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

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/

Cameron sits down with Tre Kerns to break down their sixth early season trip to North Dakota: two target bucks, tricky winds, and hunting mature deer from the ground at 15 yards. It's an honest recap of what went right and what didn't. One buck ended up on the tailgate, one got away clean, and one shot didn't go the way anyone wants. Along the way they cover the lessons that will carry into the rest of the season and beyond. Presented by Hawke Optics. Topics covered: Why this year's hit list was short and how narrowing it down to a few shooters shaped the trip Trey's bed-to-food setup on a coulee and fence corner, and how to "slice the pizza" so your wind sits just off the deer's approach Building makeshift ground blinds with back cover and shooting lanes so you can draw at close range Why backing out when the wind isn't right beats forcing a hunt, and why glassing can matter more than time on stand Tre's first encounter with "Splits": why grunting to stop an already-alarmed buck backfired The second encounter: a high shoulder hit, the recovery effort, and confirming the buck survived What trail cameras miss, including one photo from a night when 10 deer were in the field, and the same buck in the same corner a year apart Cameron's chase for "Mirror," and how a buck changes where he beds in a long cattail slough depending on the wind Reading a north wind, the "farm country drop-off," a young buck at 5 yards, and a 29-yard double-lung shot on a near-perfectly symmetrical giant-bodied 8-point Cameron's miss in fading light: why seeing your pin against a sunset backdrop is so hard, the case for a sight light, and how the miss helped him slow down for the kill shot How lunch with a stranger named Bob at a gas station turned into 1,500 acres of permission Plans for the rest of the season and the Ohio opener Up next: Friday's early season masterclass with Steve Pinkston. Listen before you hit the woods this weekend. 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/