The dawn is cloaked in the darkness of the wetland grasses. Oak trees and swamp maples can barely be made out against the faint moonlight of the horizon. Something splashes in the pool in front of the duck blind. A beaver slaps his tail on the surface, triggering an owl to hoot from his perch on a distant pine.

CZ-USA Shotguns have a legacy amongst hunters for being lightweight and, most importantly, reliable. Three of the finest shotguns available are the Upland Ultralight, Drake, and Bobwhite G2.

Late season diver duck hunting is not for the faint of heart. It is wrought with danger and a calculating mind will be well prepared for the multitude of things that can go wrong. Personally, I know of eight men in my 36 years of duck hunting that have succumbed to the perils of our lake’s depths. Names like Donny Lumbra, Mark DeSimone and Roger Pepin, who, in their own right were talented outdoorsmen, and just happened to meet an untimely demise by missing one small detail.

In the last 2 months millions of pounds of venison were harvested by America’s hunters. The deer from which this enormous quantity of meat was taken in all sorts of weather, in nearly every terrain and was harvested by rank amateurs and expert hunters alike. No government inspectors will be on hand to insure proper cleanliness and other procedures are followed. It’s up to the hunter to do it right. Some will and some won’t; and for those who don’t, the result is likely to be some gamy-tasting deer meat.

Some hunters believe canned meat is the pinnacle of a deer’s culinary worth once the backstraps are gone. Maybe, you have been guilted into taking a jar home from an enthusiastic family member only to drown the contents in store-bought spaghetti sauce. For hunters, the pursuit of the game is the prize. However, there is the opportunity to view bringing the hunt from the field to your table as the ultimate reward.

If you hunt deer, you've probably thought about coyote hunting. Recent studies have shown that coyote predation has a larger impact on spring fawns that previously thought. Increased use of trail cameras, and hunters taking video cameras into the field, offer more evidence of coyote predation. Coyotes don't focus only on the young or sick prey. Healthy adult deer are often targeted and killed by coyotes. Hunting coyotes continues to be the best tool for managing this increasingly impactful predator.

Late-season scouting can be a valuable tool to evaluate your deer season. The snow that covers much of the state offers some of the best scouting of the year. Make it to the woods before rain eliminates weeks worth of sign.

It's almost here! While the world waits for the winter holidays to begin, they're arriving early here at iSportsman headquarters. The soft launch of iSportsmanX will be free and available to use for all on December 19, 2022. Wake up early with that same Christmas morning excitement and visit iSportsman.net, where you will immediately be greeted by the modern and intuitive iSportsmanX features.

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.

Shotguns are different from rifles or muskets in that they fire multiple projectiles; most people know that. A rifle fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled. When a shotgunner pulls the trigger great bunches of pellets fly out the end of the muzzle. The pellets are actually round balls of lead, steel or other metal. Think BBs from a BB gun with the orbs varying in size, larger or smaller as needed.

How much larger or smaller? That depends.... “Buckshot” shotgun loads may only have the amount of pellets you can count on your fingers or fingers and toes. The number of projectiles in birdshot loads depends on the type of birds the shotgunner is planning to shoot. Generally speaking, the larger the bird, the larger the pellet. Goose hunters may load their guns with shells containing just over a hundred pieces of shot. Quail and dove hunters will likely choose shotshells with four or five times that number.