Author: Kevin Wilson

After a long time coming, an Alberta elk tag puts the bull of a lifetime on the ground Eleven years is a long time to wait for anything. If you’re an elk hunter applying for a special-draw permit, it can seem like a lifetime. For my wife, Heather, it was an exercise in self-control. She knew full well that if she was patient and held out for a quality management unit, there could be a big payoff. With 11 priority points in Alberta, there would be a nearly 100% chance of pulling a coveted bull tag along the Milk River…

With the snow mostly gone, packed snow still clung to the well-worn trails. Deer droppings, old and new, littered the beaten paths. It was early April, and the perfect time for some pre-season scouting. Working my way down the deer trail, I meticulously scanned every inch of ground. Careful to cover every path possible, I eventually found the right antler belonging to  one of my target bucks. If you’re a shed hunter, you know that when you find one, the match is usually somewhere nearby. Sure enough, less than 20 yards away, there it was! Mass, width and height made…

It’s mid-winter. Fall hunting seasons are in the rear-view mirror and most deer hunters are now either in shed hunting mode, chasing predators, or anticipating spring opportunities. In my world, there’s no better time to check, collect, service and consider adding to my inventory of trail cameras. For a long time, I ran cameras on the deer properties that I hunt only during peak periods from mid-August through to the end of November. Whether I leave them out year-round depends on the type of intel I’m looking to collect. Essentially, if I want to know whether particular bucks made it…

It was the second week in September. Archery seasons were in full swing. My wife Heather and I were looking for mule deer in southern Alberta. The area we hunt is mostly farmland laced with a mix of native prairie grasses and coulees. It’s an ideal habitat for mule deer. Walking a ridge and glassing a standing canola field, with an hour of legal light remaining, we located three good bucks. They were a half-mile away and bedded. We quickly discussed a plan, then it was my turn. If you’ve ever tried moving through standing canola, you know it is…

He was clearly on a mission. The three-year-old buck broke from cover and beelined for the scrape a stone’s throw from my stand. The mother of all scrapes, it was visited regularly by what appeared to be every deer in the area. Measuring 45 inches in diameter, the bucks had dished it deep into the forest floor. Standing in it, the young buck sniffed, licked, and rubbed his orbital glands on the overhanging branch, then pawed at the ground and urinated. Twenty minutes later, a doe with two older fawns visited the scrape. Following a similar routine, the doe sniffed…

And how to get those extra hours in the extreme conditions. In case you came here just to find out what you should buy – I’ll cut to the chase and list my favorites here.  But below, you’ll find all my picks as well as how to layer for the cold weather hunts and not let discomfort be the difference between you and a successful harvest.  Spoiler alert – Sitka has separated themselves from the pack. Best Base Layer: Sitka Gear Merino Heavyweight Half Zip Top and Sitka Gear Merino Heavyweight Bottom Best Insulating Layer: Sitka Kelvin Aerolite Jacket…

Understanding the Whitetail Rut and How to Hunt the 7 Different Phases The most prolific and accessible big game species in North America, Whitetail deer have been studied Ad Infinitum. Their sex life has become a focus of that attention, mostly because the biggest of the big bucks become more exposed, and thereby more vulnerable, as they throw caution to the wind and travel during daylight hours, driven by their innate instinct to breed. Even still, much speculation persists around whether whitetail rut cycles occur early, on time, or even late. With due respect for those who follow lunar phase…

Trail cams have evolved by leaps and bounds over the past couple of decades. Almost every hunter has at least one, and many hunters maintain a fleet of them. From their humble and cumbersome beginnings with print film to today’s digital, video, and even wireless cams, they’ve literally become an integral tool for today’s hunter. Today, users can set preferences for motion sensitivity, image and video timing, delay, and quality. Some even have GPS tracking capabilities. The biggest problem is that trail camera use has become so prolific, that they have created social issues, prompting some jurisdictions to ban them…

Article by Kevin Wilson Ask 10 different deer hunters which is the best rifle caliber, and you could get just as many different answers. With so many new, and, arguably, improved options available today, the decision isn’t just about caliber, but also about the many advancements in cartridge and bullet design as well. Visit any internet shooting forum and you’ll quickly discover posts addressing this topic. It’s a fair and intriguing question because the growing list of options can be dizzying. Before we can even start to discuss the topic, we need to establish some definitions. For the purposes of…

Aesthetically sublime and ergonomically superior, Swarovski Optik has yet again raised the bar with their NL Pure binocular If you follow the optics world, you know that the list of binocular manufacturers just keeps on growing. Even still, European companies continue to lead the industry in optics excellence. Advancing their technology to ensure that discerning outdoor enthusiasts have the best possible tools at their disposal, Austria’s Swarovski Optik has once again set the bar with their line of NL Pure binoculars. Thinking back a decade ago, I remember contemplating how any company could possibly improve on, what appears to be…