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

Latest Episodes:

#250 - Part 2 Of How Andy May Consistently Finds and Kills Mature Bucks on DIY Trips! Sep 06, 2022

Show notes

In today's episode of The Exodus Podcast, we continue our conversation with the deer hunting legend Andy May. If last week's episode wasn't mind-blowing enough, this week's episode is full of nuggets that we can almost guarantee you would never think about when in the whitetail woods. Be sure to tune in for this one, the attention to detail that Andy breaks down is mind-blowing!

Missed Part 1? Click the link here: https://apple.co/3eqDFLM

We discuss:

-A complete breakdown of his 2021 Michigan opening day hunt

-Why you should always hunt right after a heavy rain

-A complete breakdown of his 2021 Michigan October DIY hunt

-Should you hunt open woods for mature bucks

-How Andy breaks down and qualifies bedding

-His approach to hunting public that you have never stepped foot on

-Hunt a small opening in the middle of open woods with multiple scrapes around the opening

-Using thermals to your advantage

-Where bucks bed in clear cuts

-Getting in close on a potential buck bed

-What type of calls andy is using when hunting close to buck bedding

-A complete breakdown of his 2021 Ohio Rut hunt

-Bucks using bean fields as bedding in open Ag ground

-How bucks scent check small patches of timber from the middle of a field

-How Andy uses historical data to help kill mature bucks

-Do mature bucks ever move with a tailwind

-His go-to days for planning an out-of-state DIY rut hunt

-Andy's strategy for hunting the lockdown

-Where he is putting his trail cameras in the month of September

And so much more!

Connect:

-https://bit.ly/BeastGearGiveaway

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

#249 - How Andy May Consistently Finds and Kills Mature Bucks on DIY Trips! Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

In today's episode of The Exodus Podcast, we are back in the studio with the deer hunting legend Andy May. This podcast with Andy went so in-depth that we had to break it down into two segments, so be on the lookout for part 2 next week! Get your notes ready, there is A LOT that Andy covers that you would never think of when in the whitetail woods.

If you want to skip the introduction, Andy's section starts at the 9:18 minute mark.

We discuss:

-How Andy balances work, family and hunting to kill mature bucks

-How he has found better success with less time to hunt

-Using previous experience in the woods to make on-the-fly decisions

-How growing up hunting in Michigan taught him to think outside of the box when hunting public land

-Why he'd rather travel and hunt public than spend money on a high percentage lease

-His process of scouting an area that he plans on hunting in the fall

-A complete breakdown of his 2020 Iowa rut hunt

-Why do bucks travel perpendicular to deer trails in the rut

-Killing a mature buck over then only scrape in the area

-Do bucks use scrapes in the rut?

-Mature bucks use scrapes less than young bucks

-There aren't big deer everywhere in Iowa

-A complete breakdown of his 2020 Michigan gun hunt

-Using terrain features to your advantage

-Letting other hunters do the work for you in gun season

-What areas mature bucks run to when gun season starts

And so much more!

Connect:

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

#248 - 150+ Trail Camera Study Across 100,000 Acres in PA: Here's The Best Day for Mature Bucks! - Steve Sherk Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

In today's episode, we have a familiar face back in the office, Steve Sherk from Sherk's Guide Service. Steve spends more time in the woods in one year than most hunters do in 10 years. Steve just completed a multi-year trail camera study, looking at pictures from over 150 trail cameras to see if he could find a pattern to when and why big bucks daylight. We discuss:

- What he learned about deer movement from looking at multiple years of trail camera photos

- His trail camera strategy for 100,000 acres of Pennsylvania big woods public land

- His most successful trail camera locations for daylight photos of big bucks

- Short-term vs. long-term trail camera sets

- The one day that he had the most daylight pictures of mature bucks

- What factor did he notice in his study that had the most influence on daylight buck activity

- Should you look at the weather, moon phase, or barometric pressure when targeting mature bucks

- How much Pennsylvania's bear season affects deer movement during gun season

- What he looks for in October that spikes daylight buck activity

- How droughts can affect where in hill country deer move to

- When do mature bucks typically show back up after the lockdown

And so much more. This is one you won't want to miss!

Connect:

-PDF of Steve's Trail Camera Study: https://exodusoutdoorgear.com/blogs/news/best-day-buck-activity

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

#247 - How 10 States Could Be Better Than Iowa & Habitat Changes That Can Make a HUGE Difference! - Skip Sligh Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

In today's episode of The Exodus Podcast, we are back out in Iowa talking with previous Land Podcast guest Skip Sligh. Skip has extensive experience in managing land, hunting across the entire midwest on public/permission ground, and all things whitetails. Skip has improved and transformed many farms over the years and has a lot of knowledge to share, so listen up!

We Discuss:

-How growing up in Michigan self-teaching himself hunting made him into the hunter he is today

-How those humble beginnings hunting in Michigan made moving to Iowa that much easier of a decision

-The state he would move to if he couldn't hunt Iowa anymore

- Do early guns seasons ruin the quality of hunting

- The one regulation he would change for hunting opportunities in the midwest

- 2 buck states vs 1 buck states

- What habitat diversity is the best for producing giant mature deer

- What is the chance that a state would make changes to help with the quality of bucks

- Should you shoot does

- Why big bucks leave your farm

- What habitat you need on your farm to hold mature bucks

-T he first thing you need to do when buying a "project farm" for deer hunting

- Does hinge cutting really work

- Should you timber your hunting property

- The most desirable tree for a hunting property

- What he pairs his food plots with when planting

And so much more!

CONNECT:

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

#246 - Getting In Close To Buck Beds To Kill A Mature Buck With Josh Teulker Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

On today's epsiode of The Exodus Podcast, we are back in the studio with Josh Teulker from the Before The Echo Podcast. We are talking everything Hunting Beast Style of Hunting Buck Beds. We discuss:

-How he got his start in filming hunts

-How he started working with Dan Infalt and The Hunting Beast Crew

-How The Before The Echo Podcast started

-What his strategy is with his 50 trail cameras scattered across 5 states

-His process for getting in close to buck bedding once he gets that picture of his target buck daylighting

-How he used a long term camera in 2020 to gather long term data on a certain buck and use a cell camera in 2021 to kill that buck

-How he uses grey light trail camera pics to determine how close the buck's bed is

-How to determine which white oaks are attracting the mature bucks

-What type of habitat he's scouting in the month leading up to the season

And so much more!

CONNECT:

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

#245 - Killing A 177" Typical During The New Moon With Damian Riffle Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

On today's episode of The Exodus Podcast, we are realeasing a conversation that we recorded with Damian Riffle at The Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg this past February. We discuss:

-Starting over from scratch on a brand new farm

-His strategy for designing food plots for the October new moon

-When and where he is hunting during the october new moon

-Coming up with a kill strategy on the fly when your target buck is using an area with no good trees to set up in

-The story of killing his Giant typical in ohio last fall

-Do tracking dogs really work for finding wounded deer?

-Food Plot strategies for helping keep ypur target buck on your property

-Using the scatter approach with bait and cameras to narrow down a bucks core area

And so much more!

CONNECT:

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

#244 - Josh Profitt's Summer Time Trail Camera Strategies for Early September Public Land Hunts! Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

In today's episode of The Exodus Podcast, we are back again talking with Josh Profitt of Kentucky. Josh has been on the podcast before and runs a ton of trail cameras throughout the year. We discuss:

-Late summer trail camera locations and tips

-Summertime scouting in the hills of Kentucky

-An unorthodox way to keeping your trail cameras from being stolen on public land

-Someone stole $11,000 worth of trail cameras out of his shed

-What you should be doing right now to prep for the upcoing fall season

-Where he hangs his cameras at right now

-How he shot a mature buck in early october

-His trail camera strategy for where to shift to when a summertime area dries up

-How to find the overlooked spots when everyone is already going further out from the public parking lots

-Some of the craziest things hes seen from running 100's of trail cameras over the years

And so much more!

CONNECT:

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

#243 - #VelvetFest Is Here! Listener Q&A and Summertime Trail Camera Strategies Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

On today's episode of The Exodus Podcast, we are taking listener Q&A's from a poll that we posted on instagram. We discuss:

-The start of #VelvetFest

-We Are Hiring!

-Finding and hunting pinch points in the rut

-What to look for when scouting in tall grass fields

-Summertime trail camera locations that actually tell you something

-The lifespan of the Lift II

-How many times does a buck have to hit a scrape before making a move on him

-Jake and Chad's fall 2022 gear list

-How much historical summer data can impact fall hunting

-How to hunt hill country buck beds on no wind days

And so much more!

CONNECT:

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

#242 - Scouting and Hunting Pennsylvania Swamps For Mature Public Land Bucks! Curt DeLattre from Ridge Raised Outdoors Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

On today's episode of The Exodus Podcast, we are in the studio with Curt Delattre of Ridge Raised Outdoors. Curt grew up hunting the big woods in Pennsylvania but has since tranistioned to hunting the public land swamps that dot the landscape across the state. We discuss:

-Growing up hunting the big woods of Pennsylvania

-How being stationed in California led to the birth of Ridge Raised Outdoors

-The lessons he learned from the swamp hunting master Dan Infalt

-How he e-scouts swamps and what he looks for

-Finding islands of solid ground in the middle of swamps with e-scouting

-Finding pinch points and rut funnels that you cant see from e-scouting with boots on the ground

-The types of neighboring private property that he looks for when choosing a swamp

-His hunting strategy for public land swamps

-His short term and long term trail camera strategies for hunting public swamps

and so much more!

CONNECT:

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera

-https://bit.ly/TheDeerGearPodcast

-https://linktr.ee/TheLandPodcast

#241 - How Jared Scheffler and Tanner Dishong Spot and Stalk GIANT Bedded Whitetails the Whitetail Adrenaline Way! Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

On today's episode of The Exodus Podcast, we are talking with the spot and stalk masters Jared Scheffler and Tanner Dishong from Whitetail Adrenaline. We sat down with them at the Great American Outdoor Show this spring to talk about their approaches to spot and stalk whitetail hunting. We discuss:

-How tanner became one of the go-to guys on the Whitetail Adrenaline crew

-How jared approaches spotting and stalking a bedded buck

-How they play the wind to get in super close to bedded bucks

-What are satellite bucks and how you can use them to kill a mature buck

-Using a decoy to get close to a bedded buck with a hot doe

-Why jared prefers a quartering-too shot when hunting on the ground

-Their perfect scenario for a spot and stalk

-Whitetail Adrenaline is going uncuffed!

-The best hunting advice they have ever been given

And so much more!

CONNECT:

-https://linktr.ee/exodustrailcamera