There are plenty of reasons it pays to hunt from a treestand. To name a few: You can see farther. Deer are less likely to see you. You have more freedom to move without getting busted. Your scent trail might be minimized at ground level. But don't just climb up and sit down.

Looks like I'm the new kid on the North American Hunter block, so I should probably take a moment to introduce myself. First, as you can see in my photo (left), I have enough grey hair that I'm not a "kid" anymore. Yes, there's even more grey under the hat. But I console myself with the thought that at least there's hair.

In response to concerns from hunters, conservation groups and wildlife professionals regarding the intentional release of captive-raised deer into the wild in Alabama, Conservation Commissioner N. Gunter Guy Jr. signed an emergency order prohibiting the practice, effective Friday, Dec. 7.

If you think the 300 Win. Mag. is a significant improvement over the .30-06, wait until you shoot the new ground-breaking rimfire cartridge from Winchester. I'm not allowed to disclose its name or caliber yet, but it's scheduled to storm the market in 2013, beginning as soon as early or mid-March. Its performance exceeds current cartridges in its class by a wider margin than the 300 Win. Mag. over the .30-06.

I hate to admit it, but I'm only willing and able to spend a limited amount of time waterfowl hunting these days. I'd love to devote more fall and winter days chasing ducks and geese, but I'm already spreading myself thin with big game, turkeys and as much ruffed grouse as I can fit in. So when I do get out in the field with eyes to the sky, I like to make it count.

Are you singing the post-rut blues? You know the type of blues I’m talking about … right? Does this drive you into depression? Have your buck sightings dropped to few and far between? Have your scrapes become as inactive as the lackadaisical cubicle employee down the hall?

You’ve no doubt seen the shortened clip of this Christmas-themed Chevy Truck ad, but the extended version is so good I simply have to include it in this week’s "Killing Time." So many parts of this commercial make my little round belly shake when I laugh like a bowlful of jelly.

I'm hunting in Kansas right now trying to kill my first whitetail of the year with a Mossberg. I thought I'd take a break from my treestand to announce the October/November "Inside the Box" hunting gear winners. As usual, there were a ton of great comments. Keep 'em coming! Watch nowto see if you won the Cabela's Alaskan Guide XP LED Headlamp or the Realtree Outfitters Electric Meat Grinder from Weston.

Two years ago I was visiting my family's 80-acre property during the dead of winter and stumbled across an antler tip protruding through the deep snow. I started digging and discovered a 2-year-old 8-pointer that probably would've been a dandy buck the following fall. He had an old bullet wound and was partially eaten by coyotes.

An essential sound effect in old Westerns was the ricochet. Once you heard that whining cry, you knew someone had missed.