Another turkey season is just around the corner. Even though I'm excited about the possibilities, I'm reminded again of my distaste for the characteristics of this bird.

I was thinking about a hunt from last season. I harvested one of my best bucks. It was about 4:00 p.m. when the buck came through behind me. It was well before dark, and I was hunting with a crossbow out of a rifle stand.

The end of February and the beginning of March is not normally a time outdoor activities come to mind. Deer hunters are gathering up the remains of the last season and the turkey season is still a few weeks away

It's hard to believe we are at the end of February. So far, the winter here has not been too bad. A few light snows and some cold days, but not a winter that has seemed to hang on forever.

The bass fishing tournaments are getting ready to start with a vengeance. Once they begin, each weekend will offer another opportunity to fish for money. All bass tournaments have pretty much the same rul

For about two weeks now I've been in a close-down, clean-up phase of hunting. The mornings have been spent behind a desk without any thoughts about the next time I'll get to go back to the woods.

The winter undoubtedly thwarts many outdoor plans in most parts of the country. If you don't believe me, just wait until the first warm weekend in February. There will be more lawnmowers heard than any other time of the year.

As I type this, I'm also getting ready for my last deer hunt of the year. The South Alabama bucks are just now in the prerut phase, with the rut only a few days away.

It looks like we can dust off those dollflies. The walleye are finding their way upstream to spawn and need a tasty meal. I'm hoping some of them will become a good meal for me.

As the deer season comes to an end, I'm sure we all have our idea of how it went. Some will consider this the best year ever, some will call it a success, and some will bemoan its disappointment.

Each morning I walked about threefourths of a mile to get to my stand. I had cut limbs and bushes out of the way and yet there was one area where I had to navigate around several tree-laps and weeds.

Hunters and fishermen will tell you about the importance of confidence. It is really a major part of the battle when it comes to patience and persistence.

This time of year, the pictures from successful deer hunts are everywhere on social media. The trophies are not defined by size but by smiles. Each hunter has his or her own story to tell about that special day.

Are you obsessed over something? Has something gained your attention in such a way that you have made some drastic changes in order to accommodate that matter?

Nearly twenty years ago I was in Alabama hunting. I went there for many years because the license was cheap, and the deer were numerous. On occasion I would hunt public property.

I spent Saturday morning with about eight other friends and acquaintances, hunting deer. My mood was still melancholy because of the unseasonably warm weather, but the company and camaraderie made up for it.

Have you noticed while everyone else is enjoying the beautiful fall days, the hunter is crying "bah humbug"?

I never like to see a doe with a fawn coming toward my tree stand. Nothing ever gets by a momma that's looking out for her young one.

It rains in my barn. I don't mean rain blows into my barn. I mean, it rains in my barn. As you may remember, my hunting perch is on the second level of a barn. It's perfect.

My favorite time of the year starts right now. It begins on Halloween and goes for about six weeks. In deer hunting terms, these few weeks involve the pre-rut, rut, post-rut, and secondary rut.

Change is a merciless taskmaster. It is both consistent and impulsive. It arrives both expectedly and unexpectedly. At times it is welcomed and at other times dreaded.

I've been waiting for this coming week for a while. I sort of pick the third week of October as the official time the pre-rut starts. I think the weather either hastens that or stalls it

I had been in the stand only 15 minutes when the doe appeared. When it crossed the path I came in on, she immediately smelled an unfamiliar odor and followed it with her eyes to my tree stand.

One of the conditions that hunters must face this time of year is the fog. Sometimes it lingers seemingly all day, making it difficult to see especially when hunting with firearms.

The weatherman said our temps were ten degrees below normal for this time of the year. I discovered he was right as I sat shivering in a treestand on opening morning.