“I was like, oh, I didn’t kill the biggest deer up here,” Kufahl told MeatEater.

Kufahl was running trail cameras in three counties and had never seen this buck before. Ten days later, it showed up again. Kufahl decided his season wasn’t over after all.

“I had a gun tag,” Kufahl said. “I decided that was the only deer I was going to hunt. If I found him during gun season, I was going to hunt him.”

Kufahl's 2025 buck.

Kufahl spent the next several weeks relocating cameras, trying to find the big buck’s core area. Then two days after the season closed, he had it. The buck showed up in the same spot for three days in a row and made several daylight appearances. That’s when Kufahl moved all of his cameras into the area, just to keep an eye on him in the off-season. The buck even dropped his sheds right next to one of his cameras. Kufahl has those sheds from last year, which he estimates would have scored around 188 inches. Kufahl’s target buck disappeared for much of the summer, only showing up on camera about once a month. It was enough for Kufahl to track antler growth. But people in the area were already talking. Hunters were swapping stories about the buck at the local bar and flashing their own pictures of him.

The giant buck dropped his sheds within feet of Kufahl's trail camera.

“I figured there would be people crawling all over there this year. They know he’s big,” Kufahl said.

But Kufahl already knew roughly where the big buck was bedding, and he had a plan. Unfortunately, the wind didn’t cooperate with that plan. On opening day, September 12, the wind was coming out of the northwest, blowing almost directly from Kufahl’s stand to the buck’s bedroom.

“But I thought I could beat him,” Kufahl said. “I got in there and I sat and didn’t see anything.”

When the buck disappeared from his cameras for three days after that first sit, Kufahl figured he blew it. Rain kept the deer from moving much on Monday, Sept. 14, but Kufahl figured they would be up and moving again following the storm. They did. The big buck turned up on his trail cameras again on Tuesday evening, but Kufahl was at his daughter’s volleyball game and not in the woods.

Wednesday’s forecast called for more rain after dark, so Kufahl hit the woods early. He figured the deer would move before the front, so he slipped into the woods early in the afternoon.

“It was dead calm that day,” Kufahl said. “I know big bucks usually don’t like the dead calm. They like a little bit of breeze to move. But I knew it was early season, and anything could happen.”

And it did. Right at dusk, just as Kufahl was about to throw in the towel for the day, he heard footsteps. They sounded really close. He slolwy cut his eyes toward the sound and saw his target buck standing in bow range and staring right at him. The buck snuck in and Kufahl never heard him coming.

“I was like, holy smokes!” Kufahl said. “Stay calm. Just don’t look at his rack.”

The buck finally took a step, putting a big oak tree between the two of them. Kufahl took that opportunity to draw his Mathews Helon 6. When the buck stepped out on the other side of that oak, it was almost broadside, quartering slightly toward him. Kufahl released, sending a Carbon Express arrow tipped with a QAD Exodus broadhead right in front of the buck’s shoulder. It pierced the animal’s heart on its way out the other side.

Kufahl knew the shot was good, but the buck ran toward private land after the shot. He didn’t want to bump the buck, so he collected his gear, headed back to his truck, and called a buddy for help. It was almost 9 p.m. when the two returned to the area to look for it. Luckily, it didn’t take them long to find him.

“I had my little flashlight, and it was getting kind of hard to see, so my buddy turned on his floodlight,” Kufahl said. “It looked like a blood bath going over the hill.”

When they crested the hill, Kufahl’s buddy spotted the buck first.

“He was piled up on the edge of the brush, and there was just this massive rack sticking up.”

Kufahl with his 2026 buck.

They managed to snap a few photos with their cellphones before the rain started pouring. Kufahl knew he had a big buck on his hands, but he wasn’t fully prepared for just how big.

“He was probably 10 inches bigger than I thought he was,” Kufahl said. “The spread is 22 ¾ inches inside. Last year he was a perfect 12. This year, he was 11. If he had matching G5s like he did last year, he probably would have pushed 200 inches.”

Kufahl and his buddy were able to snap a few pictures of the deer before a rainstorm hit.

Kufahl has a shoulder mount planned for the buck, but with his taxidermist on an elk hunt, he had to scramble to find a freezer big enough to hold the rack until he gets back.

“He called around and found somebody with a big chest freezer that was empty,” Kufahl said. “I drove it down there on Friday and put it in there.”

Luckily, that was the hardest track job of this hunt for Kufahl.

Photos courtesy of Matthew Kufahl.

Answer: Like all good questions, it depends. Generally, the faster you can break down an animal and get it cold, the better. In hot weather, you should prepare ahead of time so you don’t risk meat spoilage. While “hot” might be relative to your geographical location, anything above 40 degrees requires special care. Temps above 70 demand expediency. Anything above 90, every minute counts.

If you can quickly retrieve your deer in a truck, cart, or side-by-side, you don’t have to stress too much, especially if you can get to the processor within the hour. A lot of folks don’t want to process a deer in these conditions. However, if you want the least amount of spoilage, I would suggest field dressing your deer before dropping it at the processor if the temps are above 40 degrees. Also, consider that your processor might not get to your deer right away. They could be backed up or short-staffed, and it could be even longer before they’re able to break down your animal. A good processor will do away with any spoilage. A less thoughtful one will throw it in your grindpile. If you want to avoid either, just take an extra 5 to 10 minutes and gut your deer.

You might not always be a hop and a skip from the processor. In these cases, you definitely want to field dress your deer or even debone it in the field (where legal). Let’s say you don’t have far to drag your deer, but you won’t be able to drop it at the processor for at least a few hours, and the temps are above 70 degrees. First, field dress your deer. If you’re transporting it, buy a bag or two of ice and stuff it in the cavity to help keep it cool. This will give you plenty of time to get your deer to the processor without exposing it to warm, bacteria-forming temps (anything above 40 degrees) for an extended period of time.

On the other hand, you might find yourself miles from the trailhead. In temps above 70 degrees, I’m deboning a deer. One, because it’s just not feasible to drag a deer in some of these scenarios. Second, it’s crucial to start cooling meat when the mercury rises. In hot, humid environments, this is especially important. Besides, there’s nothing better than knowing you don’t have to clean a deer after a long walk back to the truck.

Make sure you have a solid set of game bags and a hunting pack that allows your deer meat to breathe. Contractor bags are a cheap way to go, but they don’t allow your meat to cool adequately. When you make it back to the truck, get your meat in the cooler and ice it fast. The meat will still be dissipating heat, so try to separate it as best you can in your cooler. Don’t just pack it tight.

Still, other factors like the recovery time and whether or not you gut shot your deer also factor into meat spoilage. Rupturing the intestines and exposing the bacteria that live in there to the rest of the deer doesn’t bode well for warm temperatures. If you gut shot a deer and have to leave it overnight in temperatures above 40 degrees, you’ll want to check the deer as you clean it. For instance, if you smell stomach bile on the meat as you’re breaking it down, you’ll have to consider whether or not it’s worth the risk of eating it. I’m not proposing that you flippantly waste meat, but it might help you determine whether or not you should take a questionable shot in warm temps.

Have a whitetail related question? Send it to wiredtohunt@themeateater.com and check back to see if we cover it.

Early season deer hunting in the South is a special kind of misery. It’s hot and humid, and you sweat in places you didn’t know you could sweat. Plus, the bugs are still partying like it’s midsummer. Somewhere around the tenth mosquito bite, it’s easy to start questioning all of your life choices.

Mosquitos suck, and swatting at them in the treestand can blow your cover fast. But slathering yourself in bug spray can create its own set of problems, especially when you’re trying to keep a low scent profile. Thankfully, there are some solid strategies to keep the bugs at bay without ruining every early-season sit.

Change Your Location

Avoiding the kinds of spots mosquitoes love is one of the easiest ways to skirt them. The boogers love stagnant water and thick, damp cover. Yes, big bucks like those kinds of places, too. But moving your stand 100 yards uphill can take you out of the swarms without taking you completely out of the action. Higher, drier ground often has fewer mosquitoes than a dank, stale bottom.

Getting up out of a low stand location can also get you into some moving air. Even a mild breeze can make a big difference when you’re trying to sit still in an oak tree. It probably won’t drive off every bug in the county, but it may help keep them from hovering around your face and ears the whole time.

Treat Your Clothes

It’s impossible to completely outrun mosquitoes in the South. They’re still pretty much everywhere in September, and deer seem to like the kinds of wet, nasty places where they thrive. Sit outside long enough, and the mosquitoes will find you. Luckily, permethrin can make it tolerable even in the buggiest conditions.

Permethrin is a synthetic form of pyrethrin, the chrysanthemum’s natural insecticide. You can buy pre-treated hunting clothing or spritz your favorite pieces down with a 0.5% permethrin product like Sawyer. Once it’s dry, it bonds to the fabric and offers long-lasting protection that even lasts multiple washes. It is also odorless once it dries. If you decide to go with pre-treated clothing, just know it will eventually wear off after so many washes. You can always treat it again after it fades.

I treat lightweight, breathable layers before the season starts. Then, I don’t have to reapply in the stand, even when I’m sweating through everything. Permethrin only goes on your clothes, not your skin. That means any exposed skin is still hanging out there, tempting mosquitoes.

Protect Your Skin

So what do you do to keep exposed skin from becoming a mosquito buffet? Picaridin is one solid solution. It’s an effective mosquito repellent without the material-damage concerns or strong chemical stench that DEET carries. DEET works extremely well against mosquitoes, but it’s also a strong solvent that can damage synthetic coatings, rubber, vinyl, and plastic on everything from binoculars and GPS screens to rain gear.

DEET also has a pungent chemical smell that just isn’t welcome in a deer stand. A fragrance-free picaridin formula is a good alternative to DEET. Smear it on exposed skin before you climb in the stand. Your face, ears, and neck are obvious targets, but don’t overlook your hands and fingers, especially if you don’t wear gloves. Mosquito bites on fingers are a unique form of torture, especially when you’re trying to sit still with a bow in hand.

Make Your Stand a Bug-Free Zone

When I’m hunting early-season heat, I consider a Thermacell an essential piece of hunting gear. I’m a total Thermacell fangirl. I’ve used them for years. They are a simple way to make something close to a mosquito-free bubble around a deer stand.

These handy little devices use a butane cartridge to heat a repellent-treated mat. It takes a little time to warm up (about fifteen minutes), but once it gets going, it makes mosquitoes rethink buzzing in to snack on your skin.

But what do the deer think? The standard Thermacell mats do produce a distinctive odor, and a deer’s keen sense of smell is more than capable of picking it up. But the jury is still out on whether or not that odor will spook deer. I haven’t been busted with a Thermacell, but I play the wind religiously. In fact, the faint plume they emit can actually help me pick up slight shifts in air movement. You can also swap out the standard-issue Thermacell mat for an earth scent refill and use it as a cover scent.

Cover Your Extremities

Mosquitoes seem to have a knack for finding even the smallest patches of bare skin. Your fingers, ears, and the back of your neck are like rare delicacies to them. All three are also tough places to scratch when you’re trying hard to be a statue in a treestand.

A lightweight pair of gloves can keep your fingers and hands from being eaten alive. But make sure you practice shooting with them before opening day. If you aren’t used to handling a bow and manipulating a release while wearing gloves, it can take some getting used to.

A mesh face mask like the kind spring turkey hunters love can really help keep mosquitoes from attacking your face and ears. However, loose netting can get in the way of your bowstring and anchor point. It can also potentially catch on the string during the shot.

You can also cover your face, ears, and neck with a lightweight neck gaiter. They’re not as bulky as a mesh mask and still keep mosquitoes off those tender spots. You can even use a permethrin-treated gaiter to really deter those bloodsuckers.

Final Thoughts

Early-season bowhunting is a hot, sweaty ordeal across much of the country. There’s no reason to make it worse by donating a pint of blood to the local mosquito population. With a little thought and preparation, you can keep the swatting to a minimum and spend your sit listening for deer instead of the buzz of mosquitoes swarming around your ears.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t discussed who got the shot on this one. The buck wasn’t a complete stranger to Logan. He had one close encounter with it last November at eight yards on the ground. His trail cameras picked it up sporadically since then, and neighbors as far as two miles away shared trail camera photos of the buck as well.

“He’s super nomadic for a whitetail,” Logan told MeatEater. “He wasn’t sure where he fit in. He just knew he needed to move around.”

Logan only picked up the buck twice this year on his trail cameras. The first picture came in on August 8 in the middle of the day. The second at 1 a.m., 16 days before he waltzed between the couple’s treestands. This wasn’t a buck Logan or Kaylin had on their radar. But, shortly after 6:30 p.m., Logan heard a sneeze from down the ridge that changed those initial plans. He scanned the direction of the sneeze and saw a little six-pointer. Then he saw the nomadic buck following behind him.

One of the few pictures Logan had of the deer on camera.

“I caught a glimpse of him, just the main frame, and I thought, ‘That’s a decent deer,’” Logan said. As the deer came closer, he recognized the buck from the trail cameras. “My first thought was, ‘I can’t believe he’s here,’ Logan said. “My second thought was that we didn’t have a plan for who’s shooting this one.”

The buck fed up the ridge, traveling with two smaller bucks, a four-pointer and the sneezing six-pointer. The Beachs were hunting a crosswind, and the trio was coming straight for their treestands. The big buck got within a few feet of picking up their scent before stopping. He pulled up nine yards between the hunters, but on both their weak sides, so neither could get a clean shot. It waited there for a few minutes, unaware of how much marital trouble he was causing, before heading toward a pile of corn.

That’s when Logan started trying to figure out what Kaylin was thinking. From his tree, the buck was wide open, but his wife hadn’t taken a shot. “She hadn’t shot, so maybe she’s thinking I’m going to shoot,” Logan said. He drew on the buck while it fed on the corn pile, but he let down when it turned to face him. He drew a second time when the buck turned broadside at 30 yards, but hesitated, wondering if Kaylin might still shoot.

“I drew back and anchored in and kind of waited 10 or 15 seconds,” he said. “Then I was like, I can’t let him sit here no more.” He settled his pin and released, sending a G5 Mega Meat broadhead straight through both lungs.

“He didn’t jump or buck or anything,” Logan said. “It was right there in the money.” He watched as the buck ran about 25 yards and then piled up. “We were both ecstatic,” Logan said. “Both our trees were wiggling. We were air high-fiving and everything.”

Once the excitement calmed down a little, Logan climbed down and walked over to Kaylin’s tree. His wife had a few things to say to her husband.

“The first thing she said was, ‘That deer’s a lot bigger than you think he is,’” Then she asked a question Logan wasn’t expecting. “You couldn’t have given me one more step?”

“I thought you couldn’t shoot,” Logan told his wife. “From my angle, it didn’t look like you were doing much.” But Kaylin had her camera running the whole time, and footage wasn’t exactly going to help Logan’s case.

Kaylin likes to shoot her recurve at 18 yards or closer. The buck had been standing just 22 yards from Kaylin’s stand. But just before Logan released his arrow, it had stepped right into her shooting lane. The video from Kaylin’s camera shows her raising her bow and putting tension on the string. “Then you see a lighted nock come from somewhere in outer space and tear up the party,” Logan said.

The Beach's didn't realize how much mass the buck had until they found it.

When the couple first approached Logan’s velvet buck, they immediately noticed the buck’s mass, which looked like a “cactus.” The buck’s rack wasn’t particularly wide, but he had 42 2/8 inches of mass and 22 scorable points. It grossed 164 1/8 inches in Buckmasters scoring. Fortunately for Logan, Kaylin has been a good sport about the whole thing.

“She was excited for me,” Logan said. “There hasn’t been any couch sleeping or divorce papers or anything.”

Photos courtesy of Logan Beach.

Both bucks and their environments become increasingly dynamic as August draws to a close, with nearly every key component of deer movement changing all at once. The most evident, and often most frustrating, is their diet. If your camera intel happens to go dry, don’t panic. A brief understanding of what’s going on with whitetail food should calm your nerves.

The Mast Effect

Destination food sources are obvious throughout the summer when bucks prioritize high-protein forage to support rapid antler growth. Soybeans, alfalfa fields, and clover plots are great places to catalog resident bachelor groups, but they tend to give hunters a false sense of confidence about their early-fall prospects.

As summer wanes, forage quality drops, and protein needs dry up along with velvet. Fats and carbs take the lead in a whitetail’s fall diet to prepare for the energy demands of the rut and impending winter. Perhaps not coincidentally, this transition almost perfectly aligns with the acorn drop.

While oak species and mast-fall timelines vary from region to region, the presence of energy-rich acorns in any capacity can have a huge impact on early-season deer feeding patterns. A Virginia study published in 1993 found that whitetails dedicated a staggering 50% of their foraging time to acorns during peak mast and were solely responsible for 70% of acorn consumption during that timeframe.

With that monumental level of preference, it’s not surprising that the same study observed collared deer altering their home ranges specifically to incorporate hot oak stands into their daily rounds. None of that bodes well for a September bean field that looked like deer mecca a month ago. And, to make matters worse for your summertime hotspots, consider that sugary soft masts like persimmons and apples can be as big of a draw as acorns and have roughly the same seasonal timing. If your food plot cameras have become purely ornamental, mast is a likely culprit. But it’s not the only one.

Shifting Bedrooms and Growing Neighborhoods

One of the most popular deer hunting strategies is to get between a buck’s preferred feeding and bedding areas. Changing feed and bed patterns make this strategy tricky.

While research has shown that bedding bucks prioritize thermal cover in close proximity to high-quality forage throughout the summer, their tastes switch with the onset of fall. In addition to forage becoming less of a draw, cooler temperatures mean bucks no longer need to tuck away in scarce microhabitats that offer slightly cooler temperatures and some respite from the bugs. They have more options to spread out and not a moment too soon.

As with diet, shifts in fall bedding are largely tied to physiological changes. Bachelor groups that shared a grassy swale in early August are suddenly not so stoked to be roommates by early September, and a camera targeting that swale might go from 100 to zero in a week as the band breaks up. Solitary bedding sites become key in the early season. In the summer, deer bed for comfort. In the fall, they bed for survival.

The abandonment of summer bedding also coincides with range expansion. All of the hormones that lead a buck into his reckless November scramble start to ramp up in August. That means you’re more likely to have random new bucks show up on early-season trail cameras, but you also might not see resident bucks as often as you did while their antlers were growing.

The whole program has changed in the last couple of weeks. Clinging to dried-up cameras and planning to hunt on summertime memories is a good way to doom yourself to a slow and painful opener. Luckily, it’s not too late to get back on track.

A Little Sign Goes a Long Way

Whitetail hunters have long been conditioned to be ultra-cautious with early-season bucks. The overwhelming message is to minimize your presence in the woods to avoid educating deer to your presence ahead of the pre-rut.

The thing is, there are weeks between most archery openers and the pre-rut, and the key to filling tags in that time period is to scout. Scout with trail cameras where you can, but you should also use onX, binoculars, and a good pair of boots. Trail cameras are a convenient method to passively gather intel, which makes it easy to forget that they’re only one piece of the puzzle and an especially fickle one this time of year.

Early-season bucks don’t leave as much sign in the woods as they will around Halloween, but they’re also not covering nearly as much ground. September marks a unique time when fresh rubs and scrapes can tell you exactly where to intercept your target. If your trail cameras are dead, pull a few and take a hike.

Combine some old-fashioned grunt work with cutting-edge technology. You’ll find bucks somewhere. And when you do, you better hunt them, because the season of consistency is over. Until next summer, every week will be different in the whitetail woods.

After a day of pheasant hunting in LaSalle County, Illinois, in 1991, Sam Aiuppa decided to spend the remainder of the evening in a deer stand, he told Rack Magazine in an interview. Aiuppa swapped his birdshot for a slug in his Remington 870, and after just 40 minutes in his stand, he spotted the massive buck approaching. Once the buck stepped into range, Aiuppa dropped it in its tracks. But it would be over three decades before the buck made it into the record books.

Once word spread about the giant rack hanging in Aiuppa’s basement, antler collector James Martin drove to Illinois, bought the rack from Aiuppa, and started the process for official Boone and Crockett scoring. Officially, the buck scored 207 ⅞, still shy of the Hanson Buck (213 5/8), but enough to propel it all the way to the no. 2 spot for the biggest whitetail ever killed.

Images via Boone and Crockett.

He made it home to Watertown, scarfed down something to eat, grabbed his Mathews Traverse bow, and by 3:30 p.m. was settled into his treestand.

Owen got the first glimpse of his target buck last summer, when it showed up on a trail camera overlooking a clover food plot. But the buck disappeared as quickly as he’d shown up. “Last year, he looked the exact same frame-wise and had the exact same tine curvature, but he had none of the junk. He was a completely perfect 9-pointer last year,” Owen told MeatEater.

He wouldn’t see that buck again until it reappeared in June on that same food plot. “All he had was a little bit of his main beam, a little bit of his brow tines, and I could just tell he was going to throw something weird on that one side. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was going to be, but I could tell he was going to be a little bit odd for sure,” Owen said.

But the buck only made rare appearances, sometimes going more than two weeks at a time without showing up on the trail camera. Owen figured that buck wasn’t living near that food plot, just occasionally passing through.

Owen got a few photos of the buck passing through before making an adjustment to his trail camera.

Owen moved his trail camera further up the mountain the last week of July to a small oak flat smack dab in the middle of thick cover. That’s where he hit pay dirt. Within two days, the buck was making near-daily daylight appearances.

Owen figured he found that buck’s living room. But there was just one small problem—getting to that oak flat would require hiking almost the entire length of the property and risk bumping the buck on his way to the stand. So he talked to a neighbor and got permission to access through their property, where he could get to his treestand by simply walking down a fence line.

With access figured out, Owen had one more detail to dial in. A few days before the velvet opener, he went in and moved his stand to get a better angle on the oak flat. The wind on top of the mountain was hard to predict, so Owen was counting on the thermals to carry his scent down and away from where he expected his target buck to come from.

By the time Owen climbed into his treestand the afternoon of opening day, he had another reason to feel good about his odds. The buck hadn’t shown up on camera for two days, which was unusual. But it made him confident that the buck was due for an appearance.

It was brutally hot, with temperatures in the 90s that afternoon, and Owen had heat and mosquitoes to contend with. He wasn’t in the stand for an hour when he heard something moving behind him.

A smaller 8-pointer that he described as the deer’s running buddy appeared. He had several trail camera photos of those two bucks traveling together all summer.

“That deer came up and worked directly underneath me. I heard something behind him, and then I could see legs coming through the trees. I would have bet you money it was going to be him,” Owen said. But it wasn’t. Another smaller buck was trailing the 8-pointer. For the next 25 minutes, he watched those two bucks feed under his stand before they split up and went in different directions.

“I was glad when they got out from underneath me because the bugs were bad. I wanted to swat the mosquitoes,” Owen said, laughing. Despite the relief, Owen thought it was strange that the bucks had split up. It was the end of August, when bucks were still traveling together in bachelor groups. He didn’t have much time to ponder it, however.

Around 6:30 p.m., Owen caught movement in the direction one of the smaller bucks had gone. The deer he’d been thinking about all summer was working a small tree with his antlers at about 80 yards from his stand. Owen watched him work the tree for about 10 minutes before making a beeline for his stand.

As the big buck closed the distance, Owen saw the two smaller bucks coming in behind him. “I guess he had sent his scouts in and determined that the coast was clear.”

The buck seemed to check up a bit at 30 yards, which made Owen nervous. He even considered going ahead and sending an arrow, even though the buck was still standing partially in thick cover.

The buck only ran 70 yards before toppling over.

Then the other two bucks passed the big one and waltzed right through Owen’s shooting lane. That seemed to be all the encouragement the big buck needed. As soon as he stepped toward the gap, Owen drew his bow. The buck reached the gap and stopped broadside, and Owen released.

“The shot was just a hair high,” Owen said. “But I had hung that treestand really high because I was worried about my scent. It was high enough that the exit went out perfectly.”

The buck spun around and headed back the way he came. Owen watched him run about 70 yards, almost to the exact spot where he’d been working his antlers on that small tree. Then the buck fell.

“My first phone call was to my dad,” Owen said. “I don’t know who had wanted me to kill that deer more. Me or him.”

Then came the hard part. The buck was too far back and the terrain too steep to drag him back up the mountain the way Owen hiked in. So Owen, his dad Jim, and his friend Levi McPeak spent hours dragging the buck around the base of the mountain. It was 11:00 p.m. before they finally got him out.

Owen with his buck before taking it to the taxidermist.

The buck is now at the taxidermist, waiting for a shoulder mount. It’s the biggest buck Owen has killed to date, with a rough score of 160 7/8 inches in velvet. “All them drop tines as a cluster were over 18 inches,” Owen said. “That was what really made him impressive.”

I’ve always looked for food and bedding and then found their paths in between. However, where I am in the UP, there are no significant mast crops or ag. The deer primarily feed on browse in the cedar swamps and maple stands that exist in this area. Therefore, everything around them is a potential food source and they don’t have to travel to get a meal.

My question is, with the absence of a destination food source, what is the best way to pattern deer?

Answer: Deciphering movement in the big woods is a different game from farm country. I think it’s the hardest deer hunting out there, but it’s also some of the most rewarding. I spend more time each season working on this problem than anything else, so I have some ideas for you. But first, I’m going to address something that holds a lot of hunters back.

You might think that the deer have food everywhere in the big woods and that they don’t need to travel, but that thought isn’t going to set you up for success. Even in the absence of ag and mast, there are food sources that come and go at certain points of the season. The deer feeding in those maple stands will key on that food source when the leaves are really dropping. Cold mornings with stiff wind will bring those deer to that food source.

The lack of mast crops can actually be an advantage, too. In northern Wisconsin, where I spend much of my fall, I’m always looking for oak trees. A single tree can be a difference maker, and you can bet that the bucks know when that tree is dropping.

They generally won’t bed right in those food sources, either. Which means they have to go from one spot to another. The main problem I tend to encounter in the big woods isn’t that they don’t travel, it’s that the low deer density makes pinning down travel really difficult.

Winter scouting to find rublines has been a huge advantage for me when hunting deer in vast swaths of timber. Where bucks walk consistently, they leave sign. That sign is there for me to see in March and shows up throughout the season. Even if I can’t pin deer down on a soft edge, or a swamp edge, or some maple stand, I can use rubs to see where bucks are likely to travel. Those rublines tell me how they get around low areas, how they leave their ridgetop beds, and generally, how they navigate that mono-habitat.

Now, owning land up there in the north country gives you a unique opportunity to learn how they use terrain. I leave trail cameras out year round on my property in Wisconsin, which teaches me a lot. Camera intel shows me that the best funnels might have a couple of deer pass through them during any given week. That ramps up some during the rut, but it’s never like it is in higher deer density regions.

That does give me confidence to wait them out, and I think that’s maybe the hardest part of this whole thing. All whitetail hunting requires patience to be successful, but it’s a different thing entirely in the big woods. We are conditioned to want to make something happen when the deer activity is slow, but you can blind call all season long in some of those areas and never get a positive response.

The game is won by doing your best to predict some deer movement, and then putting in a lot of time to prove whether you’re right or not. That’s the biggest test I face each season in all of my hunting. You have to scout enough, run cameras if you can, and then observe as much as possible while you’re hunting. It takes a big buy-in with effort, but it’s also just the best way to encounter bucks where there just aren’t very many of them, and they have a lot of habitat with which to work.

Over enough seasons, you will start to flatten that learning curve and begin to figure out that they actually do give you a chance to pattern them (somewhat) and that they do have preferred food sources at certain points of the season.

It’s a lot of work, but when it all comes together, it’s as rewarding as anything you can do with a bow in your hands.

Good luck this fall!

Have a whitetail related question? Send it to wiredtohunt@themeateater.com and check back weekly to see if we cover it.

Hot weather hunting isn’t easy, and it definitely isn’t always fun. It has a way of perpetuating common deer hunting myths that makes many hunters feel better about sitting out the early season. If you’re not careful, you might fall prey to those same misconceptions.

Deer Only Move Early or Late

While this myth could probably apply to the entire season, it’s a common one a lot of hunters believe to avoid sitting in hot conditions. It’s true that deer are crepuscular animals and that they move mostly near dawn and dusk, but that doesn’t mean they don’t move throughout the rest of the day.

On one of the hottest opening weeks I can remember, I killed a doe while still hunting just before 11 am as she slipped down to a creek bottom to get a drink. It hadn’t rained in weeks, and the temps that week hung out in the mid-90s. I also saw multiple deer that week doing the same thing, including a mature buck, at different times of the day—not just the golden hour.

For the sake of not relying on anecdata too heavily, a study out of Mississippi State University’s Deer Lab shows that deer movement isn’t non-existent outside of prime shooting hours. You might not expect to see deer moving freely in the middle of a bean field around noon, but that doesn’t mean they won’t use edge cover to browse, eat acorns, or, in the case of that doe, find a cool drink of water.

You Have to Hunt Water

You should certainly consider hunting water in the early season, especially if the conditions say as much. Hot, arid, or drought-like conditions mean that deer probably factor water into their daily rhythms, and you should too. But that doesn't necessarily apply to every situation. If you hunt a place that gets plenty of rainfall or typically holds water, like a lot of southern states, you probably should look for another limited resource.

If you aren’t hunting dry or drought conditions (good for you), you can probably focus on natural browse or hard mast in cool, shaded areas. These can be good target areas any time of the day, especially if you’re hunting close to bedding or natural edges that get a lot of traffic. At this point of the year deer have more cover options, so while they might not move a ton, they do have plenty of bedding and browsing options.

You might not have to sit over a water hole or a specific section of creek to find deer, but riparian areas can offer a lot more than just water. If you don’t have access to lush bean or alfalfa fields, fear not. There’s a lot of natural browse that hunters tend to overlook. Creeks, river bottoms, and other areas that tend to hold moisture in the soil will have green shoots this time of year that deer will browse. You can also find early dropping acorns, persimmons, or even apples, depending on your location.

Bucks Don’t Move During the Day

A lot of hunters believe that bucks, especially mature ones, don’t move during the day when it’s hot. This is factually untrue. If that were the case, they’d die of starvation down in my home state of Mississippi. You can also watch them mill around in open country if you’ve spent time behind a spotter in the Plains states. Again, they might not cross a country mile, but they will move, despite long-perpetuated myths.

For the past few years, I’ve gotten a bachelor group of bucks on camera in the same spot in September. Not only do they move at various times throughout the day, but they also bed in a cutover that gets sun all day. They get up from their beds, mosey into the timber to munch on acorns, make a few rubs, and bed back down. The deer might not cover an entire creek system in a day, but you don’t need them to if you can gather such intel.

On the flipside, if your trail camera isn’t in the right location, you might assume that the deer aren’t moving. This errant way of thinking has kept a lot of deer alive. Sure, it’s hard to persuade yourself to hunt when you have to replenish your electrolytes and bug spray, but consistent pictures of big velvet bucks might just convince you otherwise.

Answer: Learning to hunt on your own can seem intimidating. From figuring out your effective archery range to picking a spot on opening day, there are a lot of moving pieces in between. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be complicated—even if you’re starting solo. Luckily, there are plenty of options to get new hunters started.

The National Deer Association (NDA) offers a Field to Fork Program that allows adults to learn about deer hunting basics through a hands-on approach. These multi-day events teach hunters how to do everything from the start to finish of a hunt, including the butchering process. This event isn’t meant to teach you everything, but it’s a solid foundation that provides a launchpad for new hunters.

Alternatively, if you prefer to work with a hunting mentor, there are a few different ways you can find one. A lot of states offer hunting introductory courses through their wildlife and fish departments. You typically expect to find at least one of these per year, while some states may offer multiple opportunities annually. These are great places to meet hunting mentors that might be able to work with you personally or connect you with others who can.

You can also do the legwork of finding your own mentor the old-fashioned way. Ask friends, relatives, coworkers, and church members if they or anyone they know might be a willing mentor. Growing up, I had friends who came from non-hunting families, but some of them tagged along with us or learned from others in our community. Sometimes, it’s as simple as asking for help. Remember, you don’t need a hunting mentor forever. Learn the basics from them to get started, and then get out there and figure it out.

If you decide to go it alone, there’s never been a better time. This internet is a massive resource right at your fingertips. Plenty of podcasts like Wired to Hunt offer thousands of hours of expert hunting advice, how-to articles, and video series like Whitetail EDU can help you learn the basics to get started deer hunting.

Of course, there’s no better teacher than time in the woods. So get out there, and get started. You’ll fail, a lot, but that’s what makes hunting so rewarding.

Hunting Access

When it comes to finding land that you can hunt, you might have plenty of options right in your backyard. Most states offer public hunting opportunities in the form of national forests, wildlife management areas, nature reserves, or refuges. These state- and federally-operated public areas can be found with a quick Google search or by using OnX Hunt to find them.

If you go the public route, just know you’ll have to compete with other hunters. This shouldn’t dissuade you from hunting public lands. In fact, some of the best hunts I’ve experienced occurred on highly pressured public land.

Your other option, if you don’t already own land, is to try and score some private permissions. This takes some time, but if you’re willing to do a little door knocking, you might just stumble on a honey hole. Again, use OnX to locate potential properties that interest you. Big properties that look like good hunting spots usually mean someone’s hunting them, though this isn’t always the case. On the other hand, make sure you don’t overlook small properties that might hold deer. In fact, you’ll probably have better luck asking to hunt 10 acres as opposed to 1000.

Some states even offer public walk-in hunting on private lands. You’ll have to research and see if your state offers similar opportunities. If it does, these can be dynamite spots that get overlooked. Just make sure you adhere to local rules and regulations.

Whether you go the private or public route, just know that both options can suck, and both can give you some of the best hunting experiences available.

Have a whitetail related question? Send it to wiredtohunt@themeateater.com and check back weekly to see if we cover it.

Answer: If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked this question, I could probably start manufacturing my own broadheads. Back when I was more of a fixture on the seminar circuit, I fielded this inquiry during every single show. My answer used to be pretty simple and straightforward: Shoot a sharp, durable, fixed-blade head.

I started hunting before mechanicals became a thing, and was slow to adopt any broadhead with moving parts. When I got the job as Equipment Editor for what was at the time the largest bowhunting magazine out there, I no longer had a choice. I had to shoot everything and was lucky enough to get to test a pile of broadheads at the range and in the field.

Over the years, I noticed that my affinity for fixed-blade heads became more and more situationally specific. Animals like turkeys, antelope, mule deer and whitetails all started to fall into the either-or category, with mechanicals eventually winning out. I held true to my roots in Africa or when I found myself targeting bigger quarry like elk.

Now, I feel like it’s more of a matter of choosing a well-built head that you have confidence in. This is true for all critters but something I truly believe when it comes to whitetails.

The broadheads I’ve seen that have failed in the field almost all shared a similar trait–they were cheap. I had fixed-blade heads break at the ferrule on deer, and mechanicals nearly disintegrate on run-of-the-mill shots. I also had both styles blow through shoulders and stay intact, which tells me all I need to know.

More expensive heads generally utilize better materials and offer better designs. This translates to sharper blades, bullet-proof ferrules, better arrow flight, and better survivability on all hits. I know even writing this, that some readers will say it doesn’t matter and you’re just paying up for better marketing and a brand name. That just hasn’t proven true in my experience, as fun as it is to complain about.

So what broadhead is best for you? Well, what do you have confidence in, and how well do you shoot on animals? The tradeoff with fixed versus mechanical is often framed upon whether you would rather have great performance with a shoulder hit (fixed) or a gut shot (mechanical).

I don’t think it’s that simple, because anyone can shank a shot. Instead, ask yourself what you value the most. If getting through bones is it, then you’ll probably want to lean into compact, extra sharp, durable fixed-blade heads. There are plenty on the market, and my personal preference if I can find them is a four-blade options with replaceable blades (because they are always crazy sharp).

If you like great big wound channels, a mechanical is probably better for you. In this category, I don’t shoot jackknife style heads that open from the front anymore. I want them to have rear-deployable blades. I also like two-blade mechanicals that don’t offer anything more than a two-inch cutting diameter.

These are just my rules, yours may differ. Just remember this cliched but true reality–the best ones are the ones that hit where you’re aiming. Shot selection and execution do wonders for broadhead performance. Take full-confidence shots, and then pay close attention to how your broadheads performed with every one. This will shape your future broadhead choice selection much more than any advice I can give you.

–Tony Peterson

Have a whitetail related question? Send it to wiredtohunt@themeateater.com and check back weekly to see if we cover it.

Studies have repeatedly shown that a high prevalence of chronic wasting disease can tip population growth rates into the negatives, since CWD is categorically fatal for any deer unlucky enough to contract it. Progression in infected individuals is wildly different from other high-profile diseases like EHD, which makes it particularly challenging to understand the long-term effects of CWD on whitetail populations.

While an EHD-positive deer is likely to be on death’s door within days, a CWD-positive deer might go years without experiencing any symptoms at all and take months to die after going clinical. The long incubation period makes it easy to point the finger at adult mortality as the sole driver of populations declines from CWD. But just because you’re unlikely to come across a fawn in the dazed and drooling state of an end-stage prion takeover, doesn’t mean fawns aren’t falling victim to the epidemic.

Doomed in the Womb

CWD does not seem to affect reproductive success of infected whitetails during the pre-clinical phase. A 2025 study in northern Illinois found that positive does were no less likely to get pregnant than negative does, which mirrored a 2012 study out of Wisconsin showing that both positive and negative bucks were equally likely to sire fawns. On the surface, those results seem to offer some hope for continued recruitment of youngsters into high-CWD populations despite the inevitable loss of infected adults.

Yet, the harder scientists look at the offspring of CWD does, the worse the implications get.
Until this year, the only correlation observed between maternal CWD infection and fetal development was a one-percent negative difference in fetal weight for CWD-positive does, which was not enough to suggest any impact on fawn survival. But the same Illinois researchers who found positive does just as likely to breed, recently discovered why their fawns might not be as likely to thrive.

It’s not some glaring deformity or systemic failure, but a subtle difference in fetal head development that could be dooming fawns of CWD moms well before they hit the ground. In the 2026 study, fetal skull length and circumference measurements were found to be significantly shorter in CWD-positive does. Although brains of those fetuses were not measured directly, a smaller skull generally indicates a smaller brain. And, according to the study, a smaller brain could mean a decline in cognitive development in fawns birthed by CWD positive does. Those cognitive skills, along with a healthy mother, are imperative for fawn success rates and make it even more challenging for those fawns to avoid predation. For deer in CWD-positive areas, those consequences could pose dire implications for local herds.

Even if the fawn of a positive doe were to overcome its potential cognitive disabilities, the odds that it avoids contracting its mom’s disease appear incredibly slim. Science still hasn’t produced an estimate on CWD transmission rates from doe to fawn, but it has shown that the prions can readily spread both in utero and through direct contact after birth.

Research also suggests that whitetail survival rates tank the hardest from CWD in the 1.5- and 2.5-year-old age classes. This research implies a lot about when and how many deer are contracting CWD, considering the typical incubation period of 18 to 24 months, and flies in the face of the long-held belief that CWD only affects older animals.

Bad Mom Theory

Seasoned hunters know that it’s often not the biggest bucks that prove to be the most cagey, but the old does, tasked with rearing the next generation. It’s a hard job, and might be made more difficult by the symptoms of CWD. More research out of Wisconsin in 2012 found that buck fawns with infected does were harvested about a month earlier on average and significantly farther away from their moms.

This is where these waters get murky. A buck fawn that disperses early due to inadequate maternal care and gets shot by a bowhunter or taken down by coyotes is unlikely to be counted as a CWD loss in anyone’s book, similar to a doe producing fewer viable offspring due to infection. Yet, both scenarios are very real ways in which CWD could have population-level impacts outside of direct death from infection. The latter is light on research in the whitetail world, but a 2013 study on Reeve’s muntjac deer in the UK suggests that stillbirth, as well as failure-to-thrive instances where mortality occurs within a few days after birth, could be higher for fawns of CWD-positive mothers.

The Big Picture

It’s still hard to say exactly what CWD means for deer and deer hunters as it continues to spread. Every year, researchers and game agencies provide more pieces of the puzzle, none of which paint a rosy picture of the future of America’s favorite game animal. Plenty of folks have written CWD off as just another thing that weeds the old and weak from the herd, but new findings indicate it is much more than that. And if we don’t take those warnings seriously, it’s entirely possible that, eventually, no one with a stake in the cervid game will have the option to ignore this disease.

Of course, you’ll need to avoid a few common mistakes if you want to get the most out of your trail camera strategy. If you’re considering running trail cameras for your whitetail or other big game pursuits, this guide can help you figure out everything from choosing one to finding the best spots to place them all season long.

Types of Trail Cameras

Traditional

Traditional trail cameras don’t give you immediate access to photos and videos, but they also don’t require cellular service to function. Trail cameras require SD cards and tons of batteries to run. Depending on the weather conditions and batteries, you might have to change them multiple times in a season. If you’re lucky, you might have a camera that lasts you an entire season or longer before you need to change the batteries.

You also have to regularly check your camera, if you want to stay up-to-date on your intel. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until the season’s over before you go pull your SD cards.

Cellular

Unlike traditional trail cameras, cellular trail cams allow you to view your photos and videos without physically checking your camera. This means you can monitor deer activity without putting pressure on a specific hunting area.

Unfortunately, cell cams only work in areas where they can get good service. Otherwise, you’ll have to go pull your SD card or move your camera to a spot with service, which defeats the purpose of having a cellular trail cam.

One of the benefits of having a cellular trail camera, like the Moultrie Edge 4 is that you can easily organize and store your photos in an app. You’ll save time and money when you don’t have to keep up with a pile of SD cards.

Trail Camera Strategies and Placement

While trail cameras can certainly provide incredible scouting info, it’s not as simple as placing one on just any tree. You have to consider trigger speed, distance, and false triggers. Where legal, you might have to do a little prep work to make sure you get the best photos possible. Depending on the time of year, you’ll want to consider where you should place your trail camera.

Consider the time of year. Are you summer scouting for whitetails, looking for season-long hunting data, monitoring the rut, or trying to find a buck’s core area. These factors will determine how you need to approach your camera setup.

• How to Set Up A Trail Camera
• Where to Place Trail Cameras in the Big Woods
• 3 Locations You Need to Put Trail Cameras This Summer

Where to Place Cameras

Food sources, travel routes, terrain traps, and scrapes are great places to set your trail cameras. Ag fields, food plots, or feeders (where legal) can give you a good overview of your local deer herd. Travel routes like creek crossings, worn trails, soft edges naturally funnel deer through certain areas. Similarly, saddles, pinch points, benches, bluff gaps, etc. that might be difficult to hunt without busting deer can be good spots to leave a camera all season long. Of course, scrapes are natural communication hubs for deer, and the right ones might clue you into several different bucks using that area.

• How to Chum Whitetails
• How to Use Mock Scrapes in Summer
• How to Use Trail Cameras After the Rut

How to Set Up Trail Cameras

Most hunters just find a tree and hang their camera at waist height. I’m not saying this is wrong or that you shouldn’t do it sometimes, but there might be a better way to set it up if you’re trying to make sure it doesn’t grab a mature buck’s attention.

Again, you’ll want to consider the time of year when you’re hanging a trail camera. There are also a few mistakes you can avoid to make sure your trail cam photos don’t suck. Luckily, trail cameras like Moultrie’s Edge 4 allow you to utilize features like Live Aim to fine-tune your setup and see exactly what’s in frame.

• 5 Mistakes Deer Hunters Make with Trail Cameras
• 7 Reasons Your Trail Cam Photos Suck
• How to Make Trail Camera Batteries Last Longer

Trail Camera Laws and Fair Chase

Trail cameras have sparked contentious debates since they first came out. A lot of western states have even banned them on public lands for portions of the hunting season. Arizona actually banned them outright for the purposes of scouting or hunting. Just this year, Idaho banned the use of cellular trail cameras on public lands throughout its hunting season.

Some states that ban trail cameras on public lands might allow them on private lands. Others allow cellular trail cameras but restrict hunters from using immediate intel to hunt that same day. Trail camera rules vary by state, so make sure you research your local regulations before purchasing one.

Trail Camera Mistakes

One of the main ways you can derail your hunting is by relying solely on trail cam pics to determine where you hunt. While cameras might clue you into a big buck’s habits, they can give you plenty of red herrings. A single picture of a buck might mean he’s living in the area or simply passing through. You need more information to confirm or deny that theory. Scout around, look for tracks, rubs, potential bedding areas, or spend a few evenings behind some glass to get a visual if you can. Use that picture as a piece of the puzzle.The worst thing you can do is plan your whole hunting season around one image and miss the rest of the story.

You can also sabotage your setups by checking your cameras too often, leaving you scent and potentially bumping deer. This reason alone makes a compelling case for cellular trail cameras.

Trail Cams Tell Part of the Story, Not the Whole

Trail cameras are great tools for giving an estimate of your local deer herd. They can give you great intel, but they won’t tell you the whole story.

Just because you don’t get any trail camera pics one day, doesn’t mean the deer aren’t tearing it up at that location. I once watched a pile of deer feed just out of range of a camera. If I hadn’t been hunting that day, I would have assumed the woods were dead. You can’t believe everything your cameras show (or don’t). Make sure they aren’t making you a worse hunter. Use camera intel to inform your hunting strategy, not dictate it.

• How Trail Cameras Made Me A More Patient Buck Hunter
• You’re Using Trail Cameras Wrong
• Why You Should Reconsider Your Trail Cam Strategy
• 3 Best Trail Camera Locations During the Rut
• 3 Best Trail Camera Locations For Pre-Rut
• How to Get the Most Out of Your Pre-Season Trail Cameras

Final Thoughts

Trail cams aren’t just for the whitetail woods. Where legal, you can use them to locate elk, turkeys, bears, or other critters. Just make sure you follow local rules and regulations. Like with deer hunting, trail cameras can be a convenient tool when it comes to hunting. They can give you great intel, but you’ll have to use your woodsmanship and critical thinking to decipher what it means.

If you have a family or little ones, you know how challenging it can be to balance life and hunting. Joining the two naturally makes sense. While there’s a fine line between cultivating an interest in hunting and making it a chore no one wants to do, you can gradually introduce your kids to it by letting them tag along with you. Besides, if you’re trying to score some brownie points for the fall, giving your spouse or significant other a little me-time can help you do just that.

Even if you just want to introduce them to scouting, here are a few ways to summer scout with your kids that don’t involve running them through a mini bootcamp.

Just Ride

When he was still alive, my grandfather would load me and my cousins into his Toyota pickup, and we’d ride through his hunting club. He did this year-round but especially during the summer. Sometimes we’d stop to check blackberry patches in recent cut-overs or look for ripe persimmons or summer grapes dropping into the gravel roads. My grandfather had plenty of stories tied to these spots. As he drove, he’d point across a cut-over to where he’d once killed a turkey or an SMZ where he shot a buck and ran his truck into the ditch after loading it up.

He rarely made these rides about hunting, even though I know he used them as little scouting trips. They were a great way to include me and my cousins, and those rides, along with my grandfather’s stories, made us look forward to hunting season.

Even if you don’t leave the truck, riding gives you an easy way to get the kids out of the house and show them something new. You can monitor spots from the road, glass, or even try door knocking. Either way, it doesn’t take a ton of effort.

Hang a Few Trail Cams

I recently made the mistakes of dragging my two daughters with me to hang a trail cam during the hottest part of the day. Normally, this little trip wouldn’t be an issue for them, but it was a long, hot walk (way to go, Dad). It wasn’t long before the tears started and I was swatting mosquitos while haphazardly putting their hair into buns. Luckily, there’s a way to include your kids on a trail cam mission without collective and instant regret.

As long as you take them early in the morning or late in the evening, setting a trail camera with your kids is a great way to include them in scouting. Depending on their age, make sure the walk or hike doesn’t feel like the journey to Mordor. Otherwise, there won’t be a repeat trip. If it feels like fun to them, they’re more likely to want to do it again or even help you during your set up process.

Don’t only include them in the work process either. My girls love seeing photos and videos of deer or other critters, and it’s a way to show them that the “work” we did to hang those cameras actually paid off.

Teach Them How to Glass

In my home office, I have a pair of binoculars that lives on my desk. Every time my girls come visit me throughout the day, it’s the first thing they reach for before heading to the window. Why? Because glassing is cool whether you’re 5 or 35.

Glassing from the road can be an effective way to summer scout without putting pressure on deer. It’s also an easy one for kids, because they get to ride in the A/C and you don’t have to worry about hosing them down with bug spray. Plus, you can bring snacks. If there’s one thing that will keep kids interested, it’s snacks.

You can also teach them how to glass. It’s not the same glassing that’s required to spot the ear twitch of a bedded deer, just the casual viewing of a few deer feeding in a field. It’s also worth noting that you don’t have to glass where you plan on hunting. There’s valuable intel in just observing deer, even if you can’t hunt them. Besides, your kids won’t know the difference either.

Final Thoughts

If you’re hoping to get your kids into hunting, scouting trips can be a great intro. Just remember to keep it simple. The goal is to help them enjoy the outdoors, not resent them.

Luckily, whitetails adapt regardless of hunting pressure, and logging cuts can still hold mature bucks. You just need to stop hunting them like everyone else. Take a step back and evaluate how you’re hunting an area. After that, you’ll need to get some boots on the ground, ask the right questions, and look for the subtle details everyone else overlooks.

Scouting a Clear-Cut

Whether you’re dealing with a new or familiar hunting spot, you need to ground truth a clear-cut to validate, or invalidate, its condition. E-scouting is a great starting place, but boots-on-the-ground observations will always reveal more than GPS data is able to. Clear-cuts change quickly over a few years, and what you once knew may no longer apply.

If you’ve ever walked around a logging cut, then you know there is almost always a deer trail tracing the outside boundary. Don’t waste too much time, but walk that perimeter and note every deer trail entering and exiting the cut. Drop waypoints on any hubs you find. Water holes, creek crossings, and scrapes on intersecting trails are all important details that can help you hone your scouting efforts.

At some point along the cut’s edge, you’ll see an old two-track lane where machines brought logs in and out of it. You should be able to see where that lane branches. Follow the main path first, then investigate the branches if time allows. This will give you a basic understanding of how deer move in the area.

Scouting for Buck Sign

Once you have an idea of how deer generally use a specific clear-cut, you’ll need to dial in your scouting efforts to look for buck sign. Glassing, observation sits, and trail cameras are great options for gathering intel. The goal is to determine how deer are using the area during daylight hours.

Try to determine whether the deer are feeding in the cut at night and returning to timber in the morning or if they’re bedding and browsing in the heavy cover all day. It might seem like they’re bedding in plain sight, but if you’ve hunted a thick cut, you know how easily any deer can disappear. Especially mature bucks.

While you might find the obvious sign for most of the herd, mature bucks tend to operate a little differently outside of the rut. Bucks reach maturity by avoiding danger, so by the time one reaches its fifth birthday, it’s pretty good at staying alive.

A concentration of big rubs would be a great sign, but in low deer-density areas, you might not get that. Don’t overlook tracks. If you happen to find a big one, drop a waypoint or even take a picture. That way, you can compare it to others that you find.

The Subtleties

In a logging cut, not every trail belongs to a mature buck, but it can pay to follow a few obscure trails. You just need to find a place where a mature buck can loaf for extended periods of time and let his guard down.

One old buck I scouted over a few years spent a good portion of his time feeding in a clear-cut. Occasionally he daylighted there, and I always wondered what was different on those days. One summer while scouting, I found a giant bed tucked between a pine and a laurel bush. It was in the direction he usually entered the cut. I figured that had to be a place he would spend the last minutes of daylight before making an appearance.

A deer trail led away from that bed and down a steep, rocky hillside that seemed like a place most deer would avoid. At the bottom, the terrain leveled into a flat dotted with smaller rocks. In the center of the flat, without much surrounding cover, there was a scraggly tree. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to break up a buck’s outline.

Behind that tree was another giant bed. A well-worn trail wrapped around it with fresh scat nearby. It didn’t scream typical hill country buck sign, but it taught me to stop making assumptions about mature bucks.

Find A Weakness

Even mature bucks let their guards down. There will always be a place and time where he feels a false sense of security. It’s our job as deer hunters to figure that out.

A lot of times, these places happen to be staging areas. Maybe it’s a transition or a soft edge that leads from a clear-cut into the timber. Sometimes you might find a track in these places or a rub near a subtle trail. You might find browsing sign that other hunters overlook. Other times you’ll have to listen to your gut and just hunt it with the best possible conditions.

Either way, experience and observation are the best teachers. Pay attention to the small details and create theories based on what you find. If it doesn’t work, keep trying. That’s half the fun of it.

In June 2026, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) finalized its new Earn-a-2nd-Buck system, a change designed to encourage hunters to harvest more antlerless deer.

Under the new system, every licensed deer hunter will receive one antlered deer tag. However, hunters who harvest and report an antlerless deer using a Deer Management Permit (DMP), Bow/Muzzleloader Antlerless Deer Tag, or Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) tag can earn the opportunity to receive a second antlered deer tag. Once that antlerless deer is properly reported, hunters become eligible for another buck tag that can be used during those same deer seasons.

The new regulation is part of the DEC's broader effort to increase antlerless deer harvests and better manage New York's growing deer population. Because does are the reproductive engine of the herd, wildlife managers often rely on increased antlerless harvest to slow population growth.

According to a March 2026 NYS News release announcing the proposed regulations, “During recent hunting seasons, less than 15% of licensed hunters harvested one antlerless (primarily female) deer and only about 3% of hunters harvested two or more antlerless deer. The proposed regulations are intended to encourage and incentivize hunters to harvest more antlerless deer to help better manage deer populations.”

At the moment, overharvest doesn't seem to be a concern with this regulation change. “Deer populations are growing across much of New York and, in many areas, are increasing to levels that are detrimental to deer, their habitat, and the public,” NYSDEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said.

Hunters planning to pursue whitetails in New York this fall can find additional information about the Earn-a-2nd-Buck system, along with answers to frequently asked questions, on the NYSDEC’s website or the New Hunting Regulations to Increase Harvest of Antlerless Deer Q&A page.

The agency has also implemented several other deer hunting regulation changes for the 2026 season, including expanded antlerless hunting opportunities, modifications to Deer Management Permit issuance and transfers, and updates to broadhead regulations. Hunters are encouraged to review the full list of changes before heading afield.

I was able to get my hands on the Edge 4 Solar before it dropped. Here are my initial thoughts.

Specs and Features

• Network: Connects to any of the Big 4
• Memory: Built-in
• Power: Includes rechargeable battery
• Max Photo Resolution: 40 MP
• Video Resolution: 1080P
• Trigger Speed: 0.4 seconds
• Detection and Flash Range: 100 ft.
• OnX Hunt integration

Upgrades from Edge 3

• Waterproof: IP67 design
• Buckshot: Sends zoomed-in max-res buck pics
• Night Clarity: Enhanced IR LEDs for night pics

First Look at the Moultrie Edge 4 Solar

I just received the Edge 4 Solar this summer, so I haven’t had the chance to test it in harsh, wintry conditions. However, I’ve tested every iteration of the Moultrie Edge so far, and the improved photo and nighttime video quality in the 4 Solar is evident.

The same day I deployed this camera, I received a video of a doe investigating the scrape where it was placed. Some of the prior Edge or Edge Pro cameras tend to blur at night, but Moultrie improved that dilemma with the IR LEDs. As you can see below, the video quality is crisp without blurs or flares. Even the resolution in the background appears to be improved from the Edge 3.

Moultrie’s New Edge 4 Solar includes some of the same great features as previous models like the OnX integration, built-in memory with GPS, and the Live Aim, which allows for a quick, seamless setup.

New features for the Edge 4 Solar include a larger solar panel, Night Clarity (improved IR LEDs), an IP67 waterproof rating, and Buck Shot, which automatically sends zoomed-in pictures of bucks. The door on the camera also got an upgrade. Instead of the typically latch that the other Edge cameras have, the Edge 4 uses a button to open and close the controls panel, which streamlines the camera body and prevents it from snagging on anything.

Solar Panel and Set Up

One of the advantages of cellular trail cameras (where legal) is that they allow you to set it and forget it, given that you’ve found a proven spot. This is especially critical if you want to monitor a property from a few states away. The Moultrie Edge 4 Solar allows you to do this, thanks to the rechargeable battery and enlarged solar panel. MeatEater's own Janis Putelis highlighted the utility of the Edge 4's solar panel.

"Once I find the right spot for the camera, the only reason for me to touch it is if a bear turns it."

The solar panel has two adjustment wheels that allow you to position it in the direction that receives the most sunlight. This is critical for maximizing the charging capabilities, and it only takes a few moments to fine tune. I set up my Edge 4 Solar just inside a tree line that borders a cutover. It doesn’t get direct sunlight throughout the day, but it gets enough. So far my batter has been hovering around 96-98%. I have it placed on a travel route that doesn't truly heat up until October, but you should expect more battery drainage if you place it at a feeder or anywhere deer linger.

It only takes a matter of minutes to have your Moultrie Edge 4 up and running.

Organization

Run enough trail cameras, and it’s easy to lose a few of them, especially if you cover a lot of public ground. The OnX integration ensures that you won’t forget about your Moultrie Edge 4 after the season ends or you decide to move them to a new spot. In fact, Moultrie has a quick, convenient tutorial here on how to sync your Edge cameras with OnX.

What makes the Edge 4 Solar, and all the edge cameras, so effective is Moultrie’s user-friendly and robust app. The cataloging, OnX integration, and organization make it easy to keep track of various properties, deer, and cameras. If you're someone who prioritizes strategic organization for your hunting intel, especially whitetails, the app alone should appeal to you.

Final Thoughts

If you’re already familiar with the app, then you know how streamlined and effective it can make your trail camera strategy. If you’re looking to add a cellular trail cam to your scouting regiment, you should put this one at the top of your list. Check out the Edge 4 right here.

What those year-round cameras did for me was change how I view whitetails, particularly bucks. One of the most interesting takeaways involves predators and their impact on deer movement. Here are a few things I learned from year-round intel.

Toothy Critters & Cagey Bucks

Back when we filmed the first season of One Week in November, I started my hunt on a property in south-eastern Minnesota. The first morning, while sitting over a pinch point and waiting on a cruising buck, I watched a forky bound through like he’d seen a ghost. A little while later, a coyote came down the main trail.

I figured that might be it for the morning, but it was the first of November and I had nowhere else to be, so I rode it out. An hour later I was standing over a 155-inch eight-pointer that came down the same trail. It was a good lesson, but it was still the prime rut where anything can happen.

The presence of predators at other times of the year must have a more outsized impact on immediate deer movement, or so I thought. After a couple years of running year-round trail cameras in northern Wisconsin, where the density of bears, wolves, coyotes, and bobcats is high, the truth became more evident.

I realized that at least with bears, coyotes, and bobcats, their presence seemed to have a short-lived effect on overall deer movement in the same locations, while wolves seemed to have a much more meaningful impact. While my sample size is small and highly anecdotal, my observations showed me two things.

If a single wolf comes in and hangs around, which happened a couple years ago on a property I hunt a lot, it seems like the deer traffic normalizes pretty quickly. An entire pack is a different story. This happened on that same property last year, and it pushed a heck of a lot of the deer and the coyotes to the fringe habitat closer to the roads and houses. It was a real eye opener, and one I probably won’t forget any time soon.

Terrain Traps Rule

One spot I’ve run cameras on pretty much steady for three seasons is a pinch point next to a swamp. It’s not a very obvious terrain trap, but definitely funnels deer movement. It’s a rut hotspot, for obvious reasons.

It’s also one of the most consistent locations I’ve ever found for just general deer movement, which becomes much clearer when you hunt where the deer density is really low. Deer use that swamp edge all year long, with enough frequency to realize that focusing on terrain traps for mostly rut hunting is selling the whole thing way short.

While we all love sitting over a good food source or maybe a water source, if you want to have deer close and vulnerable, figure out the land. Learn where the deer have to walk, and then hang a camera and wait. Over three years I’ve watched that spot produce more action than I ever would have predicted. Hunt those pinch points and funnels during the rut, but don’t forget they can produce every day of the season if the deer have any reason to walk from one side to the other (which they probably do).

What We Know About Scrapes

A week or so ago, I got a trail camera video of a young buck visiting a scrape. He raked his velvet antlers on the overhanging branches and just did his thing. I showed it to one of my daughters, because in the 2024 season we sat 40 yards from that scrape with a doe decoy out. With half an hour of shooting light left, a young buck popped out of the swamp, eyed up his potential girlfriend, and then put on a show. He pawed that scrape up, peed in it, stood on his hind legs, and raked the branches overhead. Then he made the mistake of trotting into bow range.

I’d rather hunt around a bunch of rubs than a community scrape for most of the season. The middle 10 days of October are an exception, but I am fascinated by scrapes. I’ve left cameras on a few of them for a couple years, and I’ve learned that I don’t know shit about scrapes and why deer use them.

They visit them every month of the year, and while they don’t always go to town and work them, it seems like every single deer that comes in will at least give the licking branch a little sniff and a taste. I’ve come to believe that the urine-soaked dirt is important, but not nearly as important as the licking branch. That doesn’t really matter much to a hunting strategy, but it’s an interesting takeaway.

It’s also just fun to realize that some of the sign we associate strictly with fall activity actually functions as a communication tool all season long. I never would have learned that if I had been responsible and pulled some of my cameras at the end of the season.

While summer scouting might benefit you come October, do you really need to burn the boot leather during beach season to have success this fall? After all, plenty of hunters fill their tags on quick out-of-state hunts with no prior experience in a place. Here are a few reasons to consider whether or not you need to spend a ton of time summer scouting.

Pattern Changes

Getting a buck on camera in August is great, but that hardly guarantees you’ll wrap your tag around him come October. Unless you’re planning on hunting an early September opener, your scouting intel from August probably won’t tell you where the deer will be this fall.

That doesn’t mean summer scouting can’t offer you valuable intel. You could look for historical sign, travel routes, and potential bedding cover to determine if you should revisit a spot in the fall. But you could also do that in February when the snakes, ticks, and spiders aren’t out. Besides, if you’re scouting an area where deer are browsing on new green briar shoots, honeysuckle, and other seasonal vegetation, that will change after summer.

Fresh Intel is the Best Intel

I’m not saying you should procrastinate your scouting duties. Instead, you should be more methodical in how and when you execute them. I enjoy watching a velvet buck slip out of a cutover or cross a field, but I’d much rather find a big track as I’m scouting my way into an evening hunt in October.

Prioritizing a few intentional days of scouting just before the season opens (or even during) can give you more real-time intel than hacking your way through the middle of summer. It’s easy to think that you have to spend as much time on stand as possible during the season, but that time on stand doesn’t really help if you aren’t hunting the deer where they’re at.

Instead of hanging and hoping in a random spot, go in super early and scout your way into a place. Done right, this is the true benefit of mobile hunting. Look for fresh tracks, droppings, and feeding sign to tell you where to set up.

If you’re hunting acorns in early October, you should find this feeding sign under a tree that’s dropping. Now, you might not know the caliber of bucks in that area, but some fresh tracks might give you a clue.

Winter Scout First

Dropping a few cameras or hanging stands during the summer is one thing, but you should already have these spots marked from historical data. This might seem counterintuitive, but finding fresh rubs or scrapes at the end of deer season is much closer to when you’ll actually hunt them as opposed to the middle of July.

Winter scouting gets talked about a lot, but it’s something that few hunters actually do. I get it, you’ve slogged through an entire deer season, burned all your brownie points, and probably feel slopes-of-Mount-Doom levels of exhaustion. But even a few days of winter scouting can go a long way.

Assuming nothing drastic happens to the landscape or local deer herd, there’s a good chance the intel you find winter scouting will show you how to hunt a certain area the next year. That way, you can focus on the archery range and dialing in your setups during the summer months.

Final Thoughts

For most folks, you don’t need to make a special summer trip just to scout. Even if you’re planning a multi-day out-of-state hunt, take a day to scout a few areas instead of going in blind. You’ll have hot intel on the deer come fall without skipping out on a few cold ones this summer.

I appreciate the speed, accuracy, and technology that modern compounds offer. You can make shots on deer with a compound that you wouldn’t dream of doing with traditional equipment. But there is something primal about hunting with a traditional bow. It’s nostalgic and draws me back to my traditional roots whenever I feel the need for a change.

Despite all the progress with modern equipment, it seems like every year more bowhunters need to scratch the traditional itch. Some make the switch permanently, while others want a new challenge for a season or two. Either way, there's something about traditional archery that intrigues hunters.

If you're considering making the swap to traditional archery this season, here are four reasons to make the jump.

A New Challenge

If you've been bowhunting for years, it's easy to fall into a routine or even autopilot with modern compound bows. You shoot your bow all summer, dial in your effective range, and maybe you’ve experienced a decent amount of success in the deer woods. If you’re craving a new challenge, a traditional bow can deliver that.

There's no let-off, peep sight, release aid, no rangefinders, and no sliding sight pins—just a simple stick and string. Because the shot depends more on your ability to repeat a successful process, you have to practice more intentionally than you might with a compound. Traditional archery is less about punching groups and more about building instinctive shooting skills.

That challenge doesn't stop at the range either. The limited range of traditional archery forces hunters to get uncomfortably close to game. This forces you to develop better woodsmanship and sharper scouting skills to create more precise shot opportunities. You'll look at the woods differently when your max range shrinks to 20 yards. Every trail, pinch point, and bedding area becomes an opportunity to close the distance.

Simplify Your Setup

Modern bowhunting sometimes feels more like managing equipment than hunting. Unless you buy a ready-to-hunt bow, you’ll need to buy sights, a release, maybe a stabilizer, quiver, rangefinder, dampeners, and the list goes on. None of these things are bad. They all serve a purpose, but compound bows have a lot of moving pieces and some you don’t even need.

Traditional archery offers a refreshing alternative. Most recurves and longbows are incredibly simple. No moving parts, extra gadgets, or excessive tuning. You simply grab your bow, a handful of arrows, and head for the woods.

There's a certain freedom that comes with simplicity. Instead of worrying about whether your sight got bumped or if you remembered your release, you can focus on the hunt itself. You become more connected to the experience and less dependent on equipment.

You’re Tired of Your Heavy Bow

You don’t realize how heavy compound bows can get until you’re several miles back on a hunt. By the time you add a sight, quiver, stabilizer, arrows, and other accessories, it's not uncommon for a hunting bow to weigh eight to ten pounds or more. That might not seem like much until you have to carry it all day through the mountains.

Traditional bows offer a dramatically lighter alternative. Many recurves and longbows weigh just two to three pounds. Even with a quiver, you're often carrying less than half the weight of a fully outfitted compound setup.

For elk hunters covering miles of mountain country, public-land deer hunters navigating rough terrain, or anyone who enjoys spot-and-stalk hunting, a lighter bow can make a noticeable difference. Less weight means less fatigue, more mobility, and more enjoyment during long days in the field. Sure, you’re trading that weight for effective archery range, but if you prefer to hunt close to your game, it’s probably worth it.

The author with a nice buck. Brodie Swisher

Every Hunt Means More

When compound hunters swap to traditional, their definition of success usually changes too. It’s easy to focus on a certain class of deer with a compound bow. But when you carry a traditional bow, every successful hunt feels like a huge accomplishment.

If you think a mature buck is a trophy, try shooting any deer with a traditional bow. The rush and accomplishment of shooting a doe or small buck with a stick and string is hard to beat. My first trad bow kill was a spike. I thought I had accomplished something that day, walking out of the woods with a longbow in one hand and dragging that little buck with the other.

A squirrel, rabbit, or grouse all feel like a trophy when you’ve got a trad bow in your hand. Traditional archery has a way of shifting the focus away from antler measurements and toward the overall hunting experience.

Final Thoughts

Switching from a compound bow to a traditional bow isn't for everyone. It requires patience and consistent practice. You’ll have to shrink your effective range and be okay with passing deer that you probably could have shot with a compound. It requires a steeper learning curve, but that’s part of what makes it so rewarding when you arrow an 80-pound doe. You may not shoot as many animals, but you might just rediscover why you became a bowhunter in the first place. And that's a trade worth considering.