Author: Ryan Fair

Do these steps to help your taxidermist produce a top quality mount If you have hunted long enough, I’m sure the scenario I am about to describe has happened to you; if not, hopefully, after reading this, you won’t ever find yourself in this position. In my earlier years as a whitetail hunter, I always adhered to the adage if it’s brown, it’s down, especially during gun week. I stuck to this idea because, quite frankly, I was still in the infancy stages of learning to hunt mature whitetail. It was a lot easier to head out to the woods…

If you bow hunt long enough there will come a time that you put a bad shot on a whitetail. Weather it’s a shoulder hit, or a gut shot it happens and after the shot it can leave you feeling hopeless and lost. On a recent bow hunt during the rut here in Ohio, I did just that, put a bad shot on a nice 8-point buck. I watched this buck follow a trail that a doe had just passed by me on at 15 yards. As I watched him cruise down the trail nose to the ground my heartbeat…

A mock scrape can be one of the most effective tools a whitetail hunter uses to learn buck movement, monitor rut activity, and pull mature deer into camera range. By recreating the natural communication sites bucks and does already use, hunters can create low-pressure locations that attract deer through curiosity, scent, and territorial behavior. This story breaks down the parts of a mock scrape, why they work, where to place them, and how to use them with trail cameras to pattern bucks during the most important weeks of deer season. We’ll help answer some of these important questions about mock…

Choosing the right deer scents can make a big difference when you’re trying to pull whitetails into range, build activity around a mock scrape, or create a scent trail that gets the attention of a cruising buck. A whitetail lives and dies by its nose, using scent to locate food, detect danger, communicate with other deer, and find does during the rut. That is why the right scent strategy can help hunters tip the odds in their favor. Today’s hunters have more deer scent products than ever before to choose from than ever before, including natural deer urine, synthetic scents,…

Straight wall cartridges have revolutionized deer hunting in states with firearm restrictions, providing hunters with better accuracy, extended range, and reduced recoil compared to traditional shotgun slugs or sabots. With several powerful options available—350 Legend, 450 Bushmaster, 45-70 Government, 360 Buckhammer, and the newer 400 Legend—choosing the right straight wall cartridge for your hunting style is essential. Whether you need a low-recoil option for youth hunters, a hard-hitting powerhouse for thick cover, or the best all-around balance of range and power, we break down each cartridge’s strengths and weaknesses to help you make the best decision for your next gun…

What style of hunting is best for you? There are several ways to hunt these days. You have tree saddles, climbing stands, hang-on stands, ladder stands and blinds. I’m sure there are others, but these are the main ones on the market today. For new hunters, the different options can be overwhelming. It all depends on how much you want to spend and how comfortable you want to be. From tree saddles to tree stands, to pop-up blinds, to ghost blinds, there are plenty of options. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a hardcore hunter, something is offered for everyone. Or,…

Photos by Wess Brown When I hear the word, “sacrifice,” the first thing that pops into my head is our veterans. They sacrifice so much to protect our country’s freedoms. Those include the freedom to enjoy the great outdoors. When I set out to find a company that gives back, I knew I would have to look no further than Trophyline. Trophyline is doing great things not only in the saddle hunting community, given all their great products, but they are also sponsoring veteran-guided hunts. When I reached out to Wess Brown at Trophyline asking if he had a story…

There are several different ideas about how to hunt bucks during the rut. Everyone advises, “hunt the pinch points,” or, “you need to be in a rut funnel.” While these tactics work, If you don’t have these terrain features on your land, then what? There are several different tactics people use to try to tag a buck during the rut. I have tried about every one of them. Most haven’t brought me success, whether that’s  because of a terrain feature or the bucks just weren’t responsive to that tactic in my area. There are a few tactics I have found…

We have all been there. You’re checking trail cameras and it never fails: Somewhere in the middle of all the photos of squirrels and does, you see a photo of a great buck. It also never fails that this picture is occurring well after the legal shooting light. If you’re anything like me, you hunt small properties no bigger than 50 acres. This means more than likely that buck is spending his daylight hours somewhere other than on your property. But that’s something we can change. You need to make your property the place where deer want to spend more…

I think Ohio has one of the longest bow seasons. It starts the last weekend in September and continues through the first weekend in February. This provides plenty of time to key in on a certain buck and capitalize in the late season. I find that the pressure around me usually subsides after a weeklong gun season during the week after Thanksgiving. After this is when I go to work, if I haven’t filled my buck tag yet. The first thing I do is locate the late-season food sources in my area. Deer are slaves to their stomachs at this…