Getting great pics from today’s trail cameras isn’t hard. Follow these easy steps to up your scouting game
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
Plan on getting into the turkey woods tomorrow, and follow this expert’s advice to get the drop on a public-land gobbler
With a running start, a buck can jump 10 to 12 feet high. But you can steer him toward your stand by making a fence crossing a little easier
If you want to put a true monster on your wall, you need to understand how big whitetails behave and then tweak your tactics accordingly. Here’s how
If you could only hunt one day of the entire 2024 deer season, this Sunday should be it. Follow these two expert tactics to tag a giant
If tagging a giant buck isn’t part of your Thanksgiving Day plans, it should be. Here’s why you need to hit the woods on Thursday””and how to leave them very grateful indeed
There’s nothing like the satisfaction””and relief””of tagging a buzzer-beater buck. Here’s how to pull it off on our last Best Day of the 2024 Rut
Where legal, making your own mineral licks for deer is cheap, easy, and it helps bucks reach their full potential. Licks also make perfect summertime trail-camera sites
Planting perennials will save you time and money. Most important, these plots will keep deer coming back to your property year after year
If your season is still open and you’ve got a tag, it’s time to climb down from your freezing-cold tree stand and take the fight to the deer. Here’s how
