By Alex Comstock
"The quality of being great, distinguished, or eminent" - the definition of greatness. But does that hold true when it comes to deer hunting? I've pondered this a time or two. When you hear someone claim they want to become a "great" deer hunter, what does that even really mean? Greatness can be defined in many different ways, and with deer hunting, I don't believe there to be any one clear cut thing that makes a deer hunter great, because there are too many factors. Let's look at some of those factors below and diagnose them. When I think of a great deer hunter, it's not easily defined, and to better explain my position on this, I broke up deer hunters into a few different categories, and will talk about what can make each one of those hunters "great."
The Giant Buck Seeker
One facet of deer hunter is the guy/gal that is seeking giant bucks, and will hunt or live anywhere to get it done. If you want to consistently be tagging not only mature, but giant whitetails, you either have to spend a lot of money on out of state travel and tags each year, or simply live where there is a lot of them. Places like Iowa, southern Wisconsin, and Canada immediately come to mind. You don't have to be killing giants bucks every year to be a great hunter, in fact there are (in my opinion) a lot of hunters that hunt in extreme pressure in the northeastern states that would be considered "better" hunters than someone living in southern Iowa who tags a 140" + buck seemingly every year. But in order to be someone that is great at harvesting giant bucks consistently, you have to hunt where a higher number of big bucks live.
The Best in Area Hunter
As it pertains to being a "great" deer hunter, this is currently where I'm at right now. I want to master to the best of my ability harvesting mature bucks in the areas I hunt. And that means expectations can change if you hunt more than one area. For instance, in my home state of Minnesota, my expectations and goals are less than what they are in North Dakota, even though I live and have more time to hunt Minnesota. The simple fact is that there are a lot more mature bucks, and less hunters to deal with in North Dakota. Therefore, expectations will inherently be different. A great deer hunter doesn't have to be harvesting giant bucks, because the area they live in might not hold those bucks. But that doesn't mean you can't still be a great deer hunter.
The Public Land Master
Public land can be a tall task to consistently be successful on, no doubt. And what makes someone a "great" hunter based on their public land accomplishments can be a wide variety of things. When it comes to mastering public land, the first thing that populates in my head is achieving what most others don't. So if the average buck harvested on public in your area is a 2 1/2 year old buck, and you are consistently harvesting bucks older than that, I'd venture to say you are doing a pretty great job.
The Teacher
When I think of some of the great deer hunters I know in life, I think of the mentors I've had that have taught me a lot of what I know out in the field. A great deer hunter not only consistently harvests mature bucks, but if you can pass your knowledge on to others in some form, that only makes you greater in my opinion. Depending on the stage of your life, you may not be to that point yet, but if you can one day pass the information you know on to someone else, that only elevates your greatness in the deer hunting realm.
An Overall Great Hunter
To be an overall great deer hunter, at the end of the day it's not just about harvesting big or mature bucks. If you shoot a giant buck every year, but hardly ever do it legally, that doesn't make you a great hunter. What I'm getting at is having the right ethics and values can go a long ways. By doing everything right in that regard, always aiming to improve, and working your tail off, you can be considered a great deer hunter.
By Alex Comstock
Now that the 2019 deer season has concluded, it marked my fourth season self-filming my hunts. Self-filming is by no means a walk in the park, and you truly have to understand what your goals are that come with it before you set out to try and do it. When I first started, I wanted to just have fun with it, which if that’s your end goal, then all the power to you. But I quickly realized I wanted to become enamored with it, and turn it into creating content and so forth. So, I started a YouTube channel, and here we are a few years later, as I ultimately turned filming and photographing into my full-time job, even though a large majority of that is based outside of the hunting world. But, I still run a YouTube channel, and kick out videos weekly. With that, I’m going to link to a YouTube video which explains this blog post in it’s entirety, but if you’re not able to take the fifteen minutes to watch, I’ll run through it quicker here as well.
By Alex Comstock
Over the last year and a half or so, I’ve started using Vortex Optics. The first piece of Vortex I was able to get was the 10X42 diamondback binoculars. And ever since, I couldn’t have been happier. Before my Vortex binoculars, I had never owned a pair of quality glass, and I eventually knew it was time to get something that was quality, but at the same time I didn’t have the budget to spend a crazy amount of money. Eventually that lead me to Vortex. Today, I want to go over a quick and simple review of the 10x42 diamondback binoculars and why I like them so much.
By Alex Comstock
Recently I got the chance to review a few products from BioLite Energy, and let me tell you, this kit of products is pretty cool. Coming from a hunter’s perspective, I’ve found these products to not only be beneficial for being outdoors, but they’re also great to keep in your home in case of an emergency. With that said, let’s jump into what these products are, how they perform, and how you can put them to use.
By Alex Comstock
If you’re not familiar with #VelvetFest, it’s a kick off to deer season started by our good friends over at Exodus Trail Cameras. #VelvetFest is meant to help get people excited about deer season and summer scouting. Velvetfest runs from June 12th to July 12th and there’s a lot more than just simply getting excited about summer.
By Alex Comstock
If you haven’t heard of the TV show MeatEater, you’re missing out on one of the best hunting shows out there. It’s such a great show, in large part because of the infectious personality of host, Steven Rinella. Rinella in my opinion, is one of the best public advocates for hunting for a variety of reason, and he is able to articulate about hunting so well. He shows not just the hunt in his show, but everything that goes into it and what comes after it. That includes the butchering, packing out meat and cooking it. But today, we’re not talking about his show MeatEater. What we are talking about though is Rinella’s film that was recently released, “Stars in The Sky: A Hunting Story.”
By Alex Comstock
In 2019, there’s more people than ever consuming not only whitetail content online, but high quality whitetail content. In today’s world, there’s a ton of places on the internet you can find great deer hunting content and in this blog post, I wan to focus on YouTube. YouTube is mainly where I consume all of my video content and there’s a lot you can learn from and enjoy on YouTube. With that said, here’s what I would consider as five of the best deer hunting YouTube channels out there.
By Scott Spitzley
When it comes to connecting and engaging young children into the outdoors, there may be some uncertainty as to where to begin—it is in my opinion, overlooked.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife national survey conducted every five years, our hunting community is declining, despite the population increase. I can only speculate that this is attributed to modernization as well as a lack of interest in hunting, especially amongst our younger generation.
By Alex Comstock
The last couple of days I have gone over my budget friendly and recommended products that I came across at last week’s Archery Trade Association Show in Louisville, Kentucky. Today, I wanted to highlight three rather unique products I noticed, and then let you make your choice on what you think of them.
By Alex Comstock
Yesterday, I went over three budget friendly products from the ATA show last week. Those particular products I thought were the best if money is a top concern. Today, I wanted to go over my recommended products that I came across at the ATA show regardless of price. These four stood out to me above the rest.
By Alex Comstock
Last week I attended the ATA show in Louisville, Kentucky and as always everyone is always excited to see what products are coming for the upcoming year. This year, there didn’t seem to be many buzzworthy products, but I’m always looking for those smaller, budget friendly products. Below I will go through three of my favorite products from this year’s ATA show that won’t force you to take a big hit in the wallet.
By Alex Comstock
As a hardcore bowhunter, deer season truly never ends. We’re doing something deer related every month of year. But during the actual time of year when we can shoot deer, everything gets intensified. For months during the fall, we spend hours upon hours in a treestand or blind, and when we’re not in the field, odds are we’re looking at the weather, maps, etc. It’s non-stop and can sometimes end up being a mental grind, especially when we get to this time of year. Here are three reasons deer season can end up being a mental grind and what you can do when the grind hits you.
By Alex Comstock
Public land is a great thing in the hunting and outdoor world, no doubt about it. But sometimes, when you hunt public land, you are going to deal with people that just don’t quite get it. Unfortunately, some hunters don’t understand ethics or respect others. I wish everyone did, but it’s a sad fact, and it can put you in a uncomfortable position. So how do you handle sticky situations? That’s the goal of this blog post.
By Alex Comstock
If you aren't a member of the Quality Deer Management Association and you love deer hunting, it's time to look at becoming a member. Whether you own property and want to learn how to manage it more efficiently, are a public land weekend warrior, or somewhere in between, there's a lot to be learned from being a QDMA member. Here are a few specific reasons why you should consider joining today.
By Alex Comstock
The term "Trophy" buck. What does it mean to you? I'd be willing to bet that it's different than what I consider a trophy, or what your friend considers a trophy. Yet, the phrase "Trophy Hunting" often is associated with deer hunting negatively, and I don't like that. But, at the same time I think it can sometimes be partially our fault as hunters. I believe we ought to explain to people what we mean by trophy hunting, and that just because someone says they are a trophy hunter doesn't mean they only care about antlers and not anything else.
By Tyler Jones
Having toured in a band for nearly 10 years, I find traveling easier than most, I guess. All the time I hear, “I wish I had the guts to just go like you do,” and I’m thinking, “I wish I had your paycheck.” I feel like I’ve been tough for some time now, but I think I’m also just plain callused because since age 18, I’ve never known what it was like not to scrape by. The lifestyle can be stressful, however it also has a freeing quality to it, and because I have chosen to live this way, I’ve been forced into learning how to travel and hunt out of state on a slim budget.
By Adam Crews
As a kid, I always remember my dad and his yellow legal pad with his “To-Do List” penciled at the top. He's the hardest working person I know and he always has a plan. If anyone had the right to tell me my priorities were wrong, it was him. He may not admit it, but he gets stuff done, and it’s all because he has a plan.
By Alex Comstock
"The quality of being great, distinguished, or eminent" - the definition of greatness. But does that hold true when it comes to deer hunting? I've pondered this a time or two. When you hear someone claim they want to become a "great" deer hunter, what does that even really mean?
By Alex Comstock
As I sit here and type this, I'm thinking hard about exactly what deer hunting has taught me, not only about animals, wildlife, and as an outdoorsman, but as a human being. When deer hunting is one of the most important things to you in life, you'll inherently spend a lot of time working at it. In turn, deer hunting will actually teach you a lot about life, and it's my baseline on how to be successful. Don't believe me? Well here's five life lessons that deer hunting has taught me.
By Alex Comstock
In this day and age of hunting, with numbers continuing to fall, especially with the number of deer hunters, I think it's important we reach as many "non-hunters" as possible to explain the intricacies that people may not understand about hunting. Deer hunting is such a multi layered activity, and there's so many different levels to it. I think sometimes people get it misconstrued and think we only shoot big bucks for chess pieces on the wall, or that we don't respect whitetail deer.
By Alex Comstock
As a hunter, you are inevitably going to be asked at some point in your life why you hunt. It might be someone challenging you, or it could be someone that's genuinely interested in hunting who wants to understand where you come from. It's actually pretty compelling to me. As a hunter, we're in the center of everything that has to do with hunting right? We live it and breath it everyday, and sometimes it can be hard to see it from the perspective of someone who has never hunted a day in their life. So if you were to take and try to explain to them why you hunt, how would you put it? It can be a unique conversation, and here's my attempt at how I would explain to someone why I hunt.
By Alex Comstock
Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the declining number of hunters in America. The numbers are slightly alarming, and as hunters, if we want hunting to prosper, we need to be recruiting more people to start hunting. One organization that is making a big difference when it comes to recruiting new people to hunting is the Quality Deer Management Association.
By Alex Comstock
In our latest Q&A, I interviewed two professional photographers in Steven Drake and Sam Soholt. It was one of our best pieces on WhitetailDNA (you can read it by clicking HERE) and it inspired this blog post. It's something I've been thinking a lot about lately, and that's the declination in the number of hunters. We'll be having a more in depth piece coming soon about the declining number of hunters, and what we can do about it, but one thing I wanted to bring up now was the fact that we as hunters need to make sure we're portraying hunting in a positive light at all times, and not just focusing on the kill.
By Alex Comstock
I've been thinking recently about how big bucks make people do things that are pretty crazy and dumb. And I'm not talking about in a good way. Not the crazy and dumb where you sit all day in a tree in single digit temperatures. I'm talking about about the crazy and dumb where people steal, trespass, poach, etc. all because of one thing - big bucks. Big antlers and giant bucks are awesome, no doubt about it, but when they start dictating you, or cause you to do illegal things that you otherwise would never think about doing, that's when it becomes a problem.
By Alex Comstock
A good attitude can go a long ways. It can even affect decisions you make, and ultimately the results that you have in a particular aspect of your life. No matter what it is, attitude can play a big role, and have a larger impact on things than you may think, and deer hunting is no different.
By Alex Comstock
Are you looking for the perfect excuse to get out for a weekend of shed hunting? Well, I think this is the perfect opportunity! Whitetail Properties is putting on their annual #Shedrally, which is the world's largest shed hunt again this year. #Shedrally is an organized shed hunt, meant to bring together people all over the country out in pursuit of antlers. This year, #Shedrally will be held on March 10th and 11th.
By Alex Comstock
This time of the year I tend to spend a lot of time in deep thought about all things to do with deer hunting. From tactical to the path our country is on as it pertains to the hunting world, and everything in between. Lately, I've been spending a fair amount of time thinking about the developments of our hunting industry and some things that people may be overlooking.
By Alex Comstock
In today's hunting show realm, the digital side of it continues to grow larger and larger. For me personally, I don't have cable TV, and therefore I consume all of my hunting shows via the internet. There's a ton of online shows out there, and a lot of different places you can go to consume online hunting shows. Today, I wanted to run through some of my favorites, and some websites you can go to in order to watch these.
By Alex Comstock
This past year I started using a new tool for hunting, and it's been something that's been game changing for me. OnX maps has literally changed the way I scout, look at maps, identify public and private land, and ultimately hunt. OnX is something I'd strongly recommend to anybody, whether you hunt public land, or own your own property, and here's why.
By Alex Comstock
A couple weeks ago, I picked up the Mathews VXR from my local archery shop, Custom Archery & Outdoors. Randy, the owner of the shop set it up for me and tuned it, and within an hour, Randy had transitioned all of my accessories (rest, sight, stabilizer, etc.) from my Triax to the VXR and I was shooting great. It was a seamless transition and now after shooting it almost everyday for over a week, I wanted to give you my first impressions, because I’ve been absolutely blown away by this bow.