Early-Season Whitetail Strategies

All bowhunters get excited for the whitetail rut, but sometimes Mother Nature can throw you curveballs with warm weather and other challenges. Jake Shaffer, owner of Branded Outdoors guide service in Maryland, shares his top rut-hunting tips for mid-November, including how to adapt to hot weather, tactics he’s learned from hunting the flatlands of the Eastern Shore and what to do when the deer seem to disappear.

Would you pay $180 to shoot a 170? Well, that's essentially what Nebraska bowhunter Zeke Pipher recently did, tagging a 174 7/8-inch monster on a 25-acre conservation property where he made a $180 donation for hunting rights. This week, as the rut heats up, sit back and listen to Pipher's amazing story about why you should always expect the unexpected when hunting mature whitetail bucks.

It's Halloween Week, and we're getting amped up for some ghoulishly good whitetail action. Christian and Mark discuss the most recent trail-cam intel on scrapes and rub lines, and then we get with Rob Babbit from King Whitetails in Kansas to learn what he's seeing and preview our upcoming King Whitetails rut hunt for Bowhunter TV. 

The whitetail rut is just around the corner, and this week we speak with two of the nation's most successful DIY buck hunters about how to get mature whitetails in bow range! Tethrd's John Eberhart and Greg Godfrey have successfully hunted bucks in more than 20 states and recently published the Ultimate Guide to DIY Bucks, a comprehensive, three-volume book that covers everything you need to know to punch more tags. 

Tethrd co-founder Taylor Chamblain is a deer-slaying ninja who operates in the shadows of Washington, D.C. Just a few miles from the White House and a stone's throw from CIA headquarters, Chamberlain uses his saddle gear and businesslike approach to deer management to help suburban homeowners combat a burgeoning whitetail population. Along the way, Chamberlain has a ton of fun as he fills his freezer, helps feed the hungry and even tags a few trophy bucks.

When a blood trail runs dry and sign becomes non-existent, recovering a wounded deer can be like finding a needle in a haystack. But drones are quickly changing the deer-recovery game, turning nightmare scenarios into dreams come true. Mike Yoder from Drone Deer Recovery in Ohio joins us to discuss how the legal, ethical use of cutting-edge drone technology is helping hunters recover deer that are mortally wounded and investigate non-lethal hits in a way that causes minimal disturbance to wildlife.

The popularity of saddle hunting is growing by leaps and bounds, particularly among DIY, public-land bowhunters who embrace a mobile strategy. This week, Latitude Outdoors co-founder Kevin Leach joins us to discuss how saddle-hunting gear can give you an important edge when it comes pursuing mature bucks on heavily pressured public ground.

Depending on where you live, whitetail season is either here, or opening day is just around the corner. This week, noted whitetail guru Bill Winke joins us to discuss tactics for the early weeks of the season. What is the best approach for the season's opening weeks, and how can you put yourself in position to succeed without jeopardizing your chances for success during the rut? 

Consistently taking mature whitetail bucks from highly pressured public lands in the East isn’t easy. From mountain bikers and hikers to small-game hunters and fellow bowhunters, the disruptions are many. On this week’s podcast, avid bowhunter Justin Ahart of Pennsylvania, who regularly hunts heavily pressured public parcels in New Jersey, shares his tips and tactics for scoring when human interference rises and deer sightings dwindle.

Dan Infalt, aka "The Hunting Beast," is one of America's most successful public-land whitetail hunters, consistently taking mature bucks on heavily pressured ground. We dive deep to explore Dan's unconventional methods and why hunting differently than the average deer hunter is the key to success. "If you hunt the same as everyone else," Dan said, "you get the same results."