Celebrate a banner year for big deer with our final season-long roundup of top whitetails taken by hunters in 2024, including nearly 20 200-plus-inch giants
Author: Scott Bestul
Scott Bestul
Trained as a high school English teacher and coach, Scott Bestul left that lucrative field to pursue another—as a full-time freelance writer in 1990. He sold his first story to Field & Stream a few years later and has been contributing to the brand ever since. Highlights Education Bestul graduated from Winona State University in 1985, with a B.S. in English (writing emphasis) and a coaching certificate. Experience Bestul has been the F&S whitetails columnist for more than a decade and has written dozens of articles and contributed to many feature packages since joining the brand. Additionally, he’s contributed to many national and regional outdoor magazines and newspapers. Bestul paired with F&S Executive Editor, Dave Hurteau, to write the The Total Deer Hunter Manual and The Total Bowhunting Manual. Bestul also co-authored The Last River Rat with Wisconsin resident Kenny Salwey in 2001. He was awarded the Quality Deer Management Association’s “Signpost Communicator of the Year” in 2013, and has given seminars at deer expos and sportsman’s shows across the country. Bestul will enjoy his 50th deer season this fall, and has been turkey hunting since the 1980s. He’s been an avid upland hunter and fisherman since boyhood. F&S Lightning Round Favorite Place to Fish: Driftless region trout streams in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa,Favorite Critter to Hunt: Whitetail deer in the woods behind his home,Bucket List Adventure: Float trip for archery moose in Alaska or the Yukon,Most Prized Piece of Gear: Recurve bow I helped build,All-Time Favorite F&S Story: “The Quicksand” by Bill Heavey Notable Work
Here are the country’s top spots for putting your tag on a record-book whitetail buck, according to B&C and P&Y data
Deer seek out and scarf up the best-tasting acorn from the first day of the season to the last. Here’s how to scout an oak stand, pick the right tree, and tag that nut-eating buck
Kentucky guide Mark Clifford has more than 50 years experience chasing big whitetails. Here’s what he’s learned
The season’s first rubs and scrapes might not look like much, but whatever you do, don’t ignore them
On opening day for midwestern hunters, ducks, grouse, snipe, and, of course, whitetails are on the menu
Conventional wisdom says don’t hunt early-season whitetails in the morning. Here are five times when you can go rogue and tag a daybreak buck anyway
Early season bucks are famous for hitting fields and plots well before last light, but that doesn’t mean tagging one is easy. You need a few tricks up your sleeve
Follow our expert’s advice to end the season with a bang this Thursday
Where are all the bucks before the rut kicks into gear? Packing on the pounds at these food-source hotspots
