The core premise of the Whitetail SLAM is to travel in search of whitetail hunting opportunities, and
to prove that you’ve got the chops to successfully harvest whitetail bucks in vastly different areas.

Tom Miranda of the Whitetail SLAM has authored a new book, The Rut Hunters. This Tom Miranda blog features excerpts from the book, which has information from some of the best deer hunters in the country.

One such hunter, who has more than proven he has the goods to kill bucks in different areas, is Stan Potts. He has killed more 200-class bucks than most hunters have ever laid eyes on.

When asked how he would go about hunting a new spot in the Northern Woodlands region, he had plenty of things to say and they all involved a common theme — research.

“If I’m heading to this region to hunt, the first thing I rely on is aerial photos of the exact area I’m
going to hunt,” Potts said. “I don’t like to go any place without an aerial photo that I can sit down with and thoroughly study. I want to use that photo to break down the entire area and identify hardwood ridges, agriculture, creek bottoms, food sources, clearcuts, anything that might give me an advantage when I actually get on the ground. After identifying basic whitetail-friendly areas, I’ll take it a step further and try to find pinch points and funnels.

That’s simple Hunting 101 right there, folks. Having an idea about the property and then studying it more intensely obviously can pay off. Potts said that’s not all, though.

“Since the majority of time I spend in the Northern Woodlands region occurs during the late pre-rut
through the late rut, I’m also looking for very specific treestand sites while pouring over my aerial photos. In addition to looking for obvious travel corridors, I’m also looking for different shades in the timber on my aerial photos. If you learn what to look for you might just see an old fenceline running through a woodlot, or you might see the difference between an old clearcut and a fresh one. You can also see the difference between hardwoods and thickets. I take into account all of these terrain features when deciding on where I might want to hang a stand.”

Finding likely stand sites and how to hunt them via aerial photos takes time but is well worth it. Food sources – especially agricultural fields – are easy enough to identify, but the subtle fence lines, delineation between new growth and old growth, and a quality pinch point versus a poor funnel are also evident if you know what to look for. So how do you know?

You’ll have to read The Rut Hunters to find out more.

Tom Miranda of the Whitetail SLAM has authored a new book, The Rut Hunters. This Tom Miranda blog features excerpts from the book, which has information from some of the best deer hunters in the country. GET IT NOW