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

Jake Hofer
  • 4.9 (623)
  • Wilderness
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to Trail Cam Radio, as we dive into all things trail cameras, deer hunting, whitetails, wildlife research, outdoors, camera traps, and expert guest advice. Speaking from our own experience of running a trail camera company over the years, we hope to share as much valuable information through this deer hunting podcast.

  1. 2d ago

    #432 - Aaron Warbritton's Top 5 Rules to Hunting Mature Bucks

    Aaron Warbritton of The Hunting Public joins the WHTL Podcast to break down the top 5 rules he lives by every season to consistently kill mature bucks — plus how he balances scouting pressure against the information he needs, how he finds the best stand on any property (public or private), and why he thinks trail cameras are one of the most overcomplicated tools in modern whitetail hunting. This episode is a crossover from Aaron's Back 40 series over on the Wired to Hunt feed (MeatEater Network) — check out the rest of that series for more conversations with guests like Bill Winke, Jeff Sturgis, and Adam with Land Legacy. Chapters 0:00 – Cold Open 0:19 – Welcome to the WHTL Podcast (Presented by onX) 1:16 – Meet Aaron Warbritton / Setting Up the Top 5 Rules 1:43 – Rule #1: Have Fun and Enjoy the Process 3:03 – The Story Behind Rule #1 — Letting a Giant Buck Walk 6:33 – Rule #2: Obey the Wind 9:24 – Rule #3: Take Close, High-Odds Shots 10:59 – Hawke Optics 11:11 – Rule #4: Setup Is Everything 13:12 – Rule #5: Adapt to the Conditions 16:11 – Playing the Long Game: Scouting All Season 19:15 – How Much Scouting Pressure Is Too Much? 27:33 – Finding the Best Stand on Any Property 31:03 – How to Access a Pressured Spot 36:00 – Hunting Tough Bottoms and Reading Thermals 39:03 – Why Trail Cameras Are Overcomplicated 46:17 – Where Mature Bucks Bed and Travel 50:16 – Outro & Where to Find More   We'll see you next week — October 1st is getting closer every episode. Catch up on the Whitetail Cribs series and don't miss the Michael Waddell Whitetail Cribs kickoff event in Henry, Illinois on September 18th.   Follow along on social! IG - @WHTLDEER TikTok - @WHTLDEER YouTube - @WHTLDEER   Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them!   -Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow -Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

  2. 6d ago

    MDRN Whitetail Ep. #4 - The Best Hunters are Adaptable: How to Become Adaptable with Aaron Olsen

    Aaron Olsen (Next Step Outdoors) took seven years to kill his first deer with a bow, and thirteen years to kill his first buck. Then something changed — in the last five or six seasons he's hunted ten states, filled tags in seven of them, and built a mobile, saddle-based system from scratch. In this episode, Cameron sits down with Aaron to break down: Why getting mobile was the single biggest lever for leveling up as a hunter How private land and public land teach you two completely different lessons — and why he treats them like offense and defense Why private land gives you cleaner, faster feedback, and what public land teaches you that private land never will How annual trail camera data can mislead you if you don't know whether a pattern is buck-specific Aaron's approach to scouting — when to trust the map, and when to abandon it The one system Aaron admits he still hasn't figured out Using trail cameras to qualify an area instead of chasing the app Glass vs. cameras — which one Aaron would give up first The closing lesson: why the best hunters are the most adaptable, not the most skilled This is a conversation about compressing the learning curve — the stuff that took Aaron over a decade to figure out, broken down so you don't have to learn it the same slow way. Find Aaron Olsen: Next Step Outdoors — YouTube & Instagram Instagram: @nextstepoutdoors  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextStepOutdoors If this episode helped you, the most useful thing you can do is leave a quick rating or review — it's the main way new listeners find the show.

    MDRN Whitetail Ep. #4 - The Best Hunters are Adaptable: How to Become Adaptable with Aaron Olsen

  3. Sep 1

    #431 - Why You Should Stop Reading the Forecast and Start Reading the Calendar with Tyler and KC of The Element

    Welcome to the WHTL Podcast, your source for Whitetail Deer Hunting Tactics, Stories & Expert Guests. In this episode, we're back in the studio with K.C. Smith and Tyler Jones. We Discuss: Hunt the calendar first and let the weather be the tiebreaker. The warm-up day on the backside of a cold front can out-hunt the front itself. A stable wind matters more to a deer's comfort than a dropping temperature. Treating the whole season like a five-day hunt sharpens every access decision. Your most imperative hunt is the next one, not the one you kill on. A bright white flashlight and a slow tree read make blind morning hangs work. Pulling one sapling over with paracord is often the difference in a shot. The doe bleat can works because most hunters think it's too kitschy to carry. A buck already with a doe has no reason to answer aggressive calling. Setting your pack on the ground leaves scent that shuts deer down at 50 yards. And So Much More! Follow along on social! IG - @WHTLDEER TikTok - @WHTLDEER YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

  4. Aug 28

    MDRN Whitetail EP. #3 - 5 Don Higgins' Tactics That Can Help You Kill Mature Bucks

    Don Higgins has been bowhunting for 49 years — and today he hunts fewer hours than at any point in his career. In this Recovery, we go back through the biggest, most usable takeaways from the full conversation: the discovery that changed how he reads wind and bedding forever, the ethics behind walking away from 19 out of 20 hunting tips, the patience it took to sit on a buck for three full seasons, and the mistake that took him over a decade to correct into a precise rule. This is the breakdown episode — the lessons, distilled, so you don't need 49 years to use them. 🎧 Haven't heard the full interview yet? Watch/listen here: https://youtu.be/swyEVnT9jTU MDRN Whitetail — Where woodsmanship and technology collide. Follow for weekly episodes breaking down what actually works, straight from the hunters who figured it out the hard way. Follow along on social! IG - @modernwhitetail YouTube - @WHTLDEER  Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! -Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow -Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

    MDRN Whitetail EP. #3 - 5 Don Higgins' Tactics That Can Help You Kill Mature Bucks

  5. Aug 25

    #430 - The 70 Rule: Why 80% of Your Daylight Deer Repeat Every Single Year with Brandon Barlow

    Welcome to the WHTL Podcast, your source for Whitetail Deer Hunting Tactics, Stories & Expert Guests. In this episode, we're back in the studio with Brandon Barlow of The 70 Rule. We Discuss: Up to 80% of daytime deer behavior repeats in the same areas year to year. Cameras over corn and field edges produce deer photos, not repeatable data. Browse damage at nipple height marks the bedding mature bucks actually live in. Mature bucks catch REM sleep in bomb-shelter cover with no vantage point. Deep sleep runs 20 to 45 minutes a day regardless of the season. A buck's range shrinks with age until he burns into one small daytime spot. Fawn spot fade and drop dates back-calculate your property's real rut timing. Buck bedding is most consistent in early October and unravels in the full rut. Fewer than half of your daylight bucks come back the following season. Moon phase has zero measurable impact on daylight deer movement. And So Much More! Want to become a better whitetail hunter? Click the link below and sign up for the Whitetail Master Academy today! https://bit.ly/WhitetailMasterAcademy Follow along on social! IG - @WHTLDEER TikTok - @WHTLDEER YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

  6. Aug 21

    MDRN Whitetail EP. #2 - 49 Years of Bowhunting for Giant Whitetails - What Don Higgins has Learned

    In this episode of MDRN Whitetail, Don breaks down the principles that actually built a 49-year career chasing giants — not the tips everyone's already heard, but the ones he had to learn the hard way. We get into: The "same time, same place" theory Don first wrote about in 2003 — and how tracking one buck's annual pattern for six straight years led to a first-morning kill Why hunting "the fringes" isn't about staying on the edge of everything — and how a 2-acre patch of cover next to an elderly neighbor's yard produced a 200-inch buck The October morning that broke Don of hunting mornings for over a decade, what he learned following a buck's tracks in the mud at first light, and the one condition that brings him back to a morning stand today Why "time in a tree" isn't the success factor most hunters think it is — and how Don hunts fewer hours now than at any point in 49 years How he handles tips on other people's target bucks, and why he's walked away from two 200-inch deer he could hunt right now Whether you're running public land, a handshake permission property, or your own ground, Don's approach proves the same thing MDRN Whitetail is built on: the principles matter more than the property. 🎙️ Follow Don Higgins: HigginsOutdoors.com | Chasing Giants Podcast Got a topic or guest you want to hear? DM me on Instagram: @mdrnwhitetail Follow along on social! IG - @modernwhitetail  YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! -Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow -Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

    MDRN Whitetail EP. #2 - 49 Years of Bowhunting for Giant Whitetails - What Don Higgins has Learned

  7. Aug 18

    #429 - Half Your Summer Bucks Will Be Gone by October — Here's Where They Go with Kaleb Greiner

    Welcome to the WHTL Podcast, your source for Whitetail Deer Hunting Tactics, Stories & Expert Guests. In this episode, we're back in the studio with Kaleb Greiner. We Discuss: Roughly half of summer bucks relocate before October in pressured country. Cereal grains want to be six inches tall on opening day, not two feet. The best summer camera in ag country sits 20 to 80 yards off a pond. Deer walk through an open gate instead of hopping the fence beside it. A creek drying up can move a buck straight to the nearest pond. White oak acorns pull deer off green fields from September 15th on. Raking leaves off an oak flat and broadcasting rye makes a green carpet. Hunting one buck every sit beats bouncing between farms all season. Mature bucks bed in five-yard waterways in the middle of cut fields. Trading TSI and chainsaw work for permission opens doors money can't. And So Much More! Want to become a better whitetail hunter? Click the link below and sign up for the Whitetail Master Academy today! https://bit.ly/WhitetailMasterAcademy Follow along on social! IG - @WHTLDEER TikTok - @WHTLDEER YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

  8. Aug 14

    MDRN Whitetail EP. #1 - Where Technology and Woodsmanship Collide

    Welcome to MDRN Whitetail — where woodsmanship and technology collide. I'm Cameron Derr, and I didn't learn to deer hunt from a mentor. I learned it from editing YouTube hunting content — first on The Tineman, then as Creative Director at Exodus Outdoor Gear, where I produced Trail Cam Radio (the Exodus Podcast, now WHTL), Whitetail Cribs, and hosted the Deer Gear Podcast. Every guest I edited became an unofficial teacher. Since picking up a bow in 2016, I've killed 10+ bucks — including a couple 150 class Ohio bucks, 160-class Ohio giant, a 140-class North Dakota buck, and a full-velvet mid-160s 9-point — almost entirely by applying what I learned from other people's content. That's the whole premise of this show: the learning curve doesn't have to be as long as everyone says, if you know how to actually pull the "why" out of what you're watching and listening to. Here's how MDRN Whitetail works: Week 1 — a long-form conversation with a guest, opening with the same question every time: by the end of this episode, what should you learn? Week 2 — myself and Tre Kerns break down last week's episode: what mattered, what we've tried, what actually works. This show runs in conjunction with the WHTL Podcast — thank you to Jake. Got a topic or guest you want to hear? DM me on Instagram: @mdrnwhitetail Follow along on social! IG - @modernwhitetail  YouTube - @WHTLDEER Thanks again for all of the support from our partners—none of this would've been possible without them! -Buck Land Funding: https://www.firstbankers.com/bucklandfunding -Hawke Optics | Use Code WHTL for 15% off: https://bit.ly/hawkeoptics_ -OnX: https://bit.ly/onX_Hunt -Painted Arrow: ⁠⁠bit.ly/PaintedArrow -Latitude Outdoors: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.com/

    MDRN Whitetail EP. #1 - Where Technology and Woodsmanship Collide
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Hosts & Guests

4.9
out of 5
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About

Welcome to Trail Cam Radio, as we dive into all things trail cameras, deer hunting, whitetails, wildlife research, outdoors, camera traps, and expert guest advice. Speaking from our own experience of running a trail camera company over the years, we hope to share as much valuable information through this deer hunting podcast.

Information

  • Creator
    Jake Hofer
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    448
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Jake Hofer

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