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.

We asked, and you delivered! To celebrate the 2022 deer season, we wanted to feature your stories. This collection of personal encounters proves that though we all come from different walks of life, it's the great outdoors that brings us all together. Learn about success, patience, adaptation and overcoming obstacles from this video collection of reader-submitted experiences.  

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

At 7am my shift ended and a long weekend began. With a can of red bull in my hand, I hit the road and drove back home to pick up my roommate, Ryan, for his first ever deer hunt. Needless to say he was very excited. Ryan is an avid bird hunter and I often join him on his family farm during goose season in Northern Colorado but nothing can compare to your first big game hunt. I finished packing my odds and ends, loaded up the truck, topped off the tank, and headed up towards Sheridan, Wyoming

Over the years I have started to get a little bored with deer hunting. It really comes as no surprise, yet I hated to admit that, even to myself… Why? Because I consider myself a deer hunter, and a deer hunter should not be bored with deer hunting right? Wrong! Of course a deer hunter can get bored with deer hunting. If you sit in the same stands, on the same property every single year for 16 years of course hunting can become monotonous. You have to get out and try new things, see new places, and have new struggles. That’s how you grow and evolve as a hunter. This is the story of a new beginning, and rekindling the excitement I had as a 12 year old boy going out with my dad on my first hunt with bow in hand!

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

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.

The old green Mansfield canoe glides silently through the bay its bow pointing toward the narrow ribbon of moonlight reflecting on the water. Reeds brush gently by the gunwales as we maneuver our way down the murky channel and into the cattails.

We can hear the raucous laughter of mallards from a pool deep in the swale grass behind the trees.

We whisper to one another “That’s Right!” at the same time. Whistling wings whiz by our heads as we turn into the small slot in the puckerbrush. The sides of the canoe squeak uncomfortably loudly against the ragged edges of the woody branches, like nails on a chalkboard.