Friday, June 5th, 2026

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Friday, June 5th, 2026

Breaking News for

Sportsmen Since 1968

Oak Duke

Oak Duke: The dreaded October lull; what is it?

Myth or reality? Each and every whitetail archery season during October, bowhunters report a lull, or slow time when activity and deer, mainly buck sightings, drop off.
Some bowhunters even quit hunting, saying, “I’ll wait ‘til the rut.” Others second-guess themselves, thinking, “Must be doing something wrong. Just don’t see the deer now.” Others beat the pulpit in the press and on social media, proclaiming with fervor that the October Lull of legend is just another myth.

Oak Duke: The dreaded October lull; what is it? Read More »

Oak Duke: Make your own signpost rub for whitetail hunting

Few marks in the deer woods trip a hunter’s trigger like a smokin’ hot buck rub. White scars in the woods.
But in the last few years, one particular type of buck rub has become my key big buck sign. No real mystery here…it’s the signpost rub. I just wish that I had focused on signpost rubs sooner in my deer-hunting career, both bow and gun.

Oak Duke: Make your own signpost rub for whitetail hunting Read More »

Oak Duke: What do we really know about the mysterious alpha white-tailed buck?

Over the last 50 years, great changes in technology have colored and shaded whitetail hunting. But despite these advances and regressions, our understanding of the alpha buck has only inched forward.
He’s still a mystery!
Most wild alphas are secretive whether in the low, flat country of Mississippi to the rugged hills and mountains of New York. Wild, and I emphasize wild, older bucks are extremely difficult to study. Topping the list of difficulties would be their inherent shyness, intelligence, incredible senses, and breadth of range.

Oak Duke: What do we really know about the mysterious alpha white-tailed buck? Read More »

Oak Duke: You can never have too many flies for summer trout fishing

Now that we are in what is termed by fly-fishers as “The Middle Season” on the trout stream, long gone are those easy and timely hatches of waterborne bugs. As the trout season progresses through spring into summer, insect life (trout food) becomes ever more complex and complicated and challenging. They’re finicky eaters.

Oak Duke: You can never have too many flies for summer trout fishing Read More »

Oak Duke: Despite high waters, it’s been a memorable spring on New York trout streams

Springtime during New York’s trout season this year was unlike any year I can remember. The fishing has been great…and not so great. That is not unusual.
The winter of 2023 promised us in early March we were going to have an early and longed-for meteorological warm-up, and the famous woodchuck concurred. Snowpack, (what snowpack?) vanished early.

Oak Duke: Despite high waters, it’s been a memorable spring on New York trout streams Read More »

Oak Duke: Remembering the best day fishing the upper Genesee River

At my age, you sure don’t want to wish your life away. Every day is precious and a gift, especially in the springtime during trout season.
But I can’t help but to look forward to fishing the upper Genesee River at the end of May and early June this year. I like the river best where it spills out of Pennsylvania, pretty clean for these days. And there, last year I had my best day ever fly-fishing.

Oak Duke: Remembering the best day fishing the upper Genesee River Read More »

Oak Duke: Gobbler hunting can be like fishing

Sometimes it is a long time between gobbles for a turkey hunter, kind of like a long time between bites for a fisherman. Our confidence wanes, especially poignant when on an out-of-state hunt.
I barely heard that West Virginia bird gobble. Just this side of the imagination. Any fainter and it’d be a daydream. But this gobble was real. The faint gobble resonated the eardrum.

Oak Duke: Gobbler hunting can be like fishing Read More »

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