The MeatEater

On October 2, the second day of Indiana’s archery season, Tyler Westell was at his wife Becca’s first ultrasound appointment. They have a baby due in February, and while Tyler was excited to see his baby, he was also anxious to get in a tree.

Becca knows what it’s like being married to a hunter. She hunts, too, and the couple often scrolls through trail camera photos together and calls dibs on certain deer. She wasn’t exactly surprised that Tyler was getting antsy.

Tyler had a date with a buck he’d been watching since 2024. He had a couple of encounters since then, but didn’t realize until recently that it was the same deer he’d be thinking about at that ultrasound appointment.

By 2025, the buck had turned into a big-bodied bruiser with thick bases who pushed the other bucks on the property around like he owned the place. The buck didn’t just show up on trail cameras, either. Tyler watched him through rifle season and noticed there was a chunk missing out of the deer’s left ear.

“If I would have had my pistol with me, I probably would have taken him,” Tyler tells MeatEater. “Because that would have been pretty cool. But I don’t have a lot of fun hunting with a rifle anymore. It just doesn’t seem like enough of a challenge.”

This year, the buck showed up on Tyler’s trail cameras with a drop tine, and he decided it was time to go after the bully with his bow. After the ultrasound appointment, Tyler grabbed his Mathews VXR and headed to his hunting property in Bargersville. He climbed into his saddle around 5:15 p.m., overlooking a creek bed and a grove of burr and chinkapin oaks.

Tyler is a saddle hunter who likes to stay mobile instead of relying on preset stands. He knew the buck regularly traveled along a creek bed to reach the oaks from a bedding area, so Tyler picked a tree close to a narrow strip of CRP. The thermals would typically pull his scent toward the opening instead of down into the creek bed.

“I just wanted to get a good look at him,” Tyler says. “Cameras can be very deceiving. I think we sometimes put too much clout on what we think we’re seeing on a trail camera.”

The buck dropped into the creek bed around 6:30 p.m., and Tyler watched him for around 20 minutes as it fed through the bottom. When the deer moved toward the chinkapin oaks, Tyler spotted the drop tine and the buck’s massive bases. That’s when he knew the trail camera photos weren’t lying.

As he watched the buck feed along the creek bed, a button buck entered the scene, bleating and running everywhere except downwind of Tyler’s stand. Tyler was relieved when the youngster finally headed back the way he came. Then he came back, only this time with a doe.

As the drop-tine buck climbed out of the creek bed and worked toward the oaks, the doe walked to the base of Tyler’s tree.

“Right before I drew my bow, I looked down, and the doe was extending her head to sniff my step on the tree,” Tyler says.

Figuring the doe was about to blow things up, Tyler drew his bow and held his pin low toward the heart.

“I knew as soon as I let that arrow go, she was going to flinch, and he was going to drop,” Tyler says.

The buck stepped broadside at 20 yards. Tyler released the arrow, shooting a Rage Hypodermic NC broadhead. Tyler said the shot felt good, but he could see about 12 inches of arrow sticking out of the buck’s side as he jumped back into the creek bed and ran toward the bedding area.

“That’s not good,” he thought. Like most bow hunters, Tyler wanted a pass-through shot. He called a buddy to help him and bring a light, then gave the deer about 20 minutes before climbing down to look for blood. He didn’t have to go far to find it. He walked maybe 40 yards and found blood everywhere.

He also found his arrow. There was gut material on it, which confused Tyler. He had seen the arrow sticking out of the buck's side, just behind the front shoulder.

Tyler and his buddy caught up with the buck later that evening. The deer ran about 150 yards from where it was standing when Tyler shot. The arrow apparently struck the buck’s heart but somehow exited farther back.

“I don't know how he did this with where the arrow hit right behind his shoulder,” Tyler says.

He said it was surreal to walk up on a buck he’d been watching mature over multiple years. Tyler’s buck had massive bases that measured almost 7 inches around, and he tipped the scales at 208 pounds.

Getting him out of the woods took some effort. Between the creek, the briars, the burrs, and the stinging nettle, the drag was miserable. Tyler had biceps surgery in April 2025, and getting back to shooting his bow had already been a challenge. Hauling a buck that big through that mess didn’t make things any easier, but I’m sure he’d say it was worth it.

What's better than a story of triumph? I'll tell ya, A story of triumph involving wildlife conservation. The state of Alabama, much like the rest of the country in the early 1900s, was sitting on the brink Of complete natural resource destruction. We are going to take a deep dive into their wildlife conservation history and learn about the people involved, the ideas, and the actions carried out that not only saved Alabama’s wildlife and wild places from being permanently lost or degraded, but rather restored them all but completely and created a whole new generation of conservation minded hunters and anglers along the way.

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Steven Rinella is joined by Dan “Larry the Cable Guy” Whitney in his box seat at the Nebraska Cornhuskers homecoming game. They discuss: making the perfect venison hot dog with a meat scientist; Larry’s favorite one-liners; pig farming and bucking bulls; bass fishing; the “git-r-done” origin story; behind the scenes of his comedy central roast; being Tow Mater from Cars; and more.

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This week Cal covers how to handle firewood safely, the winners of the annual Federal Duck Stamp Contest, how to help guarantee the right to hunt in Colorado, and so much more.

Calls to Action:

Submit a comment on the California bobcat management plan. Write to [email protected] with “California Bobcat Conservation and Management Plan” in the subject line through November 1. 

Apply for a federal grant to fund wildlife crossings in your jurisdiction. https://tinyurl.com/y2f592he

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If you’re taking to the Massachusetts woods this season, know that the bottle of real doe pee in your hunting bag could get you in trouble. As of August of this year, Massachusetts prohibits hunters from using or even possessing scent attractants made from actual deer tissues or fluids while hunting. “The use or possession of any scent attractants derived from deer tissues or fluids is prohibited, including urine, scent glands, and bladders,” MassWildlife states.

In doing so, Massachusetts joins a number of other states that have already banned or restricted natural deer urine and other deer-derived attractants over disease concerns.

Synthetic deer scents are still legal, meaning hunters can still freshen up a mock scrape or try to fool a rutting buck, but anything derived from an actual deer can’t come along for the hunt.

So why the sudden restriction? According to MassWildlife, the new regulation is intended to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease affecting deer, elk, moose, and other members of the deer family. The disease is caused by infectious proteins called prions, which can be shed through an infected animal's urine, saliva, and feces. These prions can contaminate the environment and remain infectious for years, raising concerns about the use of deer-derived scent attractants.

However, Massachusetts has never recorded a confirmed case of CWD within its borders. That makes the new regulation a precautionary measure rather than a response to an active outbreak. State wildlife officials hope that eliminating deer-derived attractants will reduce the chances of introducing the disease into Massachusetts, where it has so far remained undetected.

But can a bottle of deer urine really spread CWD?

Research has shown that infected deer can shed infectious prions through their urine, sometimes months before showing any symptoms. Since many commercial deer urine attractants are collected from captive deer, there is concern that contaminated products could introduce the disease into areas where it hasn't been detected.

However, according to a 2025 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the role of commercial urine attractants in spreading CWD remains undocumented. While the potential risk exists, researchers have yet to establish how much these products actually contribute to the spread of the disease.

So will this new restriction actually make a difference? When MassWildlife proposed the regulation in June 2025, officials shared results from a survey of Massachusetts hunters showing that 16% reported using deer urine as an attractant. The survey results presented did not specify whether those hunters were using natural deer urine or synthetic alternatives. With such a small percentage of hunters reporting urine use and no documented cases of commercial deer urine spreading CWD, it's difficult to determine how much of an impact the ban will have.

For now, Massachusetts is taking a precautionary approach to keeping CWD out of the state, and only time will tell whether the new restriction makes a measurable difference.

Tony Peterson is joined by videographer Max Barta, to answer viewer questions about his 12 in '26 film with Steven Rinella hunting whtietail in Nebraska. In the film they head to Nebraska with Pat Hoffman to hunt whitetail deer on Pat's family ranch. In this episode, they break down Tony's approach to scouting, setting up each hunter, and reading the deer.

Watch Tony and Steve's "12 in '26" episode on MeatEater's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/KizvptV13b0?si=57wsDr32ALpUE8Jd

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Brent, our man in the field, is reporting good news from the northeast. A story where the community centers around being a good neighbor and lending a helping hand when the opportunity arises.Does this rarely happen or is it just rarely reported? Tune in and decide for yourself.

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Most duck hunters I know don’t get serious about it until later in the season, but I’ve never been one of those guys. As soon as the summer ends, my brain immediately goes into waterfowl mode. I start gathering my gear, practicing my calling, shooting, and running my dog through his paces. On opening day eve, I’ll lie in bed and reset my alarm half a dozen times to make sure I wake up early enough. Then, I snatch a few fidgety hours of sleep that leave me feeling as rested as an insomniac with restless leg syndrome before rolling out the door and heading to the blind long before dawn.

I don’t put myself through all this out of pure love of the hunt, nor do I disagree with my duck-loving friends about the hunting getting better as the season goes along. No, I suffer through all this early-season rigmarole because I know that it offers a special opportunity. I get a chance to hunt unpressured birds that haven’t been shot at for months, filling my freezer and starting my duck season off with a bang, so long as I hunt in the right places with the right strategies.

The best thing you can do when you’re hunting in the early season is to forget about mallards. While there may be a few local greenheads around, the vast majority of mallards will still be protein-packing up north as they prepare for their long migration later in the season. There are still plenty of options for early-season hunts, so long as you’re willing to mix things up a bit.

Both blue wing and cinnamon teal are some of the first birds to head south. These small but extremely tasty birds will fly in tight, fast-moving flocks that sound like passing jets as they rocket through the air, aiming for rice fields in the south and small marshes and ponds in the East and West. Other puddle ducks like gadwall, widgeon, pintail, and wood ducks can also arrive in small groups and be mixed among these teal flocks, offering opportunities for some bigger birds before the mallards arrive.

Outside of puddle ducks, there is also ample opportunity during the early season to fill up your limit with a variety of divers. Tasty divers like redheads, scaups, and canvasbacks are all known for arriving on US waterways as early as mid-August. While not as popular as puddle ducks, divers like these can still make for some great shooting and surprisingly great eating, especially when you’re willing to get creative with your duck recipes.

Your classic duck hunting destinations like lakes, massive wetlands, and flooded agricultural fields may hold a few birds in the early season, but I’ve had better luck hunting small water. This includes tiny ponds, beaver bogs, potholes, and chunks of flat shallow marsh where both localized and early-migrating birds flock to roost and feed. However, not all small waters are created equal, so you’ll want to search and scout around a bit to make sure you’re hunting in the right waters at the right times.

Before you choose an early-season small water spot, check it out on a map and then give it a once-over with binoculars to see how close it is to areas where ducks like to feed. Look for ponds and potholes around agriculture and even those that are adjacent to larger water bodies where food like wild rice, grasses, and pond weed are prevalent. Pockets of deeper water near swamps where ducks can find beetles, insect nymphs, and other aquatic invertebrates are also a good bet.

Remember, while these larger feeding areas will certainly attract ducks in the late season, early-season ducks will only quickly hit these spots. They’ll usually continuously dash back and forth between food sources before moving back onto nearby small water to roost. So, as long as you’re patient and stick to the small water, you can set yourself up for all-day success.

While massive spreads of floating, spinning, and churning decoys are a vital part of success during the late season, in the early part of duck season, less is more. With birds being few and far between, smaller spreads of two to ten strategically placed decoys will be much more effective at bringing birds into range. That is, so long as you know where and how to place them.

Setting your spread up in a U shape is a classic and very effective spread. It works because, as ducks approach from downwind, they’ll usually land among or between the most downwind group of decoys. Accordingly, if you spread the birds in a U shape, with two arms of decoys on either side of your blind, you give yourself a wide open area for birds to land and/or flare, creating cleaner shots.

Another effective decoy setup for early-season birds is a loose spread. Set up two or three decoys out on either side of your blind without any specific rhyme or reason, and then toss out one or two more about 10 to 15 yards directly in front of your blind. These inline decoys should have some sort of motion to them, such as a churn or vibration, or you can set them up on a jerk string. The idea is to get incoming birds to focus on the moving decoys directly in front of you while giving them both reassurance and plenty of room to land on either side, where they will offer easy shots.

A lot of hunters will say that early-season ducks are easy to call in because they haven’t experienced much hunting pressure yet. This may be true, but unless they’re traveling or gathering in large flocks, early-season birds don’t really make a lot of noise. Accordingly, the idea of calling to passing birds until you’re blue in the face will probably do more harm than good. Regardless of how much hunting pressure the birds have experienced, it’s usually more effective to keep calls sparse and simple.

Instead of filling the air with blasting hailing calls and comeback calls when you see birds, hold your tongue and stick with basic quack and feeding calls. Quacks in two and three call bursts are great when you have low-flying birds that are passing within a few hundred feet. For circling or high-flying birds, throwing out a quick series of staccato feeding calls is a great way to get them to turn and commit during the early season.

One of the biggest things you have to remember when hunting the early season is not to lock yourself down on just one spot. With ducks coming in sporadically and in a variety of different places, you need to scout out and have several spots in your back pocket so you can hunt where you’ll be most effective. However, this is usually easier said than done.

Before duck season opens, spend some time glassing and looking over chunks of water. Take note of how many and where ducks come into these areas and pay attention to what time they arrive and what the weather conditions are when they do. If you can, try to find a spot where ducks gather on still, calm days and a spot where they go on windy, rainy days. Find areas where birds are prevalent in the early morning and then look around for places where they gather in the afternoon.

Once you’ve got a good idea where to find ducks under different conditions, you have to be able to move into and out of these areas as the day wears on and as weather changes. This makes having a portable blind and light decoy bag almost an essential part of early-season hunting, as it allows you to change spots and quickly get set up when one spot isn’t producing. It can even allow you to move and get re-setup between incoming flights.

There’s something special about early-season duck hunting. While there may be a few shots being thrown into the air, it’s generally a quiet time when you don’t have the cavalcade of gunfire from other hunters. This is especially true when you stay away from popular spots.

What is more, hunting the early season allows you the freedom to make mistakes like missing shots or setting up in the wrong areas without fear of running out of future opportunities. Because there’s plenty of time to get the kinks out and get into your ducky groove while getting a few birds to boot—for there’s a whole duck season in front of you and you’re only just getting started.

Way back when the original Hunger Games movie came out, I was working as an Associate Editor for the largest bowhunting magazine on the market. I didn’t have kids yet, so it came as a surprise to me when one of the reps for a major bow brand told me they had shut down their flagship line to produce more youth bows.

He wasn’t the only one to tell me that, and it became clear that Hollywood had inadvertently made archery popular with the youth of our nation. It was one of those moments that showed me that pop culture can influence consumer behavior in a huge way.

While that might seem obvious now, there’s a reality hidden in there that a lot of us probably don’t pay attention to. Consider the hunting industry. How many people do you know who say they can accurately age bucks on the hoof? Maybe you do, too. This came straight from the outdoor television world, where we had to stop shooting “trophy” bucks because the optics of trophy hunting aren’t so great.

We pivoted to “mature” bucks, and suddenly everyone could age deer easily. The vernacular associated with a lot of popular platforms certainly bled through the hunting masses, as well.

And of course, we all now mrrp to stop our bucks before we shoot. That came from folks filming, and it’s pervasive amongst deer hunters. But that doesn’t always make it a good option.

Sound travels at 1125 feet-per-second. Even the fastest crossbows on the market will only hit about a third of that speed. What this means is that the moment you bleat or mrrp to get your buck to stop, you’ve made audio contact with him. Not only does this put him on red alert, but it also primes him to do what deer do very well, which is run away from danger.

The instant that you trigger your release, or maybe touch off a shot with your crossbow, you make audio contact again. But this time, he’s very likely to drop to load his legs and get the hell out of Dodge. Does he have enough time to fully get out of the way? That depends entirely on the shot distance and the speed of your arrow or bolt.

After filming a lot of deer getting shot with both vertical bows and crossbows, I can tell you one thing—they almost all start to drop at the shot. Our brains don’t quite register it on most encounters, but the camera does. Even deer that I don’t stop with some sound, all drop to some extent.

Now, that doesn’t mean they get away every time. They don’t, but it does beg the question: is it a good idea to stop them every time?

No, but not just for the obvious reasons.

Buck fever is simply fight or flight, panic time. You want that deer more than anything, and your brain tells you that you better get it over with before he walks out of your life forever. What ramps up buck fever?

Well, when you go from having a deer completely unaware of your presence to intentionally letting him know something is there. If you watch our 12 in ’26 film from Nebraska last year, watch Steve when he shoots his buck. He mrrps, and almost instantly rushes his shot.

You might think that is a telltale sign of a whitetail newbie, but it’s not so simple. Go out to your backyard range if you get the chance and draw your bow. Aim at your target, and just mouth bleat like you would to stop a buck. You will probably feel an instant change come over you. We have almost conditioned ourselves to at least lightly panic when we make that sound, because we only make that sound in one type of scenario.

A buck that has his head down and is snuffling through the leaf litter for acorns is a buck that probably doesn’t need to be stopped. A buck that is hellbent on finding a girlfriend and is cruising along a fenceline between two woodlots is a different story.

The more encounters you have with deer, the more you start to understand the nuance of the whole thing. If a buck is headed right for a scrape and you’re waiting on him, you know he’s probably going to stop naturally and pose up (all while being distracted). A buck that is grunting his head off and practically running a sidehill trail is a different story.

There is also the reality of calm deer versus keyed-up deer. I shot a buck on that same Nebraska hunt last year that was so rutted up he was almost oblivious. I shot him three times and missed him once, and every time it was like he was just waking from a coma. A few years ago I shot at a different buck that dropped so far on my shot that he left a belly print in the snow (and a sadly clean arrow buried into the ground).

A calm or rutted-up buck is a prime candidate for a mrrp. A deer that has caught a whiff of you or has otherwise shown you he isn’t feeling really comfortable is a buck that will take that audio contact and use it as a reason to flee the scene.

Choose wisely, and remember, you don’t need to stop all of them.