Want More Turkeys? Years ago when I started guiding in West Central Illinois I decided that the status quo of the properties that I hunted was not good enough for my hunts. I wanted to not only keep more turkeys on the grounds that I guided, but I also wanted more places t... Read the full story

The Way of the Turkey Gun... I once had a professional upland guide and very accomplished clay shooter debate with me the topic of pointing his turkey gun instead of aiming it because it was a shotgun. He claimed that the only proper way to shoot a shotgun was to "point it". I will... Read the full story

Why We Hunt Why We Hunt After my last blog was posted on the internet I saw some interesting commentary from the public. The comments varied from positive to negative and were mostly generated strictly from a picture and not from actual written word. This certainl... Read the full story

Late November...Something to be Thankful for... Well here we are… mid-November. Like many of you I have been chasing the whitetails pretty hard over the last few weeks trying to capitalize on the splendor of the rut. I have had several unbelievable days along with some extremely slow days. The one t... Read the full story

The Highs and Lows of Deer Season... Every deer camp has the conversation as to what drives deer movement. Moon phases, rut timing, weather patterns, etc., are all popular subjects. Ten deer hunters in a given deer camp will offer up ten different reasons for why deer do what they do. Give... Read the full story

Archery Practice…Time to Double Down As a young man who was fascinated by archery I could always find the time to shoot my bow. It did not matter the time of year or the weather outside I just loved shooting. This eventually led me to shooting competitively in the summer months as a teenag... Read the full story

Food Plot Maintenance As the drought of 2012 continues across much of the country so does the demise of many of our wildlife food plots. No matter what type of food you have planted this year the excessive heat and lack of precipitation is going to have a negative impact. So... Read the full story

Trail Camera Season - Learn Tips for Better Success With turkey season over and deer hunting season still months away I begin to dust off my trail cameras. After clearing up my SD cards and loading up on fresh batteries I start to get anxious to put my cameras in the woods. However, I prefer to approach... Read the full story

The Turkey Woods This past weekend I made my last trip into the turkey woods for the season. My cousin came up to Iowa to hunt with me and we had a great time together as usual. To top it off, he got to take a real nice gobbler back home to Illinois. The hunt did not st... Read the full story

Hunting Late Spring Gobblers As much as it pains me to admit it, turkey season is nearly half over. Although I try to pack as much hunting as possible into the short spring season I always seem to fall just short of enough. Family, work, and the “honey- do list” all need their fair... Read the full story

So You Want to Fill Your Turkey Tag... Yesterday I found myself on my riding lawn mower for the first time ever in the month of March. As I rode around my yard in the nearly 80 degree weather my mind drifted into the future a few weeks. Although it already feels like turkey season outside, I... Read the full story

The Art of Shed Hunting With the month of March and the end of winter around the corner I begin to get excited about the antlers that could be lying around my hunting areas. I can’t wait to begin the search for those treasures that we hunt for all fall, that are now just sittin... Read the full story

Antlerless Deer Season…What is right for you? The topic of antlerless deer harvest is never without some controversy. Some people are adamantly opposed to the idea of any does being harvested and some would like as many killed as possible. Most deer hunters would fall somewhere in the middle of the... Read the full story

Late Season Whitetail...For the Dedicated Few I have long been a fan of the late season pursuit of trophy whitetail bucks. As the snow and mercury falls the chances of putting your tag on a mature buck rises. Many whitetail hunters pack up their gear for the season after the rut is over. This is a... Read the full story

The Weather Man Lies to Hunters As I flipped the calendar in my office to November 2011, I began to prepare for my pending vacation. I spent much of my time abusing my internet privileges to study the weather forecast on every available weather site on my favorites list. That would be... Read the full story

The All Day Sit For Whitetails If you want to grab the attention of any deer hunter in America all you need to do is start a sentence with, ”The best way to improve your odds of killing a big buck is ___________”. Mission accomplished; they are hanging on your every last word. Some... Read the full story

Best Laid Plans….. Follow me through this hypothetical scenario and see if any of this sounds familiar to you. During an early spring shed hunting trip you stumble upon an antler of a great buck right smack dab in the middle of your prime Illinois hunting spot. You show a... Read the full story

Lessons from October Whitetail Hunts of the Past Lessons from October’s Past… As I sit here counting the hours to the start of bow season 2011 I find myself reflecting on the success and failures of my October hunts. Scrolling through my filing system of memories I reflect on some of the earliest h... Read the full story

Where Have All the Woodsmen Gone? I happen to belong to a collective group of people known as Generation X. Maybe you have heard of us? We were the last generation of kids to graduate high school without the help of the internet, we never spent a day in detention due to texting, and we... Read the full story