Author: Heath Wood

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,…