About the D&DH Web Pro Staff
Deer & Deer Hunting traces its origins to the humble beginnings of the Stump Sitters Whitetail Study Group — a grassroots, all-volunteer organization of hunters who shared a passion for the white-tailed deer. Stump Sitter members would submit observations from the field, reviews of products, articles on deer hunting tactics and even humor pieces. The Deer & Deer Hunting Web Pro Staff brings this concept into the online world.
Members of our Web Pro Staff are deer hunting’s diehards — these folks, who hail from around the country, think about deer hunting year round, and while many may not be widely known (yet) they are some of the most knowledgeable deer hunters you’ll find anywhere. The Web Pro Staff provides honest feedback on everything from hunting tactics and in-the-field hunt observations to favorite products — both in online articles, The Rub Line blog, and the forum, where many serve the role of moderate for the D&DH State Forums.
Welcome Steve Sorensen of Pennsylvania — Our Newest Web Pro Staffer!
 Forum Handle: Everyday Hunter
Steve Sorensen Home State: Pennsylvania How long you’ve read D&DH: Since the early 1980s Biography: When I was six years old my dad brought home a 10-point buck, and I’ve been infatuated with hunting ever since. It would be six more years before I could buy a license, but even before that my Pennsylvania Game News was the highlight of my month. I read it ragged, believing that a magazine would someday publish my writing. I’ve written for Today, I’m as excited as ever about deer hunting — especially since we’re now letting our deer in Pennsylvania get a little older. I hunt with rifle, bow, inline muzzleloader and camera. Kevin Stephens Kentucky How long you’ve read D&DH: 20+ years Biography:
John Wojtas Georgia How long you’ve subscribed to D&DH: 2 years I have spent the last 30 plus years studying honing my skills as it relates to woodsmanship and hunting. I was born and raised in Michigan and cut my teeth on whitetail hunting at an early age on state land near Sterling, Michigan. I am a former hunter safety Rollin Alford Louisiana How long you’ve been reading D&DH: 8 years Biography: I live on the extreme southern border of Arkansas and Northern Louisiana and own land and hunt exclusively in LA. My father and grandfather taught me how to track and conduct deer drives. Almost exclusively I learned how to still/stand hunt from my grandmother who was an outdoors woman beyond compare. I took my first deer Tony Gonzalez
Home State: Texas How long you’ve been a D&DH Subscriber: 10 years Biography: I am an avid whitetail deer hunter, turkey hunter and waterfowler. I have 20 years of hunting experience and love the sport. I’m mostly a bow hunter, but occasionally pick up a rifle. My skill set includes biology and management of both whitetailed-deer and turkey.
Home State: North Carolina How long you’ve been a D&DH Subscriber: 2 years Biography:
Home state: Minnesota How long you’ve been a D&DH Subscriber: 7 years Biography: Like many hunters, my father introduced me to white-tailed deer hunting. It is something I have loved and cherished for 20 years now. I remember my father reading D&DH to me when I was too little to read for myself.
Forum Handle: FergVA Home state: Virginia (also hunts Alabama) How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 10 years Biography:
Home state: Texas How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 6 years Biography:
Home state: Indiana How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 5 years Biography: “I have lived in Indiana my whole life and have pursued white-tailed deer over most of central Indiana. Deer & Deer Hunting is my favorite magazine as I feel it has the right mix of emphasis on deer hunting and biology. It is the only magazine that I read cover to cover without exception.
Home state: Wisconsin How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 10+ years. Biography:
Nothing is more important to me than my family and luckily I get to share this passion with them.”
Forum Handle: FFKEVIN Home state: Ohio How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: – 9 years Biography:
shaman@blackholecoffeehouse.com Home state: Kentucky How long he’s been subscribing to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 16+ years! Biography: “This is my 26th year deer hunting. I hunt now mostly in southwest Bracken County, Kentucky. I have been blogging about deer hunting since 2004.
Forum Handle: hunt4ever Home state: New York How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 10+ years. “I have been a diehard whitetail hunter for more than 40 years. I grew up in northern Maine and hunted whitetails there for about 15 years and have hunted with a bow, rifle, and black powder gun in upstate New York for the past 25+ years.
Forum Handle: vipermann7 Home state: Wisconsin How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 1 year
Home state: Michigan How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 10+ years. Biography:
Home state: Illinois How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 15+ years! Biography:
“Later, the passion for bow-hunting deer was developed. Not having any deer hunters to learn from, I read every article or video production available. I discovered Deer & Deer Hunting in the early 1990s and have read it religously ever since.”
Forum Handle: ILBowhunter Thomas F. Sawyer Biography:
Home state: Michigan How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 4 years.
Home state: Illinois How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: More than 15 years!
Benjamin “Bo” Gittleman Home state: Florida How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 1 Biography: “I recently discovered Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine when I found it on a newsstand shelf. I enjoyed it so much that I went to the Web site almost immediately and signed up on the forum as well (Sailfish).
“I reside in Tampa, Florida, and am a graduate of the University of South Florida (B.S. Biology, 1992).”
Home state: Iowa
Home state: New York How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: 15 years! Biography:
Home state: New York jjh137@earthlink.net
Home state: Kansas, but hunt Missouri. How long he’s subscribed to Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine: Two years
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many of today’s magazines, plus a couple from the past, and I also write a regular column called “The Everyday Hunter” which is published in several newspapers. I am pastor of a rural church, and speak regularly at wild game dinners held throughout the northeastern United States.
I have been hunting for over 24 years and killed my first deer when I was 9. I write about my outdoor exploits and have been published in several local papers as well as Buckmasters and several online sites. I am a total hunting geek! I have more books on hunting than my local library. I own land in Owen County, Kentucky and routinely hunt over 100 days a year. My best buck to date is a 150-class bruiser and I’ve been fortunate enough to have taken several 140-class deer. I have been reading D&DH magazine since my stepdad starting receiving it back when I was a little boy.
instructor, an original member of BAD (Ted Nugent’s Bow Hunters against Drugs) and a lifetime license holder in Michigan and Alabama. I have listened to Ted’s tribute to Fred Bear every opening day since the single cassette was released. This year I will hunt whitetails in Georgia, Alabama, and Illinois. Our family does not buy red meat but eats the venison that we harvest on a yearly basis.
when I was 12 years old hunting with her. I am the DMAP coordinator for my hunting club and also sit on its board of directors. I age all our jawbones, keep the statistical data and publish it in a newsletter for our club. My hunting revolves almost entirely around the whitetail deer. My deer hunting spans all seasons (gun, bow and muzzleloader) and I generally am scouting, planning, and preparing 365 days a year. It is safe to say there is not a day that goes by that I don’t do something related to hunting.
I’ve been hunting scince the early 1990’s and have two young sons that love to hunt and fish. I love teaching them everthing that I have learned over the years. In addition to spending time deer hunting and with family, I am a pro staff member for Quaker Boy game calls and attend hunting shows around the state of Oklahoma.
Forum Handle: Buckman82
I can score for Boone and Crockett, Pope and Young, and the Buckmaster scoring systems. I also write outdoor articles, and love this aspect of our sport very much. I live and breathe hunting and the outdoor lifestyle. My area of specialization is hunting the Hill Country of Texas, but I’ve hunted everything from wide open spaces, to the swamps of East Texas. 
Forum Handle: Haywood
away from my hunting properties and I still managed to log well over 200 hours in the woods last season. The possibilities are endless for the amount of time I will be hunting as this new season approaches. I am very fortunate to have an understanding boss that has already committed to working around my deer schedule. I work for a machine shop where I fabricate custom machinery for our customers. This allows me to build feeders, tree stands, and other hunting related items in my spare time. Like most other web pro staff members, I read Deer and Deer Hunting magazine cover to cover and use the knowledge I gain to better myself as a hunter. 
Forum Handle: Patriot
Most of my hunting takes place at my in-laws farm 3 hours away from the Twin Cities where I live. It’s a long way to go, but I am grateful to have a place to call my own. I hope to pass on this wonderful tradition to my three children. I am currently spearheading the Centershot Ministry (similar to National Archery in the Schools Program) at my church and can’t wait to introduce area youth to bow-hunting!
“I grew up in southern Virginia and killed my first deer when I was twelve years old. Even though it was in front of dogs, I was hooked. I gave up hunting with dogs when I was about 16, and started hunting deer. This is difficult here since the dogs run practically year round but I have managed to have reasonable success by adding bow and muzzleloader hunting to my acitivities. After I graduated from college, I moved around a bit and that limited my hunting. Even so, I have made it back home to Virginia and my wife says I am obsessed with deer hunting. We own a little over 200 acres that we attempt to manage for deer and turkeys. I made a good friend in Alabama and join him every January for a rut hunt there after our season ends.
Forum Handle: HiddenHornsRanch
Forum Handle: djohns13
“I currently manage the hunting on Waste Management’s 975-acre Twin Bridges landfill in Danville, Indiana. The property is managed based upon age of the deer population, with heavy emphasis on doe population reduction. We require all hunters who take a buck to only take a middle-aged or older buck (3.5 years or older), unless it is a hunter’s first buck or if there is something unique that is truly special to the hunter. Over 90% of our hunting is archery only with the remainder being doe reduction if we feel the doe harvest from archery is not achieving our goals. Between hunting, scouting, trail camera work and general photography, I am in the woods approximately 100 days per year.”
Forum Handle: Goose
“I hunt in Winnebago, Waushara, and Outagamie counties and hail from Menasha, Wisconsin. I’ve been hunting since I was twelve with both bow and gun, I can also remember going out with my dad and grandpa before I could hunt. I’m a diehard bow hunter. Last year, I put in over 120 hours on stand, in addition to post-season scouting, shed hunting, and summer scouting. I was blessed to harvest two does and one 8-point buck with the bow last year. I take notes every time out and keep journals all year. My wife and family support me and are understanding. I’ve been reading Deer & Deer Hunting for as long as I can remember and read it from cover to cover. I believe in QDM. And I am a scent-control freak!
“I started deer hunting with a gun six years ago just to bond with my father-in-law.” But after my first day in the woods I was hooked. Even though I did not take a deer my first year, I enjoyed it so much, I knew it was something I wanted to do the rest of my life. The next year I bought a bow so I could be in the woods longer and hunt more. Because I’m a firefighter, I get quite a few days off work which enables me to be in the woods quite a bit. Last year we started to try to manage the deer herd on our hunting land with year round supplemental feeding, mineral licks, ponds, food plots and brush hogged trails. The results on our trail cameras are amazing. I am looking forward to many more years of hunting and passing down what I have learned to my son.”
Forum Handle: Shaman
“I am an active member of the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) and am currently enrolled in their Deer Steward Certification Course. Additionally, I successfully completed the Whitetail Alliance Research Association Program. This program was conducted in July, 2007 by NorthCountry Whitetails and provided an increased knowledge of deer management and land stewardship which allows me to better contribute to white-tailed deer conservation. Included in this program were several lectures by Charlie Alsheimer, D&DH Field Editor, and an opportunity to tour his deer research facility at his homestead in western New York.”
Forum Handle: WiredToHunt
“Currently a senior at Michigan State University, I’ve been studying hunting publications such as D&DH, Field and Stream and Outdoor Life since elementary school. I have been hunting since I was young and have developed a strong passion for the outdoors and the challenge of the hunt. I hunt with a bow, muzzleloader and rifle in both South and Northwest Michigan.
Forum Handle: howhill1
“I eat, sleep and breath hunting. I can remember as plain as yesterday my first squirrel hunting trip with my grandfather at the early age four. I grew up hunting squirrel, rabbits and pheasants.
Forum Handle: DeerCamp
Forum Handle:Eatdeer
Forum Handle: Sailfish
“My introduction to deer hunting was approx 11 years ago. Most of my hunts have been rifle season in Michigan, however this year I will be hunting archery in Florida. I do not have the years of experience as many of the other readers, but that may be beneficial in some respects. I am not set in my ways, always open to try new things, exploring new avenues and ideas, and willing to go out on a limb (no pun intended).
Forum Handle: JPH
“I am a lifelong outdoorsman. I began hunting deer and turkeys as a teenager. Since then I have pretty much become a fanatic. I live in central Iowa and have access to several small, but well-situated properties. I also own a small tract of hunting land in northern Missouri where I spend as much time as possible, working on habitat management. I try to measure my success as a hunter in terms of stewardship and memories. Given that scale, I have been pretty successful. But in more objective terms, I have been blessed with a handful of hefty bucks. My personal Mt. Rushmore holds bow kills of 126″, 152″, 161″ and 166″ with a firearms 142″ to round it out. Equally important is that my doe kill tally continues faster than my buck total. Above all, I try to live my life as a man of God. Which in my case means being the best husband and father of two I can be.”
Forum Handle: Fasteddie
Forum Handle: JOEL
Forum Handle: Ranwin33
“As a young boy I started hunting quail, pheasant and ducks. Shortly after graduating college and getting married I stopped hunting (life got in the way) and pretty much let that part of my life end. In 2001 a Cabela’s store opened up near where I live and, after a couple of months, I decided to go make a visit to the store just to say I’d done so. After walking through those doors I can’t explain the flood of feeling and emotion that came rushing back to me after 20 years away from hunting — I realized how greatly I had missed that part of my life. In 2002 we purchased 100 acres of timber and pasture in northwest Missouri and after a 20 year absence I started on my new hunting adventures.”