Hunting Tips

The light stuff: Running and gunning for late-season gobblers

When the morning sit doesn’t pan out and you have room to roam, scale down the gear and give mobile hunting a try. It’s a great way to find birds and get a little exercise to boot.

Field of nightmares: Dealing with tough gobblers

Ask any turkey hunter what’s the toughest turkey to hunt and you’ll most likely get a variety of answers. Nobody’s asked, but I’ll volunteer my opinion anyway. For me it’s the strutting tom in a field. Turkeys are likely to be…

Wild turkey surprise: Locating and calling boss gobblers during the unusual spring of 2018

A strange season has developed for longbeard activity, but persistent, savvy hunters still can locate a workable tom turkey.

Going back to your turkey-hunting roots: longbeards in the big woods

Every turkey hunter dreams of a textbook spring gobbler hunt. And when they do occasionally happen (for some it’s more occasional than others) we’re on top of the world. When you pull one off on a woodland or a mountain…

Focus on the hens and the food to find spring gobblers

And toe tracks along muddy trails or other soft areas can be good indicators of turkeys, as well as fresh droppings, and they’re just as good as a gobble for betraying silent toms.

Don’t overlook a little girl talk during turkey hunt

Thanks to some adaptive calling, Michigan’s turkey hunting season off to a good start.

Not giving up on a tough spring turkey

If you bowhunt longbeards, pay attention to your gobbler-recovery efforts after marginal hits.

Experience crucial to spring gobbler success

And other simple things to remember as we begin another season in the turkey woods.

A pattern and plan for early-season wild turkey hunting

Weather, food, and calling vocalizations will play huge roles in bagging a gobbler during April.

Quick ticket to more turkey kills: buy better decoys

Boost your gobbler-hunting odds this spring by splurging on a quality fake wild turkey decoy.

It’s up to us to boost hunter numbers – now

We all have to do our part to share our outdoor heritage in an attempt to pass the torch.

Some tips for hunting snow geese in Pennsylvania

The birds are here, but huge numbers do not mean success is sure to follow.

Crucial step for the evolving hunter: small-game hunting

Many of today’s young hunters go from BB guns to deer rifles without ever spending time chasing squirrels and rabbits.

Scout now for next season's buck

By John L. Sloan Maybe one of the most important factors of hunting a mature buck – post-season scouting – is no longer important to some deer hunters, being replaced by feeders, supplemental feeding and trail cameras. But it is…

Going horizontal: Tips on buying a crossbow

Like it or not, crossbows are here to stay, and more New York hunters are hunting with them every year. We talked to several archery pro shop owners about what new-to-the-sport crossbow buyers are looking for and just about all…

Ice-age ruffed grouse: Hunting in extreme cold poses quite the challenge for man and beast (dogs)

In sub-zero temperatures, wildlife not interested in moving, so you and your canine companions should target the peak hours of the day.

End-of-deer-season duties set the stage for next fall

When the end of September nears, it’s a good feeling knowing where everything for the upcoming season is located and that I can get ready without forgetting anything.

Rooster roundup: snow and the best ring-necked pheasant hunting of the season

As crops disappear, engage the dog in a search for upland birds in traditional public lands cover like cattail sloughs and brushy thickets.

Take a seat and make the shot: A bowhunting option

A few years ago, a friend asked me whether I shoot standing up or sitting down while bowhunting. “Standing,” I replied. “Why don’t you sit; it’s a lot more comfortable,” he said. Actually, I never thought about it. Truth be…

Tips to increase your deer-calling success

By Gary Sefton “You’re not going to believe this,” the excited deer hunter exclaimed. “I hadn’t seen anything all morning, so I let my bow down and started to unfasten my safety belt. I remembered my brand-new, never-used deer call…