Bowhunting Whitetails with Bill Winke

With the bow season back in effect, Ethan and I hunted three days right before Christmas when the wind chills ranged from -25 to -50 degrees. Nobody ever accused me of being smart! It was interesting to see how the deer reacted to this frigid weather.

In this episode, I read the Christmas story from Luke 2 while hunting the farm on a cold snowy day. Christmas is a birthday celebration - Jesus was born on this day to make a way for mankind to have a relationship with God. This Christmas story is just the start of God's plan to redeem his people. All you have to do is listen and ask God to show you the truth. Ask and the door will be opened.

"Join me on a trip to eastern Kansas to help Rob Whitely create the perfect 191 acre deer hunting farm. This is what I do on my consulting visits, but the information applies to any whitetail hunting property. I go through all the steps and decisions I make when managing my own farm as I help Rob make important decisions about how to improve habitat, how to hunt the farm more effectively and wher

n this episode, we discuss the all important tradeoffs related to balancing risk vs reward and why it usually doesn't make sense to hunt your best areas until the very end of your hunting vacation. We also take a trip to Utah for a tour of the Hoyt plant and then swing south to wade the Virgin River into the narrowest stretches of Zion canyon. This narrow canyon is one of the most unique places

"We look back over the last week of the early segment of the bow season. It produced some tough hunting on the farm, but Jordan did finally connect on the perfect first buck with a bow. The hunt was fun, but in the end, it reminded me of the true joy that comes from passing this legacy of bowhunting on to the next generation. Tagging big bucks is a lot of fun, for sure. But just sharing the simp

Jordan passed a major milestone this past week by shooting her first deer with a bow! It was a great moment for both of us. And I use a failed hunt to encourage me to use the ATV to reach a ridge top stand instead of walking. This brings up the bigger question of when the ATV is better than walking. It definitely was on this hunt, but there are tradeoffs.

A quick rut update. The lock-down or lull phase of the rut is here. In this episode, I offer a quick explanation of what causes this lull, an effective way to hunt it and when it is likely to end.

November 6 through November 13 presented a wide variety of conditions. We hunted every day. During that time I hunted and discussed the best stand site when hunting ridges during the rut and I experienced the power of a hot doe firsthand.

We had a really fun hunt on Halloween when I shot what I believe to be the biggest buck on the new farm. He was out early and put on a real show. Then Jordan has another hunt and finally we wrap up with a segment on how we planted oak trees from acorns on the marginal pasture land on this farm. Also, a quick recipe for bacon wrapped venison loin. Good luck this week, the colder weather should he

In this episode, team member Ethan Stubbs shows how effective it can be to hunt scrape lines in late October. Jordan remembers early hunting experiences and I focus on directing my crew as they finish the living quarters on the new farm. This is a great time of the season. A great time to be a bowhunter. Good luck to you all.

This is Part 2 of our hunts from last week. In Part 1, I pass up a really nice young buck and in Part 2, Jordan gets a chance at her first buck with a bow. In addition, there are lots of tips on moving blinds, when to grunt to stop a deer and where to hunt during the mornings during the late pre-rut. Lots of great pre-rut action from the Winke Farm.

After looking for a new farm for two years, I finally found one. On this episode, I make my first sit. The action is impressive for mid-October. Cold fronts have a way of bringing the bucks out. You will also find tips on getting ready for the rut, including how to hunt bedding areas and more.

This past week brought a lot of wind and our hunts were slow. That begs the question - can there be too much wind - or was it something else? My favorite wind speed is around 12 mph, but what if it is pushing 20 mph - or even more? Will the deer move? Also, we update on our hunts and projects on the farm.

The dates when the does come into estrus doesn't change much from year to year, but it is getting harder to choose the best week to take the annual rut hunting vacation. In this episode I look at the tradeoffs and offer my choice for the best week of the 2022 rut.

Early October rarely offers great bowhunting for mature bucks throughout most of the country. They are still out there, just not traveling far from their bedding areas. Despite this fact, early October has plenty to offer and you shouldn't avoid it. As long as you understand the green light opportunities (when to push) and you are careful the rest of the time, you can enjoy this great time of year

I pull the cards from 12 cameras twice on this week's episode. That's 24 SD cards worth of anticipation. Is the farm any good? Well, you are going to have to watch to find out. I also introduce a new employee and two new sponsors for the Bowhunting Whitetails series. Now I have a salary to pay. It's time to get serious.

One of the toughest challenges we face when bowhunting whitetails is getting away from evening stands near feeding areas without bumping the deer. If you do that, they become a lot harder to kill there. I have found four ways to get out clean. In this episode, I discuss these four ways to keep your best hunting spots fresh for the entire season.

In 2012, there were two old bucks on my farm. Both were over 200". One was very killable - maybe the most killable buck I have ever hunted. The other buck was just the opposite. Knowing what kind of buck you are hunting going into the season can make a huge difference in your success. Ideally, you only spend your time focused on hunting bucks that are killable.

There are two situations in which blinds will definitely make you a more successful bowhunter. In this episode I discuss both of these situations and how to hunt them. In the end, if you want to tag more whitetails, blinds need to be part of your overall strategy.

I struggled for many years with buck fever, rushing the shot when tempted to punch the trigger as soon as my pin got near the kill zone. That cost me some tough missed opportunities over the years until I learned this tip. Now I don't feel the same sense of panic when I am aiming at a whitetail. It completely changed the way I shoot at game and cured target panic in the process.

There are a lot of good reasons to run your cameras all year long, but if you are really serious about finding and patterning the bucks you will be hunting this fall, there is a one month window that is critical to the process. In this episode, I talk about when I start to run my trail cameras each year.

I stumbled upon a stand location about 15 years ago that turned out to be pure dynamite. Since then I have tried many times to create more of this type of setup on my farm. These tiny little staging area food plots became the heart of my hunting strategy. Without a doubt, setting up one, or more, spots like this where you hunt will improve your hunting area and your season. The best part is tha

I never would have considered this debate ten years ago, but recently I have shot several very good bucks in October, as have many of my friends. It is a legitimate question: is October really better? I do think that if your goal is to kill a specific buck, then October may very well be better than November. I have the hunts to prove it. Also, I go back to my farm to rescue a soybean plot that the

In the third episode of my new series, I discuss the most interesting things I learned last season - a season spent sleeping in the woods each evening. It was fascinating to see what deer really do in bedding areas, when they arrive in the mornings and how easy it is to sneak past them once they have bedded.