So there I am, perched on the toilet and flipping through this month's issue of Petersen's Bowhunting, when reality gives me a stiff backhand across the chops. I know all this stuff.

The "new gear" section features a whole bunch of uninspiring, boring, useless gimmicks, along with a few bows andother itemsthat are yesterday's newspaper. You've either seen it all before, or it's so useless that you hope to never see it again.

There are a few articles with actual substance, but the material leaves a little to be desired. It's your standard funnel-ology, interspersed with a couple nuggets about thermals and timing, ingress and egress. blah. Just another author telling me the same story that I've already been told 3000 times.

I find a few minutes to read the obligatory heart-warmer that they stuff into every issue. This is the only story that really piques my interest anymore.

Then, they have a "tuning" section, telling us everything that we already know about getting a good paper tear and finding the right broadhead.



They cram in a few articles about competitive archery. I give them the finger and move on with my life. Like the face of Medusa, I try not to look at it, and turn the pages quickly. If I wanted a magazine about 3d shooting, I'd buy one. This magazine is called "Bowhunting." Come on.

Maybe it's because I spend at least an hour a day on this site, cycling through the posts, looking for somebody to tell me something that I didn't already know - or scanning the posts for something intriguing enough to make me click the Internet Explorer icon and go on a safari of my own to dig up something that might make a difference someday.

After finishing the umpteen millionth issue, I can no longer hide the fact that I feel like the authors are talking down to me, as if I'm some kind of bowhunting, know-nothing newb. Like I'm stupid. Telling me crap that I already know. Telling me crap that I probably knew before they ever did.

Is this it? Have we learned everything? Have we reached the level where you have to delve into the second layer and find out for yourself, because no magazine writer is going to dig that deep?

Honestly, some ofyou people are more intriguing and thought-provoking than any magazine ever will be.

I realized last night, on the toilet, that I'm an internet hunting junkie. Magazines just don't appease me.

Fran, you're absolutely right......but I honestly feel like us around here are the exception to the rule. I don't mean this arrogantly, just matter of fact.....the folks around here just generally have more knowledge than the "general public" and you would be surprised how many don't have a clue, and have never read most of what is inside.

Hey, I have an idea.....To hell w/ the law stuff, why don't you start a new magazine for those of us that know it all already? What say ye?

I've stopped all magazine subscriptions over the past few years. Except Buckmasters, I think Jackie called me when I was half way through an 18 pack. I must have signed up for life to that rag.[&:]

I agree with everything you said. For me, this is the low spot of 'learning' throughout the year. The learning will increase rapidly with increasedpractice and the season opener's approach. The magazines are aimed at the masses which might not include compulsives. If the magazines are boring you, I believe you're OK. If you don't savory the learningopportunity on every hunting/range/scouting sortie, you might be in trouble.

Suggestion: Amazon.com has an excellent used book option and there are still some books out there containing original, thought-provoking content. Have you read the Eberhart books?

I could not agree more with you. It is not that I think I know everything there is to know about deer hunting/patterning deer, but the mags just keep putting the same old information out there time and time again. I have zero magazines coming to my house, where as 5 years ago there were 6 or 7 showing up every month.

well a lot of new people can learn A LOT on the internet, and A LOT in magazines, i read both, tend to learn something new in every article or thread

X2, but i think they do kinda put in the same stuff all the time, but i like field and stream the best, they dont really do that, and it is fishing and hunting my two passions

i like F&S and OL sometimes, but most of the time i like to read the North American Whitetail and Deer and Deer Hunting
i tend to learn the most from those two mags

Wherein lies the problem (IMO) is in people's home hunting grounds. What works for you may not work for my situation. There is NO "cookie-cutter" ideology that I've read or heard anywhere except:

Deer must have food, water and cover
Deer must make little deer

Isn't it really as simple as that?

Our plight is catching them during some phase of wandering between or aroundthese things. Everything else we read or take in.....we have to apply to OUR woods. We also cull quite a bit of the information we get....and there's nothing wrong with that. Finding a good rag that's chock full of useful information is difficult. The closest thing I've found is D&DH. It's the only subscription I carry....and I've read all or part of most of the mags out there.

Every man here IS, IMO, THE number one authority on the gorunds he hunts. To think otherwise would be pretty arrogant.

I take these publications for what they're worth....but when I have a real question about deer hunting....I know where to get the answer(s). Then....I apply that to my woods.

The more I learn about these animals....the more "random" some of the tactics seem to become. When I have a "gut feeling"....I go with it....."methods" be-damned.

Thats why I don't subscribe to any magazine. Its all recycled information that is useless for the most part unless you hunt private ground in the midwest farm country.