Stories
By Alex Comstock
Last year, I did a blog post where I covered the topic on how far a whitetail buck might travel throughout the year. What really got the gears turning in my head on this topic was when my buddy Joey told me of a buck he had been hunting called the "Split Four", and he documented him traveling over ten miles. Well this season, Joey was able to write the final chapter of the buck's life, and I was able to catch up with him on how he was able to do it.
By Alex Comstock
I'm constantly fascinated by learning from other's hunting stories. One of my favorite parts of listening to someone's hunting story is learning from how they were successful or what they learned from a "failed" hunt. Today, we talk with Tyler Jones from The Element Podcast on a recent success trip he had to Kansas, and how he was able to put down a slammer of a buck. Enjoy!
By Alex Comstock
Earlier this month Clifford Martin was able to put down an early season giant in Iowa and I wanted to get the scoop on the hunt. Clifford is one of those guys that always seems to harvest a mature buck with consistency. I wanted to get an idea of the story behind his buck, and how he was able to send an arrow through him in October. Read on for the story of his awesome buck!
By Alex Comstock
Hunting mature bucks is never easy. Throw in the fact of hunting a highly pressured state such as Pennsylvania, and it's even harder. Nick Kravitz defined the odds a few days ago, and harvested a beautiful mature buck in a highly pressured state during none other than the "October Lull". To read about how Nick was able to succeed on this hunt and what he learned that could help you in the near future, read our Q&A below.
By Alex Comstock
Every now and again, I want to take a look back on moments, special times of the year, important memories, etc. and instead of write a story about it, simply let the story tell itself - through the lens. I think this could provide some interesting content for not only me to enjoy, but for you as well. Maybe it will help give you a little extra motivation to get through the work week and into the weekend, or get you a little more excited for deer season. Either way, I hope you enjoy! And with that, here are the many beauties of this past spring...
There are always going to be the bucks that get away. The ones that keep you up at night, wondering what you could have done differently. I find myself thinking about these encounters, and occurrences often. Even at the young age of 22, I've had more mishaps, and bucks that have gotten away, than ones I've been successful harvesting. But today, I wanted to share a story with you of the first buck that truly "got away". The first buck that left me stunned, and down in the dumps. It's a buck and a moment I'll never forget, as that deer taught me how to handle failure, and grow from these disappointments.
Growing up an avid bowhunter in Southeastern Iowa, I came to the University of North Dakota for college and figured I was leaving my passion of chasing whitetails behind for a few years. My first few years of school were extremely busy and resulted in only a few days of bowhunting back home in Iowa. Fortunately, I was still able to have amazing encounters with large whitetails over these few hunting days, but this only reminded me of how bad I wanted to spend more time in a tree. Every year I told myself, “next year I’ll actually have time to bowhunt, and I’ll even try and hunt in North Dakota,” and every year was the same. There was no time for me to scout with my brutal schedule, and I surely didn’t have time to hunt hard. This past summer, I figured I would find a day or two to go out no matter what. September crept up quite quickly, and a few days after the season opened, I finally found time where I could get out and hunt for a day.
In the summer of 2014, I decided I was going to start hunting Nebraska. I have family that lives there, and I wanted to hunt another state than just where I lived. It was going to be my first out of state DIY hunt, and I was really excited about the opportunity. My buddy Ben and I went down early in the summer and put up trail cams, and scouted the property I had permission to hunt on. It looked awesome, and our expectations were high. Later in the summer we went back down to check cams, and what we got on camera pumped us up even more.
Targeting one specific buck is always a challenge. It is exponentially tougher to find success when doing this, rather than just trying to shoot a deer, or even a mature buck. During the 2013 Minnesota archery season, this is what I did, kind of. It wasn't the type of hunt your probably thinking of, I wasn't hunting a deer I had years of history with and was obsessed about. In fact, I didn't even know this particular buck existed. I always have multiple properties to hunt, and 2013 was no different. One of my properties I had permission on, I had to share with two other guys, and it was only a 40 acre parcel. We split it up into three sections, so I had roughly 13 acres to deal with. I didn't set foot into this property in the summer or early season. To be honest, before I even walked it, I had written it off. Besides the guys hunting the same property as me, there was an abundance of hunting pressure all around. I simply never gave it a chance.
