From the field.
Practical how-to guides, gear round-ups and what has worked in the field. 102 articles and growing.
Muzzleloader Hunting: A Beginner's Guide
A reading guide for hunters new to muzzleloader seasons: how flintlock, percussion and in-line guns differ, what your state's regulations decide, and what the hunter education course says about loading, misfires, unloading and carrying a muzzleloader.
How to Care for Hunting Boots
Hunting boots last longer when they are cleaned, dried slowly at room temperature, conditioned or re-proofed with the right product for their leather, and stored somewhere stable. The routine for leather, membrane and rubber boots, following REI's leather-boot care guide and the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Reaching Your Stand Before Dawn
Getting to a morning setup in the dark: why hunter education recommends tree stands only in daylight, ground-level alternatives, planning and marking the route, leaving a hunting plan, a haul line and a fall-arrest system attached from the ground, and the rules to check on markers and legal hours.
Best Chicken Coops With Runs
How much coop and run space hens need, from extension services, then four chicken coops with runs compared from their makers' specs, with the makers' hen counts checked against that space.
Fixed vs Mechanical Broadheads
How fixed-blade, removable-blade, mechanical and hybrid broadheads differ, why bowhunter education courses recommend mechanicals only for bows of 50 pounds or more, blade counts for large and small game, sharpness, and checking your state's broadhead rules, following bowhunter-ed.com and hunter-ed.com.
How to Glass for Game
Glassing means finding animals with optics from one spot. Picking a vantage point, sun and wind, a tripod, searching in a grid and looking for pieces of animals, following the Mule Deer Foundation and the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
The October Lull, Explained
The mid-October slump in whitetail sightings is real for many hunters, but GPS-collar research suggests deer do not stop moving - they move differently. What changes in early to mid October, and how hunters adjust instead of waiting it out.
Best Cellular Trail Cameras
Six cellular trail cameras compared from their makers' specs (Browning, Moultrie, SPYPOINT and Tactacam), how a cellular trail camera sends pictures to your phone, data plans, carriers, solar power and what to check before you buy.
Why You Missed That Deer
Why shots at deer go wrong, from the hunter-education list: range, an alert animal, unclear vitals, fatigue and excitement, brush, moving targets, poor follow-through, and deer jumping the string. How to judge distance (including from a tree stand), and what to change, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Hunting Ethics and Conservation
Hunting is far more than a way to fill a freezer. A guide to hunting ethics and the conservation legacy every hunter inherits and helps carry forward.
Blood Trailing A Wounded Deer
The two mistakes that are hardest to undo are made in the first twenty minutes: pushing too soon and walking on the sign. Here is how experienced trackers read the hit, how long they wait, and what the rules allow.
Best Crossbows, Compared
Five hunting crossbows compared from their makers' specs (speed, weight, length, draw weight and how you cock them), compound vs. recurve, what suits a beginner, and the rules to check first.
How to Make Mock Scrapes
A mock scrape is a hand-made copy of a buck's signpost - a pawed patch under a licking branch - used to inventory deer on camera and draw movement toward a spot you can hunt. Where to put one, when to make it, and the scent rules to check first.
Cooking Wild Game: A Beginner's Guide
Cooking the animals you harvest is the natural conclusion of the hunt - and one of its greatest pleasures.
Duck Hunting: Setup and Strategy
Few hunting experiences match a frosty morning in a duck blind - the whistle of wings overhead, decoys riding the chop, and a Lab quivering with anticipation.
Best Hunting Pants by Season
Seven hunting pants compared from their makers' specs, sorted for early season, all season and late season (fabric, venting, waterproofing, insulation), plus how to layer hunting clothing and the blaze orange rules to check.
How to Sight In Your Rifle
Sighting in, step by step as Alaska Fish and Game and West Virginia DNR describe it: safety and mechanical checks, bore sighting, a solid rest, three-shot groups at 25 yards, moving the group, letting the barrel cool, then 100 yards, with the same ammunition you'll hunt with.
Processing Your Own Game Meat
Processing your own game meat is one of the most rewarding parts of hunting.
Mule Deer Hunting Out West
Mule deer basics for a western hunt: how to tell them from whitetails, getting fit and planning tags, glassing from vantage points, reading tracks, beds and rubs, stalking on a diagonal with the wind, ethical shots and packing out, following the Mule Deer Foundation, Wikipedia and the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Why Bucks Go Nocturnal
The short answer: bucks don't truly become nocturnal - hunting pressure teaches them to move in the last minutes of light and shrink their daylight range. Here is what the research says and how to hunt an 'invisible' buck.
Best Night Vision Binoculars
Three night vision binoculars compared from their makers' specs (a digital day-and-night unit, a thermal-plus-digital hybrid and a Gen 2+ tube), digital vs. green and white phosphor, infrared illuminators, and the law to check first.
Hunting Small Properties Effectively
On a small parcel, boundaries, access and wind matter most: know the lines, talk to neighbours before a retrieval, plan stands for specific winds and hunt sparingly, following the Missouri Department of Conservation, Virginia DWR and the Alaska course.
How to Hunt Acorn Flats
When acorns start dropping, deer abandon fields for the timber almost overnight. Find the few trees that are producing, hunt the downwind edge of the drop, and move on as soon as the crop is eaten.
Squirrel and Rabbit Hunting
If you want to become a better hunter, start with small game. Squirrels and rabbits are abundant, widely distributed, and pursued with simple, affordable gear.
How to Field Dress a Deer
Field dressing - removing the internal organs from a harvested white-tailed deer - is one of the most important skills a hunter can learn.
Black Bear Hunting Methods
Black bears are one of North America's most rewarding big-game animals to hunt.
Summer Scouting for Whitetail
Summer scouting for whitetails: glassing fields from a distance at dawn and dusk, maps first, cameras with few visits, finding trails, beds and water, getting landowner permission, and what summer patterns can't tell you about fall, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course, the Mule Deer Foundation and Wikipedia.
How to Ask Landowner Permission
Find the owner, ask face to face and well before the season, ask about their rules and goals, offer help in return, keep in touch after every visit, and ask again every year - following the Missouri Department of Conservation, Virginia DWR and Maine's hunter safety course.
Spring Wild Turkey Hunting
Spring turkey hunting is one of the most exciting and accessible pursuits in North America.
Wild Hog Hunting Tips
Wild hogs - also called feral hogs or wild boar - have spread across much of the southern and central United States.
Coyote Night Hunting: Calls, Lights, Thermals
Coyotes move mostly after dark, and night hunting puts you on the predator's schedule - where your state allows it. Lights versus thermal, a simple calling sequence, wind, and the legal checks to make first.
Crossbow vs Compound Bow
How a crossbow's short power stroke compares with a compound bow's, range and noise, cocking, holding and shooting safely, crossbows in tree stands, uncocking, and checking whether your state allows crossbows in archery season, following the Nebraska and Alaska bowhunter safety courses.
Elk Hunting for Beginners
Elk hunting for beginners: the pre-rut, rut and post-rut, bugles and cow calls, playing the wind in timber, fitness, tags, the pack-out and cooling meat, following Outdoor Life, the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and Penn State Extension.
Hunting With Kids in Tow
Realistic timing, safety non-negotiables, and gear for kids who tag along on hunts - plus the honest one-paragraph answer on hunting while pregnant.
How to Hunt Whitetail Deer
The white-tailed deer is a popular big game animal across North America, and for good reason.
Getting Started: Women Who Hunt
A practical start for women in hunting: hunter education, Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshops, a first hunt, gear that fits, safety and practice, following NY DEC, UW-Stevens Point's BOW program, hunter-ed.com and the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Hog Night Hunting: Thermal Gear
Night hunting for feral hogs is open in some states, licensed in others and prohibited in a few. What five state agencies say, how thermal and night vision differ, and what the CDC says about handling and cooking the meat.
Women's Hunting Gear That Fits
Hunting clothes, boots and packs that fit: why fit matters for drawing a bow and staying warm, layering, trying on with your hunting layers, boots for your terrain, pack torso length and hip belts, and a try-on checklist, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and Wikipedia.
How to Cook Wild Duck & Goose
Wild waterfowl is lean, dark, and iron-rich, not the fatty supermarket bird. Here is how to render the fat, cook the breast medium-rare, and slow-cook the legs.
Best Times of Day to Hunt
Every hunter has heard the advice: "Hunt early, hunt late." There's real truth in it.
Hunting GPS Units 2026
Three kinds of hunting GPS - dog-tracking handhelds, satellite communicators and mapping handhelds: what each is for, what the maker says about range and battery life, and what to check before buying.
How Weather Affects Animal Movement
Ask any seasoned hunter for the secret to consistent success, and weather will come up fast.
Field to Table: Cooking Venison
You filled the tag - now what? A beginner's walk through field-dressing, aging, butchering and cooking venison so none of it goes to waste.
Hunting in Cold and Snow
Hunting in cold and snow is a test of preparation, judgment, and grit.
Rifle Scope Mounting Guide
How scope bases and rings work, matching ring size to the scope tube, the common rail types, a mounting checklist (clean, level, eye relief, torque to the maker's values), bore sighting, and the first range check, following Wikipedia, Alaska Fish and Game and the makers' manuals.
Late-Season Hunting Tactics
After the rut and under pressure, deer hold near cover and food and elk move into timber and down with snow. Setups, calling less and cold-weather safety, following Outdoor Life and the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Venison Backstrap: Five Simple, Foolproof Preparations
Backstrap is the best cut on a deer and the easiest to ruin. The rule is simple - do not overcook it. Five reliable ways to cook it, from pan-seared to stuffed.
Trail Camera Placement Tips
How trail cameras trigger, where to place them (trails, beds, water, food), no-glow vs. flash, false triggers, cellular cameras, batteries, checking them quietly and the rules on cameras, following Wikipedia and Penn State deer research.
Opening Day Tactics
Opening day checklist: scouting and permission done early, your weapon sighted in, a hunting plan left with someone, a quiet approach with the wind, the first and last hours, the shot and safety, following state agencies and hunter education courses.
Wild Turkey: Field to Table
A wild turkey is leaner and tougher than any store bird. Learn the pluck-versus-skin trade-off, how to brine the breast, and why the legs need braising.
Field Care in Warm Weather
Heat is the enemy of good game meat. Learn to cool it fast, use shade and airflow, choose quality game bags, when to bone out, spot spoilage, and transport safely.
Predator Hunting: Calling Coyotes
Coyotes are abundant, challenging, and huntable across long seasons in much of the country.
Best Hunting Binoculars, Compared
Five 10x42 hunting binoculars compared from their makers' specs - weight, field of view, close focus, eye relief and glass - plus how to choose magnification and glass for timber or open country.
Grinding Game & Making Sausage
Lean game needs added fat to grind well. Learn fat ratios, grinder basics, why cold and clean matter, plus simple breakfast-sausage and burger-blend recipes.
Deer Scent Eliminators Compared
Sprays, carbon suits, ozone - what the published tests of scent control found, what a Penn State deer researcher concluded, the EPA's caution about ozone, and why the wind still decides.
How to Sharpen a Hunting Knife
Edge angles for hunting knives, whetstones with oil or water, sharpening vs. honing, strops and the burr, electric sharpeners and grinders, field touch-ups from a game-care kit, and safe handling, following Wikipedia's sharpening article and the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Elk Game Bags & Meat Care
Elk meat care in the field: breathable game bags, cooling the meat fast to 35-40°F, the order to pack it out in - and the evidence-of-sex rule to read before you start cutting.
Early-Season Hunting Strategies
Early season means warm weather and game on summer patterns. Scouting and patterning, hunting food and water, calling sparingly, heat safety for you, cooling meat fast, and tree-stand safety, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course, Penn State Extension and Outdoor Life's whitetail and elk writers.
Best Hunting Boots by Terrain
Five hunting boots compared from their makers' specs - rubber, light, all-round and mountain - with insulation, height and what each suits, plus how to choose by terrain, insulation and fit.
How to Choose a Rifle Scope
What scope numbers like 3-9x40 mean, objective size, exit pupil and brightness, eye relief, first vs. second focal plane reticles, parallax adjustment, and what to check about mounting and sighting in, following Wikipedia's telescopic sight article and Alaska Fish and Game.
Ground Blind Setup Guide
Where to put a ground blind (downwind or crosswind of trails, food and water), natural vs. cloth blinds, clearing the floor, face and hand camouflage, staying still, safe shooting directions, and the pros and cons of blinds vs. tree stands, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Upland Bird Hunting with Dogs
Pheasant, quail, grouse and woodcock over a dog: gun dog types, the 45-degree zone of fire, shots above shoulder height, hunter orange and caring for the dog, following hunter-ed.com, MassWildlife, Wikipedia and a Gun Dog Magazine trainer.
Best Trail Cameras, Compared
Four trail cameras compared from their makers' specs - two standard, two cellular - by trigger speed, detection and flash range, flash type and power, plus how to choose by ground, budget and data plan.
How to Choose Hunting Camo
What camouflage does and doesn't do, contrast in patterns, covering face and hands, dulling shine, quiet fabrics and fit, layering with wicking, wool and synthetics (and why not cotton), rain gear, and the fluorescent orange rules that come first, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and state hunter education.
Calling Tactics for Deer and Elk
Whitetail grunts, bleats and the tending grunt, when to call and when to stay quiet, and elk bugles and cow calls through the pre-rut, rut and post-rut, from Outdoor Life's whitetail and elk experts and Wikipedia - experienced hunters' methods, not rules.
Waterfowl Hunting Basics
Few experiences in the outdoors match the thrill of watching a flock of mallards cup their wings and drop into your decoy spread as the sun breaks over a marsh.
Best Rangefinders for Hunting
Three hunting rangefinders compared from their makers' specs - range on reflective targets and deer, angle compensation, weight and extras - plus how to choose between bow and rifle units.
Antelope Hunting: Open Country Tactics
Pronghorn live in the most exposed country in North America. Where the tags are, how a draw works, and the glassing and stalking that open ground demands.
How to Hunt the Rut
What the whitetail rut is and what triggers it, rubs and scrapes as sign-posts, how calling changes from pre-rut to peak to post-rut, where to set up, and when to be at the ready, following Wikipedia, Outdoor Life's whitetail writers and the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course, with state timing on our rut map.
Bear Hunting with Bait
Bear baiting is legal in some states, banned in others, and tightly regulated wherever it is allowed. What eight state wildlife agencies publish about permits, bait and timing, plus the CDC's warning about bear meat.
Best Spotting Scopes for Hunting
Four hunting spotting scopes compared from their makers' specs - magnification, objective, weight, length, close focus and glass - plus how to choose magnification, eyepiece angle and a tripod for western big game.
Game Carts for Retrieval
When a game cart helps get a deer out, one wheel or two, what to compare, loading and strapping, keeping the carcass clean and cool, and checking the land manager's rules on carts, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and Penn State Extension.
How to Scout for Hunting Spots
Scouting from maps to boots: topographic maps, finding trails, beds and water by slow travel, glassing at dawn and dusk, when to scout, landowner permission on private ground, and how to avoid spooking the game you scout, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Hunting Backpack Frame Types
Frameless, internal-frame and external-frame packs: how a frame moves weight from shoulders to hips, which suits day hunts, backcountry trips and hauling meat, fit, and planning loads for packing out an elk, following Wikipedia, the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and Penn State Extension.
Thermal & Night Vision for Predators
Check your state's law on night hunting, thermal and night-vision optics and infrared lights first. Then how night vision and thermal imaging differ, scanners vs. weapon sights, specs and safe identification, following Wikipedia and the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Hunting Dog Training Basics
Gun dog types, obedience before hunting, bird drive and a step-by-step introduction to gunfire, plus safety for dogs in the field, following Wikipedia, a Gun Dog Magazine trainer and MassWildlife's hunter education lesson.
Tree Stand Safety Harnesses Compared
What state wildlife agencies say about tree stand safety: a full-body harness, a lifeline that keeps you connected from the ground up, three points of contact, a haul line - and what to do if you are left hanging.
Hunting First Aid Kit
A backcountry hunting first aid kit weighs about a pound and can save your life.
Best Game Calls for Deer & Elk
The main call types for whitetails (grunt tube, bleat can, rattling), elk (bugle, cow call, diaphragm) and turkeys (box, slate, mouth call), what each sounds like and when hunters use it, plus the rules on electronic callers, following hunter-ed.com, Outdoor Life and Wikipedia.
Hunting in Snow
Snow turns the woods into a transparent book. The gear, the tactics and the cold-weather rules that matter when temperatures drop below freezing.
Hunting from a Tree Stand
Hunting from a tree stand is one of the most effective ways to pursue whitetail deer and other big game.
Hunting Socks: Merino vs Synthetic
Why cotton socks are a poor choice in cold, wet weather, what merino wool and synthetics each do, layering with a liner, matching socks to boots, keeping feet dry against hypothermia, and when to replace socks, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and Wikipedia.
Understanding Hunting Seasons and Tags
Why seasons and bag limits exist, which rules to look up (seasons, methods, licences, tags, stamps, transport), the federal duck stamp, and planning a hunting year, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Pheasant Hunting for Beginners
What a brand-new pheasant hunter actually needs: the gun, the gear, the public land options, and the truth about whether you need a dog.
Tree Stand vs Ground Blind
When hunters set up to ambush game, they usually have two main options: get up in a tree, or stay on the ground in a concealed blind. Both work.
Squirrel Hunting with a .22
Squirrel hunting with a .22 rifle is cheap and builds real marksmanship. Set up the rifle right, find the load it shoots best, and keep shots inside the range you have practiced.
Wind and Scent Control for Hunters
Which game can smell you, why setting up downwind or crosswind matters most, practical ways to cut human scent (rubber boots, stored clothing, cover scents), using attractants without leading deer to you, what research says about scent-adsorbing clothing, and why not to use ozone generators in enclosed spaces.
Bowhunting for Beginners
Choosing and fitting a first bow (dominant eye, draw length, draw weight), matched arrows, archery safety rules, practice, effective range, shot placement, and the course and rules to start with, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.
Choosing a Cooler for Game Meat
Why game meat must be cooled fast and kept at 40°F or below, how a cooler fits into field care, sizing for deer and elk, bagging and ice, keeping meat out of the sun, bear-resistant coolers and what IGBC certification means, following Penn State Extension, NMSU and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.
Best Hunting Backpacks, Compared
Five hunting backpacks compared from their makers' specs, from a tree-stand day pack and a saddle hunting pack to a multi-day meat hauler, plus capacity, frame and fit.
Best Hunting Knives With Sheaths
Four hunting knives with sheaths compared from their makers' specs - two fixed blades and two replaceable-blade knives - by blade length, steel, weight and sheath, plus how to choose a field-dressing kit.
Decoy Strategies That Work
Decoy safety first (open fields only, never in timber or on heavily hunted public land, carried in a bag, hunter orange nearby), then a spring turkey field setup from the Missouri Department of Conservation: scouting, a 20-yard spread, shooting lanes and patience, plus notes on deer and waterfowl decoys.
How to Field Judge Game
Field judging: identifying a live animal's species, sex, legality and maturity before you shoot. Adult deer vs. fawns, antlers vs. horns and why mistakes are illegal kills, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and the National Deer Association.
Hunting for Beginners
Licenses to figure out, gear to buy, seasons to learn, skills to build: the first steps into hunting for anyone who didn't grow up in a hunting family.
Getting Your Hunting License
To hunt legally in the United States you need a license and, in nearly every state, a hunter education course. How the system works and what steps to take.
Hunting Safety: The Rules That Matter
Hunting can be a safe activity, but that safety isn't an accident. The four firearm rules, identifying your target, tree stand safety, blaze orange and hidden hazards.
Public Land Hunting: A Beginner's Guide
You don't need to own a ranch or know a friendly farmer to be a hunter in America.
Reading Animal Sign
What tracks, beds, rubs, scrapes, browse and sounds tell you, how to judge freshness, how track spacing shows speed, and how to piece sign together into travel routes between bedding and feeding areas, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course and the Mule Deer Foundation.
Spot-and-Stalk Hunting Explained
Spot-and-stalk means glassing for game from a vantage point, then closing the distance unseen. How the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course describes glassing and stalking, the diagonal approach, wind, timing the final move, distance judging, and safety.
Still Hunting: Moving Slow
Still hunting means moving slowly and deliberately to spot game before it spots you: a few steps, then a long, motionless scan, from the downwind side. How to do it, quiet clothing and boots, the trade-offs, and the safety rules, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.