele, and the rest of his family. Fred is one of those guys brimming with excitement and energy, so often creating contagious excitement for a pending hunt. Fred gathered us around the table to go over the camp rules. What stuck in my mind was his advice to harvest a four-point bull if given the opportunity. The four-point…

Article by Brad Fenson Hunters are well known for finding every excuse in the book for not being successful at the hunt. Whether a hunter holds out for a big buck or is just looking to put some extra venison in the freezer, hunting does not always go as planned. The weather is too warm or too cold. The wind is erratic and coming from the wrong direction. The moon phase is wrong for the days planned for hunting. The rut never seems to kick in when expected. Most hunters have heard all the excuses in the book. If you…

Mindful of the wind, we edged up a ridge with better visibility before starting our rattling sequence. For over four minutes, the antlers resonated as my hunting partner rattled to mimic a fight between two bucks. Then, without warning, buck came rushing towards us. With its head held high, the deer scanned the tangles of brush for any sign of the combatants. It was obvious he was more than curious and anxious to get in on the action, or at least size up the competition. Unable to see the deer making all the racket, the buck did what whitetails do…

Sharing an elevated blind with Larry Weishuhn gave me the chance to catch up with an old friend, but the two of us talked and laughed so much I was afraid we’d never see any game. We were like a couple of kids in the schoolyard telling stories and making hand gestures when a thundering gobble from a turkey reverberated through the metal walls of our structure. We both looked with wide eyes and quit talking in mid-sentence. I slowly turned and peaked out the window to see a large flock of long-beards working their way towards us. One of…

If you have been fortunate enough to witness the rutting chase of whitetailed deer, you can appreciate the incredible strength and stamina that these grand animals posses. A whitetail buck has his work cut out when it comes to getting the opportunity to breed. When a doe comes into estrus and locates a dominant buck, she’ll take her suitor on a long-winded chase before breeding occurs. The rut chase usually occurs on the edge of an open area, and the doe will lead the buck on a long chase before stopping and allowing the buck to do his job. These…

I pointed my truck east and started the day-long drive towards deer camp. Opportunities to hunt Whitetailed deer in our neighboring province of Saskatchewan are available through a draw or with an outfitter. Many of the outfitters have licenses specific to Canadian residents, so there are plenty of options. I booked a hunt with Mark and Amber Belchamber and bigspruceoutfitting.com and couldn’t wait to spend a week with them. COVID had me locked down, and that meant there was no better time to explore Canadian adventures close to home. In typical prairie fashion, a winter blizzard struck just two hours…

The simple definition of a bullet in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is a small piece of metal or another material that is shot out of a gun. The full definition listed is: a round or elongated missile (as of lead) to be fired from a firearm; broadly: cartridge. Most hunters understand the pretense of a bullet and what it does. However, there are only a few that fully pay attention to the details of bullet engineering and design to get an advantage in bringing home game or being more successful in the shooting sports. I attended Rob Furlong’s Marksmanship Academy last…