MDRN Whitetail BONUS: Lessons Learned From An Early Season Archery Hunt in North Dakota

Cameron sits down with Tre Kerns to break down their sixth early season trip to North Dakota: two target bucks, tricky winds, and hunting mature deer from the ground at 15 yards. It's an honest recap of what went right and what didn't. One buck ended up on the tailgate, one got away clean, and one shot didn't go the way anyone wants. Along the way they cover the lessons that will carry into the rest of the season and beyond.

Presented by Hawke Optics.

Topics covered:

• Why this year's hit list was short and how narrowing it down to a few shooters shaped the trip
• Trey's bed-to-food setup on a coulee and fence corner, and how to "slice the pizza" so your wind sits just off the deer's approach
• Building makeshift ground blinds with back cover and shooting lanes so you can draw at close range
• Why backing out when the wind isn't right beats forcing a hunt, and why glassing can matter more than time on stand
• Tre's first encounter with "Splits": why grunting to stop an already-alarmed buck backfired
• The second encounter: a high shoulder hit, the recovery effort, and confirming the buck survived
• What trail cameras miss, including one photo from a night when 10 deer were in the field, and the same buck in the same corner a year apart
• Cameron's chase for "Mirror," and how a buck changes where he beds in a long cattail slough depending on the wind
• Reading a north wind, the "farm country drop-off," a young buck at 5 yards, and a 29-yard double-lung shot on a near-perfectly symmetrical giant-bodied 8-point
• Cameron's miss in fading light: why seeing your pin against a sunset backdrop is so hard, the case for a sight light, and how the miss helped him slow down for the kill shot
• How lunch with a stranger named Bob at a gas station turned into 1,500 acres of permission
• Plans for the rest of the season and the Ohio opener

Up next: Friday's early season masterclass with Steve Pinkston. Listen before you hit the woods this weekend.

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/