“Wildlife photography consists of a series of repeated attempts by a crazed individual to obtain impossible photos of unpredictable subjects performing unlikely behaviors under outrageous circumstances” – Mike Biggs I got the shot! In fact, I got several shots that I was not even planning on. Those shots did not […]
March 17, 2020
“Old-time teachers tell you there are about as many quirks in a tracked buck’s behavior as there are bucks” – George Mattis Well, I’m no old-timer but through my experiences on the track there’s one thing that I have come to expect; a whitetail buck will do the unexpected. If you prepare yourself […]
February 26, 2019
“One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted… if one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift, he would refuse it. What he is after is having to win it, to conquer the surly brute through his own […]
February 12, 2019
February Column Editor’s note: Anyone wishing to send a question for future “Ask The Deer Tracker” posts can e-mail it to, rgbernier@gmail.com Q. – Some years I find lots of tree rubs while other years there seems to be very few. Is there any explanation for this and why do bucks engage […]
January 29, 2019
Any sportsman who can kill his deer without the tingling spine, the quick clutch at his heart, the delicious trembling of nerve fibers when the game is finally down, has no place in the deer woods. – Shots at Whitetails/ Larry Kollor Momentarily, I freeze in my tracks, listening intently to the scarcely […]
January 15, 2019
(Guest blogger, friend and hunting partner of 33 years, Hart L. Daley recounts his incredible hunt from 2018) The signs I read like a puzzle, putting each piece in its place, When unexpectedly I’ve closed the gap, And without warning the apparition takes shape. Time comes to a screeching halt, my moves become statuesque. […]
January 1, 2019
A great hunt need not be measured in game harvested. It often results in the peace and tranquility of sitting motionless, feeling no more than the wind in your face and seeing autumn leaves dropping to the earth. – Primal Dreams As I sat on my $9.99 tri-pod stool overlooking the largest […]
December 18, 2018
It’s not always the size of the man or the magnitude of his determination that counts. It’s often the height of his hip boots. – Gene Wensel Words have meaning. They leave impressions. And yet the careless pen waxes on about unrealistic feats in order to sensationalize and sell that which is usually […]
February 7, 2017
“In discussing deer hunting as a sport, it seems to me that we must never lose sight of the fact that its interest is due chiefly to the nature of the game pursued . . . I hope to be a stag follower as long as I can see a sight. This feeling I […]
January 24, 2017
Big tracks don’t lie! It has long been known that tracking something, regardless of species, meant following the sign being left in the hounded beasts wake. The key component that is heavily relied upon by the deer tracker of North America is the snow that blankets the forest floor, for without its presence, […]
July 20, 2021
2