When it comes to hunting big game, years of experience can play into your favor. For deer hunting, having history with a specific buck and knowing his patterns can be the lead reason for harvesting him. Knowing your terrain and where to hang a stand, scouting for scrapes, and putting in a rub post can all be major contributing factors as well. However there is always one factor of hunting that has to be considered. That factor is the animal themselves and whether or not they will show up. The question to then be asked is, is hunting all luck or is it strategy? On this episode of the Raised Hunting Podcast, we discuss this question and look to answer it with past experience from target bucks we have killed. We breakdown a few of our hunts and play out the scenarios to determine whether we got lucky, or did our skills and experiences proved to be the fatal factor.

Everyone in the hunting world dreams of the chance to chase a big buck. Whether you're after a 200-inch, 145-inch, or even a 70-inch buck, it can be incredibly challenging to pin them down. Over the years, like many hunters, we've experienced this firsthand. Their patterns change during the rut, they might be run out of their core area by another buck, or countless other variables can work against you when targeting a specific buck. In recent seasons, we've begun implementing new strategies that have proven beneficial in the woods. From setting up a rub tree and using our scents, to charting a buck based on our history with him, and strategically placing stands, we share as much as possible about what we've learned. Our goal is to provide you with effective strategies to help you pin down your big buck this season!

This has been one of the largest debates in the hunting world, particularly in bow hunting. It's an ethical debate that can be the deciding factor in a successful harvest. The debate at hand is: what constitutes an effective or ethical shot distance with archery equipment? Many western bow hunters argue that long-distance shots are necessary in the vast landscapes of the West. But is that truly the case? Some hunters push the limits of their effective range, driven by the fear of missing a rare opportunity to take down their target buck. But is this practice genuinely ethical? In this episode, we break down our opinions on what we define as an "effective range" for hunters. We share our experiences with hunting big game in both the Midwest and out West, and discuss what we believe is an unethical distance for taking a shot at big game with a bow.

Checkout the Raised Hunting Focus target below:

Raised Hunting Focus Target:https://www.raisedhunting.com/pages/focus-target

Summer time is finally here and we all know what that brings, velvet bucks! If you are like us, then the chances are you will be driving down the gravel roads on summer nights looking for velvet slobs. For a lot of deer hunters, this is the begging of the summer scouting routine and a way to get an inventory of your deer. The real question is, does summer scouting really pay off? On this episode of the Raised Hunting Podcast, we break down our summer scouting strategies and give our opinions of why summer scouting may not be worth your time. We discuss some new strategies we are implementing for this coming season, as well as what new hunters should be really looking for during the summer months. We also dive into the new hunting laws that have been put in place here in Iowa, and how they can effect public land hunting. So what do you guys think, is summer scouting for whitetails worth it?

It has long been a topic of heated debate in the whitetail hunting community. Hunters have argued for years about the existence of a mysterious area known as "no man's land." This elusive spot for some, is nestled between the top of a deer's back and the top of the vertebral column, is said to contain no vital organs, which would be the back strap. Some hunters believe in "no man's land" sits below the vertebral column, just above the shoulder in the middle of the body. The argument for many hunters, how can you have a a shot go below a deers spine and not clip any vitals. In this episode, we dive into the myth of "no man's land," spurred by a listener's intriguing story. The listener recounted shooting a buck with a muzzleloader and discovering an arrow lodged just beneath the spine, evidence of a previous hunter's attempt. This prompted the age-old question: does "no man's land" truly exist? We sit down and debate this controversial topic with experiences and tests of our own that may shed light on the location of "no man's land".

I think it is safe to say that if you are a hunter, you love seeing big bucks on trail cameras! Whether they are chasing after a hot doe, hitting a scrape you set, or coming out of the shadows at night, the photos and videos from trail cameras can get you excited at any point in the day. With the dawn of cell cams, hunters can get all that information in real time, especially on public ground. The real question is, how would that effect hunting if trail cameras were banned? Today we look to answer that questions with a discussion about a few of the new laws that are looking to be passed in Iowa. One of those laws being, hunters would only be allowed to leave tree stands on public ground over night. So that means no blinds and no trail cameras! We break down our opinions on the laws and how that could effect not only public land hunting but private pieces if you were not allowed to set cameras out. We would be diving back to the 1970s!

If you guys are like us, then you have probably sat around a fire with your buddies, asking each other dumb questions. You guys sit an argue about what animals you could beat in a fight, would you rather hunt every year or take a year or two break but shoot a 200" in buck, and whacky questions with outlandish ultimatums. That is exactly what we go here for you guys today, just some guys being dudes and trying to talk about some wild hunting scenarios! We got a wild conversation and still try to give you guys some insight on our strategies for some of our past deer that we mention! We also want to hear your opinions on our scenarios and what you guys would choose! Would you sacrifice all your tactics for hunting 10,000 acres with world class mule deer and whitetails only using a recurve?

Well folks it is that time of year! It is time to fully begin preparing for deer season! With the weather warming up and the calendar days flying, we have begun our early stages of preparation. We have begun planting our food plots and slowly starting to get our trail cams back out! We get a lot of questions from you guys asking about how we planet our food plots, where we are planting them, when we are putting them in, and many more. In this episode we try to cover as much as we can for you guys from plot locations, how we plant them, when we start planing them, and what we are changing up this year! If you guys still have further questions on how to start planting your food plots, we got you covered! You can check out "Food Plots For Dummies" on the Raised Hunting YouTube, where we dive into four simple steps on starting your food plots!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiNeSNT4dAA

The times have clearly changed, and with that comes new ways of learning how to do specific things. Within this generation, the ways of learning have changed like never before. It has become easier to gain information on a topic instantly with the power of the internet. With the power of a few words typed into Google, we can gain incredibly amounts of knowledge in minutes from videos, to articles, to even podcasts. Today with all this access to knowledge, the learning curve for hunting has changed drastically. The real question is, has it been more effective? We wanted to give our opinions on the matter of the true effectiveness of that knowledge for new and even experienced hunters. From the insight that David has on how his generation learned hunting, to what Easton and Warren have grown up with, we breakdown some tips to help you guys navigate through this influx of information and find credible sources! For all you guys out there that love the family banter, oh boy do we have it in full force today!

This seems to be a popular topic you guys want us to cover, so we got it for you today. If you guys are like us, then we know you guys have experienced the heartbreaks of hunting, especially with whitetails. Well today, we are unlocking our memories and dragging out the ghosts of big bucks that we either missed, disappeared, or passed to only get shot by other hunters. We have the tales for all of them! We do bring in a palette cleanser at the end and talk about some of our most memorable whitetail hunts. So sit back and relax and relive some tails of heart break with us.