First Fork Publications is a publisher of outdoor books and photography.
First Fork Publications, formerly known as Bandit Outdoors, is a publisher of outdoor books and photography as well as hand-tied flies for fly fishermen.
With bobcat season opening over the weekend here in Pennsylvania, this might be useful info. Rub sets are downright deadly on bobcats in certain situations!
Bobcats rarely work sets the way fox and coyotes do. They’re not known to sit on a dirt pattern and work a hole or a backing to get to the source of a particular scent. They’re aloof personality would lead you to believe that they really don’t care about the source of the scent at all and they...
Sometimes things just come together exactly the way they’re supposed to! My best buck to date. Potter County big woods buck on state forest land! Truly a dream buck for me. I just feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to put my tag on a deer like this.
A new post is available on the website. Hope you'll check it out. What advice would you give new bowhunters?
My first year of bowhunting was filled with mistakes. Unfortunately, you don’t get many do-overs in the outdoors, but if I only knew then what I know now…well, I guess we could say that about a lot of things in life. At least I learned from those mistakes, and although the little failures were t...
A new post is available on the website, this one discussing a few case studies of deer tracked via GPS collars. Some interesting things to be learned here.
Thanks to GPS and other tracking technology, scientists have the ability to closely monitor whitetail movements. Every year, and all across the country, a multitude of studies are performed and hundreds of deer are fitted with GPS collars as researchers try to figure out, among other things, where d...
First day of flintlock, a tradition here in Pennsylvania. It’s cold but deer are moving. This time of year, find the food and the security cover and you’ll find the bucks.
Still looking for a late season buck? The latest post on First Fork Publications tells the story of one of my favorite bucks, a drop-tine 8-point taken during a stretch of single-digit temps and deep snows. Hunting mountain bucks ain't easy. Killing them during the late season is dang near impossible, but this article provides some solid strategies to help you be successful.
Post-rut, post-gun season mountain whitetails are not easy when you hunt public land. I’ve always been a little envious of those private land guys in their heated blinds overlooking food plots during the late season because, this time of year, if you’re hunting over the right food sources and ca...
It's been way too long since a new post was available on the website. Hopefully this one will spark your interest. Lately, I've seen numerous posts on social media about big woods bucks that have already shed their antlers. In fact, on first day of rifle this year, I killed one that had recently lost one side. This post explores this phenomenon and ponders the question: do big woods bucks shed their antlers earlier than other bucks?
At 10:00 am on November 26th, opening day of Pennsylvania’s rifle season, I squeezed the trigger on what I thought was a very decent buck. Even when I shot, though, I realized something was different about the deer, and the thought occurred to me that it might be missing half of its rack. I didn.....
The latest post on the Big Woods Blog wonders...When is the best time to hang tree stands? Here are my thoughts on the topic. With the archery opener right around the bend, it's time to dust off those stands and get them woods ready. But before you hang them, read this to make sure you're in the right location!
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/when-is-the-best-time-to-hang-a-treestand
I like options during hunting season. I set up several stands in a variety of locations, all of which factor in deer movement, wind direction, and possible competition in the area. Ideally, I have at least a couple stands to choose from on any given morning. But when is the best time to put up those...
The latest post on the Big Woods Blog features Cutaneous Fibroma, otherwise known as "Deer Warts." These mysterious tumors can cause misery in a deer's life when they appear in huge masses, especially around the deer's face. But when found in small patches, they're relatively harmless, and many times the deer can recover in time. Check out this latest post to learn more.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/cutaneous-fibroma-a-k-a-deer-warts
I'll never forget the shock I felt when going through a batch of trail camera photos and finding a snap of a doe with a mass of tumors on its front shoulder. I freaked out a little. Crazy thoughts went through my mind. Were the tumors cancerous? Was the population being infested by some weird diseas...
The latest post on the Big Woods Blog is "Bears on the Move," which discusses the black bear rut and why so many bears end up in strange places this time of year. Hope you'll check it out.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/bears-on-the-move
Spring and summer are odd times for black bears. Think about it, after months of hibernation they emerge from their dens hungry and restless. That time of year, food is still a little thin in the forest, so they must widen their ranges to meet their needs. And once June comes around, their needs exp...
In the world of whitetails, bucks get all the glory, but does live lives that are just as fascinating. The latest post of the Big Woods Blog discusses doe dispersal, which is happening right now, and how it differs from buck dispersal. Hope you'll check it out.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/the-goodbye-girls-a-look-at-doe-dispersal
Usually, when we talk about dispersal among whitetail deer, we talk about male dispersal, which occurs in the fall. The infatuation with male dispersion is for obvious reasons, namely our fascination with antlers – in deer hunting, bucks get all the glory. However, another type of dispersal happen...
The latest post on the Big Woods Blog discusses antler growth and development. Did you know that if you transplanted a piece of a buck's pedicle onto the skull of a mouse, that mouse would grow an antler? Oh, the possibilities!
Hope you'll check out this new post, and if the spirit moves ya, please consider signing up for the First Fork Publications e-newsletter. Hope to see you in the Big Woods!
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/antler-growth-and-development
Antler tissue is the fastest normal growing tissue known to man. Considering that most antlers begin developing in late March and early April in most parts of the country and are finished growing by mid-August, that means that a 170-inch Boone & Crockett whitetail will grow more than an inch of bone...
The heart of fawn season is fast approaching. Have you ever wondered how many of those fawns actually survive until hunting season? The latest post on the Big Woods Blog discusses survival rates for fawns in the Susquehannock, Rothrock, and Bald Eagle state forests where it should be no surprise that mortality rates are much higher than an agricultural areas. In this post you'll also discover which predators are most responsible for keeping deer populations in check. Hope you'll check it out in these areas.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/fawn-mortality-in-the-big-woods
Recently I re-watched a webinar on YouTube called “Who’s Eating Bambi?” which was based on a three-year collaborative effort between the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) and the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit at Penn State University (PSU). The study was designed to determin...
Although there's been a lot of discussion about CWD in recent years, there are a lot of misconceptions about the disease. And in many ways, scientists are still trying to figure out how to solve the CWD riddle. In the latest post on the Big Woods Blog, I talked with Kip Adams of the National Deer Alliance on this issue and more. Hope you'll check it out.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/can-wolves-help-control-the-spread-of-cwd
Since 1995, when they were first reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park, wolves have been a topic of controversy among sportsmen as well as the non-hunting public. The gray wolf is an apex predator that primarily feeds on deer, elk, moose, and other ungulates, and they can positively influence th...
If you do much scouting or hiking in the mountainous regions of the Eastern U.S., always be aware of the possibility of encountering a venomous snake. This latest post on the Big Woods Blog talks about Eastern Timber Rattlesnakes in particular, but also offers tips about how to deal with any snake encounter or bite. Hope you'll check it out.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/scouting-and-hunting-in-snake-country
Stay calm. Don’t panic. That’s the advice most experts give to anyone bitten by a venomous snake. Well, easier said than done! Much of Pennsylvania’s Big Woods is synonymous with snake country, but if you look at a distribution map, you’ll see that the range of Eastern Timber Rattlesnakes ex...
Any thoughts?
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave final approval to hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for the 2021-22 license year. Details ➡ https://bit.ly/3wRiKGL.
Modifications adopted for the 2021-22 seasons include:
🔸A statewide, 14-day concurrent antlered and antlerless fi****ms season, which was proposed to simplify regulations and provide increased opportunity, especially for younger hunters.
🔸Expanded Sunday Hunting Opportunity – The hunting Sundays during the archery deer and fi****ms bear seasons also would be open for other species (except migratory game birds and wild turkeys) that are in season on those dates. These expansions of Sunday opportunity are the only changes adopted for small game and furbearer seasons.
🔸Moving up the start of the extended bear season to begin on the fi****ms deer opener and include Sunday, Nov. 28 in the WMUs where the season is open.
🔸The closure of the fall turkey season in WMU 5A and reductions in season length for 14 other WMUs due to declining population trends. The recommendations are in accordance with Wild Turkey Management Plan guidelines to increase hen survival.
🔸The extended (post-Christmas) antlerless fi****ms season that traditionally has been held in certain counties in southeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania will be held in all of WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D, given that antlerless harvests are evenly distributed throughout these WMUs regardless of fi****ms restrictions.
🔸The antlerless designation was removed from the late elk season to provide the Game Commission the flexibility to issue antlered elk licenses for this season.
🔸The commissioners also set the number of antlerless deer licenses to be allocated, as well as the number of elk licenses to be allocated for the coming license year.
All details available ➡ https://bit.ly/3wRiKGL.
Do you save your old trail camera photos? Have you ever gone through them looking for patterns in deer movement? In the latest post on the Big Woods Blog, old photos are the topic and how to use them to figure out what the deer were doing last year, and how to turn that into success this year. Hope you'll check it out.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/trail-camera-studies-predicting-last-year-s-rut
Here’s a rut prediction that would’ve come in handy last fall: “November 11-14 may be the best four days of the season. Pack a lunch and stay on stand all day.” What I wouldn’t have given for a prediction like that! But it begs the question, would it have made a difference? Probably not. N...
Got a new blog posted on the Big Woods Blog. Turkey season is just around the corner, and this week, special guest Kyle Hey talks about The Wanderlust Gobbler: Going to the Edge of the Map to Fill A Tag. It's a great read. Hope you'll check it out.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/the-wanderlust-gobbler-going-to-the-edge-of-the-map-to-fill-a-tag
~ By Kyle Hey The top of the mountain was painted in thick green underbrush opening into a freshly timbered slope that stretched across the posted property line. The section public ground that I was hunting that afternoon was new to me. There was something about that newness that piqued my spirit of...
I have a new blog post available on Bowhunting.com. This one talks about various ways to get deer out of the woods as well as a few products that can help make the job easier. Hope you'll check it out.
https://www.bowhunting.com/bowhunt101/tools-for-getting-your-deer-out-of-the-woods/
Do you have the right tools for getting your deer out of the woods? Here's a look at some of the top tools to make it happen.
We're getting to that time of year when many hunters start thinking about creating mineral sites for deer. Where legal, these sites can be deer magnets. But before you drop your money on just any bag of minerals that boasts of massive antler growth, you may want to check out this latest post on the Big Woods Blog. This post explains what to look for in a bag of minerals and what to expect in terms of results. Hope you'll check it out.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/minerals-and-attractants-do-they-really-work
We’ve all heard the claims. Every year, new products hit the market claiming to “unlock the genetic potential” of whitetails better than any products before them. Are these claims true, or are they just good marketing slogans that get you to open your wallet for latest, greatest gimmick? I’m...
I had the pleasure of spending a few hours yesterday shed hunting with Steve Sherk. It was a great experience, as always, to spend time with someone who is a heck of big woods hunter and someone I've come to consider my friend.
This placard can be found along East Branch Clarion River and marks the first tract of State Game Lands purchased by the Pennsylvania Game Commission in 1920. If you ever wonder where a portion of hunting license money goes, consider how many thousands of acres have been purchased and kept open to hunters thanks to these funds. That's especially important nowadays when it seems everyone who owns even a small chunk of property wants to post it no trespassing.
The Big Woods of the northeast U.S. consists of State Game Lands, State Forest Lands, National Forest Lands, and huge tracts of land owned by energy companies that keep their property open to hunters. We're so fortunate to have such vast amounts of land to explore...and there are some really big bucks waiting for us on those lands!
The latest post on the Big Woods Blog features Steve Sherk, Sr. and some of his experiences still hunting in the Allegheny National Forest.
Over the years, Sherk, Sr. has taken numerous mature bucks, including a 130-incher in 2020 he calls his "Buck in the Blue", and this post is chock full of fantastic information and tips to make you successful in the big woods, too. More than that, though, Sherk Sr. is just a heck of a great guy and very knowledgeable outdoorsman. I hope you'll check it out.
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/post/steve-sherk-sr-lessons-on-still-hunting-in-the-big-woods
Steve Sherk, Sr., 68, has been hunting since age 12 and has hunted every deer season since. Sherk, Sr., is a devout Christian who begins every hunt with a visit to his prayer spot, which overlooks a lot of the valley and ridge where he does most of his deer hunting. As he says, he doesn’t pray to ...
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A couple cruisers this morning. Deer are certainly active today after yesterday’s heavy rains.
First visitor of the morning!
