It was a successful hunt, several deer are headed to the freezer. If I’m lucky, there may already be other wild game and fish in the freezer. It’s important to know what is in the freezer and to be able to easily access it so the wild game and fish that I worked so hard to acquire does not go to waste.

It was 4:00 AM and we were already heading out to hunt. The air was cold and the sky was clear. The stars and the moon were the only light around. The moon bathed the rolling hills in an eerie blue light and the yellow prairie grass sparkled in the moonlight. In the distance the jagged lines of the snow-covered mountains glistened. We were headed into the lower slopes of the mountains in hopes of harvesting a mid-season Wyoming mule deer buck. We had been hunting now for three days but had been unsuccessful at filling our tag. We were hunting public land just on the outskirts of the Bighorn Mountain range.

The fall hunting season is in full swing, and most of you are already reminiscing about the success of the season so far. You are all set with gear, and have your spots picked out —but what if you could increase your chances of tagging that monster buck? Well, you can, utilizing what was once one of the best-kept secrets in hunting. 

The Weather Channel along with an arm’s long list of weather apps have become essential gear for sportsmen, particularly deer hunters.

Check out these top five critical terrain features common to virtually anywhere in whitetail country and setup for the ultimate rut-time ambush.

The best time of year for whitetail hunting is right now. My dad always told me that you hunting whitetails in October can be spotty, but by the time it’s Halloween, you better be in the woods. He said this for good reason: this is when things really start to heat up. Rising testosterone levels mean bucks will still frequent scrapes and rubs but they also begin checking does to see if they’ve gone into heat yet, which means you’re much more likely to see them during the daylight doing any of these things.

The whitetail deer rut is upon us. Bucks are running ridges and field edges in search of receptive does. This is the highlight of deer season for most. It’s the time of year we deer hunters dream about during the other 11 months.

Accessing a likely big buck hot spot must be done with stealth and oftentimes, must be done on the fly to adjust for changing deer patterns during the peak of rut activity and even as it begins to taper off. Remember the following so you don’t blow a monster out of the area before you even climb into your stand.

Most of the woods have yet to be trampled by gun hunters yet, with the smaller stick-and-string crowd still on the hunt and muzzleloader hunters finally getting their chance as well. Meanwhile, deer activity is starting to kick into high gear throughout much of the whitetail’s range. As big bucks leave their bachelor groups and begin prowling for those first does ready to breed, it’s also time for deer hunters to take time off from work and get into the woods. And when they do, these are eight of the best places for them to set up to have the best opportunity for a trophy this hunting season.

Perhaps more so than in any other year of my life, I am ready for archery deer season to open. Thankfully, the wait is just about over.