http://www.trophybucksecrets.com Trophy Buck Secrets - Whitetail Deer Management , Hunting Videos, Tips, Forum, Pictures & More en-us Dave@trophybucksecrets.com http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/412.cfm Prior to the 2010 season, I'd never hunted deer from a ground blind -- turkeys, yes, but not deer. Hard to believe, I know, but I've always been a tree stand kind of guy when it came to whitetails, and for good reason (at least in my mind). http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/411.cfm Every big buck seems to have its own mystery, and sometimes that mystery is a hard one to solve. They fight for breeding rights -- not just sparring matches, either. When two mature animals, each weighing in the neighborhood of 200 pounds and carrying sharp-tined racks, go at it, they're bound to inflict wounds upon one another. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/410.cfm Goodbye fall, hello winter -- and hunting in the winter can be tough, but not impossible. If you're like me and still after a particular buck, you're starting to wonder if you should hang up your hopes until next year. All fall I've been after a nice buck and can't seem to close the deal. Now that it's December, I realize my chances of success are slipping away. After all, I didn't get that buck in archery season during the rut, and I sure didn't get him in gun season. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/409.cfm A nice West Virginia 8-point was standing only 15 yards away facing straight towards me and I had my bow up and ready to come to full draw. All I needed to do was wait for him to turn broadside and he was mine. He stood there for several minutes. Nine does lingered nearby, all of them focused on this buck. He picked at browse and chewed as if contemplating which doe to chase next. Everything seemed at a standstill until he quickly turned and bluffed at a doe behind him. She took off. He stopped again, this time facing straight away. More minutes ticked by. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/public/408.cfm Hunters who are successful in the upcoming deer hunting seasons are encouraged by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to consider participating in the state's Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) program, which channels donations of venison to local food banks, soup kitchens and needy families. Pennsylvania's HSH program is recognized as one of the most successful among similar programs in about 40 states. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/402.cfm Hunting from the ground has distinct advantages over hunting from a tree stand. First and foremost, blinds are safer -- there's little doubt that most of the hunting accidents that occur each year are tree stand related. Also, blinds can be set up anywhere, in dense saplings or open fields. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/401.cfm All of a sudden, October is long gone and we're well into November. Goodbye warm weather. Gun season is almost upon us and -- gulp! -- the snow will soon be flying. Not good if you don't like the cold -- but then again, what deer hunter doesn't like the cold? http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/400.cfm Archery is a long season, and during the course of such a long season, equipment can take a beating. This year, it seems like the fletching on my arrows has suffered the brunt of it. One reason is probably that I'm constantly practicing. Every time I hunt, before I get out of my stand I take a shot at a leaf on the ground to see if I can hit it. Also, before I leave the house for an afternoon hunt I take a shot or two at my 3D target. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/399.cfm In the past, I always took the broadheads I used for granted. All I cared about was whether or not they flew straight and grouped well. I guess I just assumed that all of the broadheads on the market were razor sharp and would kill efficiently. Boy, was I ever wrong. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/398.cfm It's often said that hunting is a solitary sport, but it doesn't always have to be. Done right, tandem hunting can be extremely effective. Before we start talking about two-hunter tactics, though, I must offer this piece of advice. Two hunters in the woods doubles everything, not just your chances of tagging a nice buck. Two hunters means twice the noise walking in and out of the woods and twice the human scent dispersing throughout the area. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/397.cfm It might be the most important piece of equipment you need to buy. Hopefully you'll never have to actually use it. But if you do, can you depend on it to save your life? If hunting whitetails has a drawback it's this: whitetails tend to move best during the first and last few hours of daylight. Morning hunts mean early get ups. And for most of us, evening hunts mean sneaking into our tree stands after a long day of work. What does this have to do with safety? http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/396.cfm One of the most common reasons hunters miss deer is because they inaccurately estimated the range of their shot. Fortunately, this is completely preventable. Ralph shares some tips with you in this video on how to improve your range estimation skills. Don't miss another buck because you shot over or under him http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/395.cfm There are lot of things that can go wrong when you're hunting trophy bucks. It's wise to plan ahead and eliminate as many potential pitfalls as possible before the season begins. One way to prevent unhappy surprises is to take your treestand for a pre-season test drive. Ralph shows you what to look for in this video http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/394.cfm The new Panther Vision 3-LED PowerCap™ lighted cap gives serious hunters, night anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts the power to see in the dark while keeping their hands free. Since the LED's are built into the cap, as long as you are wearing your cap, you'll always have hands-free light at the squeeze of a button. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/393.cfm Bring the action up close while showing your support for the fight against breast cancer with Alpen Optics Pink 8x25 compact and Alpen Pink 10x42 full-size binoculars. Alpen is Focused on A Cure and has committed to donating a portion of the sale of every pair of Pink binoculars to breast cancer research. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/392.cfm I have been hunting in West Virginia over the last several years and during that time I have had the great pleasure of getting to know and become friends with an elderly mountain man who has killed more than his share of trophy bucks. During one of my trips to visit him on his secluded farm I arrived while he was working in his barn. As I arrived the barn doors were standing open and I was astonished to see the number of large whitetail racks he had tacked to the inside of them. Never in my life had I seen that many trophy racks in one place. I had to find out whatever hunting secret it was that he knew to be able to kill that many quality bucks http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/391.cfm Open almost any major outdoor magazine from the past twenty years and you're sure to see the photography and writing of Charles Alsheimer. Today, Charlie is one of the most widely recognized members of the outdoor media and is considered a leading authority on whitetail deer. Recently I had a chance to talk to Charlie about scrapes, rubs, and how they indicate the stages of the rut. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/390.cfm Ever have a big buck respond to a grunt call and come charging in only to hang up about fifty yards out? We all have. Encounters like those cause us to wish we'd set up our stand closer to where that buck hung up. Truth is, even if we had placed our stand differently, chances are the buck still wouldn't have come in. A whitetail's ears are like radar. Once they zero in on a sound, they know within a few feet where that sound is coming from. http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/389.cfm A few years ago John Newburn decided to carve his own niche in the outdoor industry and he opened East Ohio Shooter's Supply. "I had several doubts about opening a sporting goods store," John said. "I love to hunt and knew that the sporting goods business would cut into my personal hunting time." http://www.trophybucksecrets.com/members/388.cfm A long summer can make any deer hunter worth his salt ask: Will fall ever come? Yes, it will. In fact, it's finally here! Time to gear up and see if that time spent scouting will pay off on the big one. The start of any season is exciting. It's a new time of year -- the best time of year, in our opinion here at Trophy Buck Secrets -- and it's easy to get wrapped up in the thrill of setting our sights on a whitetail's chest.