I'm getting a bit nervous about my upcoming hunts, especially in the Midwest. Why? There have been reported outbreaks of hemorrhagic disease (HD). The outbreaks have been recorded from northeastern Montana all the way down to Missouri.

In a previous blog post I indicated my need for a new, reliable, all-purpose 12 gauge autoloader for my various shotgunning needs. I decided to test a Remington Versa Max and drag it from the spring turkey woods all the way through some of my late-season (blistering cold) grouse haunts—with dirty duck sloughs and whatever shooting excursions come my way in between.

I just finished chasing Wyoming whitetails for a week. It wasn't easy. I was battling a full moon, the "October lull" and lots of cattle that invaded several hot honey-holes. Here are four tips for hunting full-moon whitetails (in mid-October):

When you think about the clandestine operations involved in the smuggling business in Texas, you probably immediately think of the region straddling the U.S./Mexico border along the Rio Grande River, right?

We pulled into the lodge parking lot at Croton Creek Outfitters in western Oklahoma. Immediately, I stumbled upon a gentleman named Eddie Stevenson, a dead-serious hunter and public relations manager for Trijicon. I could tell he was either returning from the field, or just about to hit the road for a short evening sit. I had just arrived, but seeing Eddie in full camo, I couldn’t help myself from instantly prodding him for info.

The caption read “CAMP LSU: Tagged Out.” The picture left no doubt in my mind: My dad and hunting partner had scored big, high in the Rockies of southwest Colorado on a do-it-yourself archery elk hunt on public land.

I just put the wrap on my Wyoming whitetail hunt. I'm going to leave you hanging for now, but it was a nail-biter down to the wire. In the meantime, I have to brag about my son, Cole.

My wife does a great job of watching out for me. She does a better job of keeping me healthy than I do! She also does a great job of  keeping me informed about health and vitality, so it was no surprise when I found a page she’d torn from Experience Life magazine sitting on top of my “stack of stuff” at home. The circled news article is titled, “How Forests Boost Immunity.”

I'm still whitetail-less in Wyoming, but it's not for lack of trying. I'm hunting with Brian Beisher at Big Buck Outfitters literally in my backyard. As my previous blog explained, October whitetails can be finicky. That finicky character, along with a full moon, has definitely has been trying my whitetail patience.

Move over, Rod Blagojevich. You’ve got company. Biologists and pest control operators say they’ve never seen as many skunks in Illinois as they have this year, and that’s not even counting the infamous politicians often associated with the Windy City.