Author: Josh Honeycutt

Photos courtesy of Myles Tomsche Myles Tomsche finally caught up to the massive Whitetail to which he dedicated his deer season Buck Score: 195 4/8 inches (about 202 inches without broken points) Date of Harvest: December 6, 2020 Location of Harvest: Stearns County, Minnesota Weapon of Harvest: Muzzleloader Some hunters have multiple years of history with the bucks they kill. But Myles Tomsche never knew of this 5½-year-old buck until the 2020 season. In mid-October, he spotted the deer about 200 yards away while bowhunting. “I was bowhunting with my brother-in-law, Justin, and told him I had seen the biggest…

Images Courtesy of Brent Olfert Brent Olfert’s No. 1 target buck was killed by a truck during the pre-season. Then he found this deer Buck Score: 2054/8 inches (gross) / 203 inches (net) Date of Harvest: September 2, 2021 Location of Harvest: Saskatchewan, Canada Weapon of Harvest: Compound Bow Saskatchewan Whitetail chaser extraordinaire Brent Olfert is a dedicated deer hunter, and he tagged a huge Whitetail during the 2021 season. Aged 5½ to 6½ years old, the fully mature deer was a challenge, but it eventually fell to a well-placed arrow. This deer wasn’t Olfert’s original target animal, though, as…

Don’t make these blunders while chasing that wintertime giant The early season came and went. The pre-rut blew by. The rut was a blur. And now, late season deer hunting is here, and you’re still packing a tag. Something prevented you from filling it during the previous phases, but you won’t make mistakes during the final one. It’s time to execute and execute well. Fortunately, the late season can be an excellent time to fill a tag. Deer are slaves to their stomachs and if you find the food, good bedding cover, and an unpressured area, late-season hunting can be…

Finding, Preparing and Hunting the Whitetail Property of Your Dreams Hunting leases continue to gain popularity. I’ve leased numerous properties throughout the years, and I’ve experienced a high success rate in doing so. But there are things you need to know, especially when setting up a long-distance deer hunting lease. While this isn’t an exhaustive list or plan, but here’s a solid process to get you started and some of the important things you need to know. Find The Right Property Finding a lease is difficult these days. If you do find one, chances are good that you’ll pay a…

12 Mature Whitetail Deer Personality Types (and How to Approach Them) Deer hunters who consistently tag mature whitetails understand a key component—whitetail behavior. They understand that each buck exhibits traits and tendencies that culminate as a perceived personality. Seeing these tendencies and translating them into actionable information is what separates good deer hunters from true whitetail experts. Of course, whitetails don’t have personalities in the human sense. Deer are reactionary. They don’t have the ability to develop a true psychological identity. That said, a buck’s habits can still form into what seems like one. When trying to determine a buck’s…

These Age-Old Hunting Tactics Require You To Be Both Slow And Quick On Your Feet Soft snowflakes flutter from the sky and land on your face. Time stands still as you slowly place one foot in front of the other, taking long pauses between each minuscule move. Hours of this monotonous activity goes on, but for you, it isn’t monotonous at all. You see nature in a way you never have before. You’re a part of it. It comes to life around you, and you come to life around it. While treestands and ground blinds have their place, still hunting…

Things to Learn and Keep in Mind Before Hunting High-Country Whitetails As a Central Kentucky native, I don’t live in the mountains. Eastern Kentucky has plenty of mountains, but they’re not located here. In this part of the world, the landscape is intermittent timber with open areas along rolling hills. One of the best things I’ve done to improve myself as a deer hunter is to hunt different terrain types. In the past decade, I’ve challenged myself by hunting Whitetails in other terrain types—such as the plains of Western Kansas, the swamps of South Carolina, the grain ground of the…

Article by Josh Honeycutt Check Out These Solid Bedding Areas and Other Places to Intercept Deer in Daylight Not every deer hunter has access to large acreages. Most hunt small parcels of land. For those in the latter situation, the hunt often requires more patience. Other times, it requires a balance of aggressive and passive approaches. Regardless, smaller tracts of land often need to be treated differently than large ones. Fortunately, you don’t need large pieces of land to kill big bucks. It’s possible to own, lease, or get permission to hunt on small lands and have success. After all,…

Article by Josh Honeycutt Bowhunting from an elevated position offers an excellent advantage. Being able to   hunt   from above allows hunters to get away with a little more movement, it opens shot opportunities, and it can make the difference in filling a tag or not. Still, there’s a lot to consider when using treestands and it takes some logic and lessons learned to realize their full potential. Five Key Factors Most Whitetail behavior—including where, when, and how they maneuver the landscape— revolves around five primary factors. These include: Daytime security bedding Food Water The rut (or lack thereof) and Hunting…

A list of reasons why that big buck you’ve been following suddenly vanished. I can think of numerous target bucks that disappeared on me, some of them were truly massive whitetails. There’s that main-frame 180-inch 11-pointer with a split G3 and heavy mass. The 185-inch non-typical with all kinds of character. Even that 175-inch clean, typical 10-pointer that departed, never to resurface again. Of course, it’s happened with dozens of other bucks that were “smaller,” but no less worthy of the hunt. Of course, more than half of yearling (1 ½-year-old) bucks will depart from their birthlands and find a…