From East to West: Finding DIY Big-Game Success

 In 1959, legendary bowhunter Harv Ebers used one of his self-made, left-handed, recurve bows to take down the world-record caribou in Alaska. Today, at age 90, Ebers is the last living original Pope and Young Club member — and he’s still inspiring fellow bowhunters such as fellow lefty Tom Vanasche, who last year used the same bow to take a Wyoming whitetail, 65 years after its maiden hunt. Ebers and Vanasche discuss their special friendship and the ways traditional bowhunting transcends time.

Maribeth Kulynycz, the newly elected president of the Maryland Bowhunters Society, may be the first woman ever to lead a statewide bowhunting organization. But that’s just the latest accomplishment for Kulynycz, who has been blazing trails in archery for years and working tirelessly to promote and protect Maryland’s bowhunting heritage.

Public land is getting more crowded all the time, and permission to hunt private land is getting harder to secure every year. Buying hunting land of your own may not be financially feasible, but a long-term hunting lease can provide many of the benefits of land ownership at a fraction of the cost. Aaron Sutton and Mac Christian from National Land Realty join us to discuss the ins and outs of leasing and how a lease can provide you with a high-quality hunting experience.

West Virginia bowhunter David Miller grew up pursuing whitetails in the mountains of Appalachia. Later, he discovered many of the same tactics work for pursuing elk and mule deer in the mountains of the American West. Drawing on years of successful Western adventures, Miller shares his top tips for Eastern bowhunters who want to pursue their Western big-game dreams.

Every year, turkey hunters across America tag some really unusual gobblers with colors that just don't match the local flock. Are these birds mutants, escapees from a the local turkey farm or some kind of hybrid between domestic and wild turkeys? A new project called WildturkeyDNA, spearheaded by the National Wild Turkey Federation and its partners, aims to find out — and turkey hunters get to participate in the science!

Love them or hate them, crossbows are occupying an ever-larger space on the bowhunting landscape. What does that mean for the future of our sport? Brad Fenson, a highly successful hunter and author of our new crossbow column, joins us for a fascinating discussion about the changing bowhunting landscape. 

KUIU's Justin Shaffer is an extreme mountain hunter who chases everything from sheep and goats in Alaska to high-country elk and mule deerin the Rockies to ibex in Mongolia. Your 2025 bowhunts might not be that rugged, but that doesn't mean you won't benefit from getting in shape for your adventures. Jared talks about his approach to bowhunting fitness and how taking care of your body will make you a more effective predator in the field.

Prime Archery's new-for-2025 Form is the first aluminum-carbon hybrid bow in history. Prime's Brian Anderson joins us to discuss why the company was willing to try something completely different to bring bowhunters a rig that not only looks unlike anything you've ever seen but offers some significant performance advantages.

Deer season may be winding down, but that means gear season is heating up! Colorado bowhunter Jace Bauserman joins us to recap a pair of successful, DIY rut hunts and discuss some of the recently released new-for-2025 archery gear.

Regardless of how your season has been, you should be thankful to be a bowhunter. With the Thanksgiving season upon us, Editor Christian Berg and contributor Eddie Claypool reflect on their many blessings and the privilege of enjoying the great outdoors.