Author: Heath Wood
The Best New Archery Hunting Products from The 2024 ATA Show The 2024 Archery Trade Association (ATA) Annual Trade Show was recently held in St. Louis, Missouri. With the show taking place within sight of the historic Gateway Arch, I was reminded of the true meaning behind the massive monument: the start of the gateway to the west. As I made my way into America’s Center, which was the site of the ATA convention, I felt the similarity between the arch and the show. As this show features numerous new archery hunting products, it serves as the gateway for the…
Spontaneously deciding to hunt after work, I swiftly donned my hunting gear beside the truck and proceeded to pass through a livestock gate that marked the entrance to my hunting grounds. As I cleared the gate, I made sure to secure it, not wanting any unexpected disturbances. My destination was a ladder stand nestled about three to four hundred yards down the woodland path. As I made my way, I glanced back and was met with the sight of two deer a mere fifty yards away, a doe accompanied by her two fawns. Being a doe with two fawns, I…
The crunching of leaves suddenly disrupts the silence you’ve experienced while sitting for hours waiting for a trophy buck to show up. Anticipation rises as you turn around to encounter the buck of your dreams. Then, hope is diminished as you realize this is a furred-up coyote. Do you shoot the coyote or let it pass, hoping to get a future shot at a buck? On the opening morning of the Missouri firearms deer season, I anxiously awaited for enough light to (hopefully) allow me to glimpse the first deer of the morning. As I began to feel the chill…
Photos: Heath Wood After hanging multiple game camera sets on a muggy, mid-July evening, my thoughts drifted to the upcoming fall hunting season, when the temperatures would be cool enough to see my breath drifting in the cool autumn air. Even though my excitement for the upcoming season gave me the courage to fight the summer heat, my real reason for being anxious to begin scouting bucks was the mainframe eight-pointer I’d been watching with cameras for the past two years. I estimated that the buck would be four-and-a-half years old, and I had high hopes that he would explode…
Whether you’re a veteran turkey hunter or someone who is ready to experience the thrill of that hunt for the first time, calling and harvesting a spring gobbler at close range is always challenging. As if spring turkey hunting isn’t already a feat, many hunters add to the challenge by trading in the traditional shotgun for a bow and arrow. The difficulty of getting a wild turkey into archery range, drawing the bow and making a successful shot—without the keen eyes of a turkey spotting the hunter— is an entirely higher level of difficulty. The added effort that archery brings…
I vividly recall being a teenager, bowhunting with my family on our property. Every year, like clockwork, a rub line would appear in a wooded area between an old logging road and a small cattle pasture in mid-October. The strip of timber was only 200 yards wide and perhaps 300 yards long. Yet, every year, bucks would rub in the same general spot. When November arrived, the logging road near the rub area would also be lined with multiple scrapes in the same annual fashion. My family always found hunting success in this location. Twenty years have come and gone,…