Author: Heath Wood

Late-season deer hunting presents unique challenges, mainly when green food sources are scarce and the landscape is predominantly made up of timber and cattle pastures. In such situations, hunters must adjust their strategies to locate and target deer effectively during this demanding period. A few years back, I remember losing some of my excitement for deer hunting towards the end of the year. After all, I had been putting in significant effort for four months, and the thrill was starting to wane. I took a break to attend an archery trade show in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the first week of…

Following a disappointing 2022 hunting season marked by a lack of success in turkey hunting during the spring and only securing one deer in the fall and winter seasons, I recognized the need for substantial improvements in the coming year. Like many, my New Year’s resolution centered around shedding weight and improving my fitness. The usual challenge lay in the difficulty of such resolutions, often leading to abandoned expectations. However, this past year brought a distinct change. My wife and I committed to losing weight, enhancing our fitness, and, crucially, spending the upcoming summer as a more active and outdoorsy…

Reflecting on the beginning of my passion for a career in the hunting industry, I am grateful to have grown up when hunting products were emerging. During my early teenage years, I distinctly remember my father crafting climbing and ladder tree stands using metal and wood, which he sold to friends and family. It was the early ’90s, and unlike today, there wasn’t a flood of manufactured tree stands in the market. One crisp October weekend, my father knew of a gentleman set to showcase a new line of deer lures at a local hardware store in a neighboring town…

While on a managed deer hunt in southern Missouri 25 years ago, I witnessed a unique way that a hunter attempted to mask his human scent against the Whitetail deer we were hunting. After a warm early October morning of hunting activity, the hunters in our group all gathered back at camp to trade our cold-weather clothing for cooler clothes and for some time hanging around until our evening hunt. With temperatures reaching nearly 90˚˚   by 11 a.m., many cut their hunts short in exchange for a relaxing spot in a cooler place. When one of the neighboring campers pulled…

Several years ago, I landed my first job in the hunting industry by becoming a member of a field promotions team for a leading hunting manufacturer. One of my duties was to promote different products while doing in-store promotional events at several major hunting retailer sites. While doing the in-store events, I often endorsed multiple food plot seed blends and many different minerals and attractants for Whitetail deer. Years later, I became more educated on the needs of Whitetail deer by talking to various professionals specializing in deer nutrition. I now realize that most of the marketing done by sporting…

With two-day-old snow already on the ground and a major cold front having gone through earlier in the day, my wife and I set out for a night of hunting coyotes. The previous day, a landowner informed me that he regularly saw a coyote sitting near his barn on the edge of his cattle pasture. For multiple days in a row, the farmer had encountered what he thought was the same coyote mousing around the outside of his hay barn. He assured me that we would be likely to have success if we hunted the location. With encouraging coyote activity…

On the back deck of our condo that overlooked Table Rock Lake, my wife, son, and I sat around the patio table as we enjoyed our dinner. It was the last weekend in September, and our family had decided to relish a weekend getaway before cooler weather arrived. The plan for the weekend was simple, a getaway to clear our minds of day-to-day life and its distractions. I enjoyed our weekend; however, I must admit that during each evening of our stay, I found myself unable to put down my cellphone for very long periods due to the excessive amount…