The WHTL Podcast - Whitetail Deer Hunting Tactics, Stories & Expert Guests

Scott Buckley left Michigan for southern Iowa chasing bigger deer, and the move paid off. He's arrowed a public-land buck at 170 inches at 8:20 in the morning on October 3rd, taken a wide 160-inch 12-point by catching him off guard on a rare east wind, and this season got his 10-year-old grandson Carson onto three bucks and eight or nine does. Scott hunts a mix of public land and his own farm in southern Iowa, and he's built a reputation — through his Whitetail Cribs videos and years of content — for killing giant bucks specifically in the stretch most hunters write off: October. In this episode, Scott makes his case that the "October lull" is mostly a myth, breaks down why cold fronts dictate his entire game plan that month, and explains his long-standing habit of hunting rare east winds on purpose because pressured deer haven't learned to be careful of them. He gets into when scrapes are actually worth hunting — and why the biggest, oldest bucks are the least reliable ones to show up on a schedule — walks through a food plot he built from scratch on his farm over a single growing season, and doesn't hold back on what he thinks of Iowa's incoming public-land trail camera ban. Topics covered: Why Scott thinks the October lull is mostly a myth, and what's actually changing in the woods as the month goes on How cold fronts dictate his entire October plan, and why the first day or two after a front beats a whole week of "cooler than normal" His case for east winds — a rare wind direction he hunts on purpose because pressured bucks haven't adapted to it Hunting October mornings: when he avoids it on his own ground, and the one setup (deep timber, a cold front, deer feeding well off in a field) where he'll go in before daylight Scrape strategy: why 3- and 4-year-old bucks show up consistently on cell cam scrapes, while mature 5- and 6-year-olds are sporadic at best Rain and late-October movement, and why he'd rather hunt a cool, drizzly day than wait on clearing skies Building a food plot from scratch on his southern Iowa farm — radishes, oats, and rye through one growing season Scent and scrape "magnets," including the time straight vanilla extract outperformed every commercial lure he owns What he picked up from Dan Infalt about reading the freshness of rubs and buck sign His reaction to Iowa's incoming public-land trail camera ban, and how he'd adjust his scouting without it Advice for young hunters, and what he's learned taking his 10-year-old grandson out Follow along on social! IG - @modernwhitetail YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! -Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow -Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

Welcome to the WHTL Podcast, your source for Whitetail Deer Hunting Tactics, Stories & Expert Guests. In this episode, we're back in the studio with Jason Michael. We Discuss: The 2026 rut calendar: key October and November dates based on solunar movement charts. Southern hunters can add roughly one lunar month to every November rut date. For mature bucks, the wind should be almost perfect for him and almost wrong for you. Setting up at 30 to 40 yards instead of 20 can keep a crosswind from busting you. Dead calm is the worst wind, while 8 to 10 mph is ideal for hunting bigger deer. Go in an hour early on a windy afternoon so the wind covers your walk to the stand. In-season practice should picture the shot on a real deer, not just a dot on a target. When a shot looks questionable, back out and give the deer time before tracking. The second half of November is the most overlooked window for a true giant. A doe chased hard by a mature buck will cycle back into estrus on the same date next year. And So Much More! Follow along on social! IG - @WHTLDEER TikTok - @WHTLDEER YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! - Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠[bit.ly/PaintedArrow](http://bit.ly/PaintedArrow) - Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

Steve Pinkston hunts for the wind every other bowhunter is taught to avoid — and he's killed his last ten bucks doing it. Cameron and Tre Kerns go back through last week's conversation to pull out what's actually usable: whether Steve's "light and variable" wind theory holds up the same way in hill country as it does on his flat Ohio ag ground, why food source changes don't move Steve's deer off their bedding, the rain-triggers-movement pattern Tre's used to kill multiple bucks in the middle of the day, and a real debate on e-bikes, crossbows, and where hunting technology should draw the line. This is the Recovery — we go back to last week's episode and pull out the details you can actually apply to your next hunt. Follow along on social! IG - @modernwhitetail YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! -Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow -Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

Welcome to the WHTL Podcast, your source for Whitetail Deer Hunting Tactics, Stories & Expert Guests. In this episode, we're back in the studio with Johnny Stewart. We Discuss: * Early October is food-driven, so look for pockets of acorns, not a whole forest of mast. * Probe into a new area a little at a time instead of hiking every inch and burning it out. * Start e-scouting with the historic wind and focus on leeward, east-facing ridges and fingers. * Roughly 300 feet of relief from creek to ridgetop gives a mature buck room to bed safely. * Mature bucks favor cover where they can see 0 to 60 yards, not an impenetrable jungle. * If a spot is hard to get to, that is often exactly where the big buck lives. * How hard you press one spot should depend on how many other options you have. * When you find a new food source, check the downwind side before you hang cameras. * Cameras tell you where a buck isn't, which narrows down where he actually is. * A big track that other deer haven't walked over means a buck was there recently. And So Much More! Follow along on social! IG - @WHTLDEER TikTok - @WHTLDEER YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! - Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠[bit.ly/PaintedArrow](http://bit.ly/PaintedArrow) - Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

Steve Pinkston has killed three bucks over 200 inches — and never entered a single one in the record books. Owner of Hardcore E-Cycles and a member of the Whitetail Addiction team, Steve has spent over 45 years chasing whitetails with a bow, and since 2011 he's hunted the Ohio rut just twice. Since 2019, he hasn't carried a tag past October 13th — five of those kills came on the first sit, three on opening day. In this episode, presented by Hawke Optics, we break down how Steve fills his buck tag before most hunters ever leave the couch: his early-season playbook, the wind theories he swears by that go against almost everything you've been taught about deer and scent, and the mental shift — from hoping to expecting — that took him from a guy hanging stands on a prayer to a guy who walks into the woods already knowing. Whether you're hunting five acres or five hundred, this conversation will change how you think about opening week. Topics covered: Targeting one specific buck a year — watching him all summer with a spotting scope instead of leaning on trail cameras Reading the early-season food shift as acorns come in, and timing food plots to peak that first week of the season The scent-smoker experiments that led to his light-and-variable-wind theory, and why he stops worrying about wind direction once it goes dead still at last light The "Sticks" buck — j-hooked downwind and still walked into range, thanks to thermals Why tree stand height matters less to him than reading wind and visibility in the moment Weather vs. the moon — why a midday thunderstorm moves the needle more than any moon phase Ohio's changing buck age structure, the impact of technology on hunting pressure, and his take on fair chase The shift from "hoping" to "expecting" success on every sit — and what changed Building Hardcore E-Cycles — how access, scent control, and time of exposure shaped the bikes The buck that got spooked by his e-bike left on a kickstand, and what it taught him about deer and unfamiliar objects A rundown of the Maverick, Ace, and Mountain Tamer e-bikes, and what to look for before buying one Follow along on social! IG - @modernwhitetail YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! -Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow -Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/