By Alex Comstock 

Goal setting is a simple way to take your hunting game to the next level. If you aren't consistently setting goals for yourself, now is the time to start. By setting goals throughout the year, it can make a substantial difference in how your deer season plays out. How is it though that goals truly make a difference? That's what my goal (see what I did there?) is to accomplish in the next few paragraphs. 

By Alex Comstock

2017 is officially here. With it brings new opportunities, new challenges, and inevitably the ups and downs that come with deer hunting. There will be some things that happen that are simply out of our control, and there are things that we are completely in control of. If you want to make next year your best season yet, it starts right now.  If you think you just had a great year, it can still get better. There is always room for improvement, and in order to make that improvement, it's going to take commitment, hard work, and maybe even a little luck. Here is how I starting to plan to make next year my best season ever, and how you can too. 

My first full whitetail season filming my hunts is officially in the books. There is a steep learning curve when it comes to filming your hunts, and put simply, it's not as easy as it looks. I came into the 2016 season fully aware that it was going to be a challenge to film my hunts. I knew what my goals were, and I set forth with those goals in mind (will go in depth later). 

Today is December 24th. For most of us, we've been out hunting whitetails for the past 3-4 months. For those of you that have not filled a tag you've wanted to fill, by now with not much season left, it can be easy to throw in the towel, and call it a season. But I urge you not to. Every year, more and more guys that I know talk about how they are "hunted out" and they don't hunt up to the end of the season, yet complain after the season about how they weren't able to get that buck they wanted. I feel strongly about grinding it out until the end of the season, and here's why. 

When it comes to late season hunting, there is usually one common theme that comes with increased deer movement - harsh weather.  Extremely cold temperatures tend to get deer on their feet, but can make for brutal hunting conditions. If there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's how to hunt in cold weather. I've hunted many times when the temperatures have reached all the way to negatives, including some days when it's pushed negative thirty degrees with the wind chill (i.e this past weekend). I'll be back out this weekend when the temps will again be brutally cold. Staying warm in this weather is no easy task, but here are a few tricks I've picked up along the way that seem to help. 

The late season is officially here. For some, December signifies the end of the season. For others, you know that you've still got time to get it done. Depending on where you live, most states in the Midwest wrap up their bow seasons at the end of December, or during January. With that in mind, know that if you play your cards right, and can stand the sometimes miserable weather that strikes during this time of year, the late season can produce some of the best hunting of the year. 

As I start gearing up for my late season hunting, I have taken some time and done a lot of reading. I've gone back and read many old magazine articles, various articles on the web, and watched a number of my favorite hunting videos. I've also spent a good amount time looking at trail camera pictures.

Have you been hunting the rut as hard as you can, and still haven't had a chance to wrap your tag around a mature buck? I'm in the same boat with you! But, all is not lost yet. The very end of the rut can produce some of your best opportunities at harvesting a truly mature buck. Recently, I wrote an article for Wide Open Spaces on this very topic that I wanted to share with you. 

Recently, I set out to learn a little more about hunting bedding areas during the rut specifically. The first person that came to mind was Dan Infalt, who is notorious for killing big mature bucks by hunting bedding areas. I reached out to Dan, and he was nice enough to help me put together a Q&A post with him, and let me tell you, he contains a wealth of knowledge. With that said, here is how he hunts bedding areas during the rut, get your notes out, because this one is good. 

Sweet November. The magical rut. However you refer to this time of the year, it's usually got to do with the rut, and how exciting this time of year is. No doubt, it can be the best time to be in the woods, and things can happen at literally any moment. But, at the same time, the rut can be hard. It can be tough. It can be tiring. And it can be utterly frustrating. That's about how I feel right now. I think many of us can relate to the love hate relationship we have with the rut, and the roller coaster we are sometimes put on.