Happy Friday Nation! The weekend is finally here and hopefully you’ve got plans to head out and enjoy creation over the next few days. It’s a great time to do some scouting, search for sheds or hunt some coyotes. So read on for a few good whitetail reads and then get on outside. Enjoy!

What Really Stinks – Non-Typical Hunter: Great article from Marc Anthony as he discusses some of the finer points of scent control. Do yourself a favor this year and work on improving your scent control regimen in at least one way this upcoming season. It will help, I promise!

Hunting A Dying Sport? I’m Not Buying It – Stuck In The Rut: Petersen’s Bowhunting Editor Christian Berg discusses why he believes that hunting isn’t necessarily facing a crisis in membership or interest.

The “Hooky” Buck – Justin Ramsdorfer – North American Whitetail: Here’s the profile of a dandy Pennsylvania buck taken by a college student skipping out on class! Good choice my friend.

5 Minutes with WCI QDMA President Chase Burns – Outdoor Freaks: Here’s a great interview with friend and fellow QDMA Deer Steward Chase Burns. Chase has become a terrific leader for the Quality Deer Management Association on the local level in Illinois and when you read this interview you’ll understand why.

The Cure for Buck Fever? Take A Practice Shot With The Safety One – Whitetail 365: Scott Bestul of Field & Stream walks us through his latest idea for controlling buck fever.

This year was the first that I was able to get a group of guys together to try filming for the site, and it proved to be both incredibly challenging and rewarding. In the end though, watching someone like Dustin work so hard not only hunting, but also filming for Wired To Hunt was so exciting and greatly appreciated. I’m so proud of him and my whole team for working their butts off this season and I just want to send a big thank you to those guys.

So with that all being said, kick back and check out our episode today! I really think you’ll enjoy it.

Apologies for the delay in getting your Friday Morning Mashup to you today! I’ve been home sick pretty much all week, and have not been in any condition to write much at all. That being said, I mustered up some energy this afternoon and made sure I could share the best whitetail links from across the web with you this week! So read on, have a great weekend and God Bless!

Giant Illinois Buck is Potential World Record 8 Pointer – Whitetail 365: As always, world record hysteria explodes whenever a monster is killed. But supposedly this one may be the real deal. A one-time world record 8 pointer was actually shot only a few miles from my house here in Michigan some years ago, but it looks like an Illinois buck may be taking on the mantle soon!

Bowhunting Suburban Bucks – Dreams To Reality: A great article from Dan Perez of Whitetail Properties, as he discusses the tactics that can be used to kill whitetails near to town!

The Black Belt Might Be the Best Place To Shoot A Deer During  the Rut – Deer & Deer Hunting: Interesting insight regarding the hunting of Alabama’s “Black Belt” during their late winter rut!

Top 10 Recommendations for Managing Land to Yield Mature, Huntable Deer: Part 3, Cover – Growing Deer TV Blog: Dr. Grant Woods leads us through his 3rd most important factor for managing land to yield mature and huntable deer and it is cover! Great tips from a man I respect tremendously!

Why Food Plots Are Better Than Bait for Deer Hunting – Whitetail 365: Scott Bestul of Field & Stream takes on the topic of food plots vs bait. I stand with Scott!

The weekend is finally here, so without further delay, here is your Friday Morning Mashup! We’ve got some giant bucks and a few neat shed hunting articles too. And while it’s true that the “off season” is here,  there’s still plenty to keep whitetail hunters busy. So read up on this great whitetail literature and then go enjoy the great outdoors!

Giant Whitetails – A Trailcam Surprise – DreamDirt: Our pal Jason Smith of DreamDirt  got some trailcam pics/video of some GIANT Iowa bucks recently. Gotta love these kind of surprises!

Shed Antler Hunting Tips and Strategy – DreamDirt: Speaking of Jason, he also put together a great shed hunting article, which ought to be useful for a lot of people with shed hunting just over the horizon!

Search for Antlers – HuntingNet.com: Brandon Wikman gives us his two cents on why you should hit the woods in search of fallen antlers! I’d recommend it as well.

We Found Them! G4′s Sheds – Midwest Whitetail Blog: If Brandon’s blog still didn’t get you excited to shed hunt, this one definitely will. Check out the MEGA-GIANT sheds that Bill Winke and his crew recently found off the buck they call the Double G4 buck.

Top 10 Recommendations for Managing Land to Yield Mature, Huntable Deer – Growing Deer TV Blog: Dr. Grant Woods discusses the first of his top 10 recommendations for managing land to grow more mature bucks. Specifically he discusses the fact that “dead deer don’t grow”! …Write that down.

Tall-Tined Indiana Giant Buck – 169! – Mike Hanback’s Big Deer: A great story of an Indiana giant. These big buck stories are just what ya need to stay motivated through these cold winter months to keep working towards the 2012 season.

A week or two ago I posted an article called “Small Property, Big Dreams” in which I excitedly detailed my plans for turning my home property into a big buck haven. Well that dream has now, quite quickly, disappeared as a possibility. The property I live on is in fact rented, but I had high hopes that after renting for another year or so, I’d be able to work out a deal to buy it. So much for that…

I just recently found out that an Amish family in the community put in an offer on my home/property that was too good for my landlord to ignore, and even though we had the chance to match it, we just didn’t have the funds. So here I am, looking at a fourth move in just as many years. Needless to say I’m disappointed, frustrated and just plain bummed. I was really pumped about this property’s potential, and I was so happy to finally be able to hunt in one place for multiple years in a row, learn it and start managing. That’s all ancient history now though, so I suppose there’s no use dwelling on it. On to Plan B.

From here I only have one option, and that’s to go find new hunting ground (and a home for that matter)! So I’m keeping all my options open, with the number one priority being that I find a great piece(s) of ground that I can hunt for multiple years. I’m open to leasing, finding ground by permission or even buying.

So now I’m on the hunt again and not the kind I expected for this time of year. I figured my 2012 season would start with sheds, but now it looks like I’m on a much different journey and most likely one thats more expensive to boot!

That being said, I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can somehow land a property before the end of March so that I can get in some good shed hunting and scouting, and hopefully still have most the year to prepare. So while my hopes for my current property won’t be fulfilled, there’s no telling what new exciting times might be ahead of me on whatever new land I find. I’m not going to let this bring me down, and hopefully I can take the same philosophies I planned here and bring them to fruition on whatever ground I can get on in the future.

2012 is going to be a good season, it just has to be. While this certainly throws a wrench in my plans, I’m not going to let this stand in the way of my goal. The buck of my life is hitting the ground this fall, and no matter what property I’m on, that big dream can still become a reality.

The 2012 ATA show is now in the history books, but show season is really just kicking off. I’ll be continuing our coverage at the SHOT show next week in Las Vegas and then we’ll be hitting a few more deer expos throughout the winter, so look for some great info on new products this winter! In regards to my ATA show content, look for new product videos and other interviews getting posted this weekend or early next week!

That being said though, there are still some folks hunting and if you are, I wish you the best of luck out there! In this weeks Friday Morning Mashup we’ve got big bucks, a few updates from the ATA and a couple more interesting articles related to deer hunting in general. Really  a little bit for everyone, no matter if you’re still hunting or are already planning for 2012. So read on and enjoy!

ATA Update – Bowhunting.com: A bunch of pictures of some of the ATA’s coolest new products!

ATA: Stealth Cam’s new  Drone - Stuck In The Rut: A cool new trailcam from the Stealth Cam, this one with cellular technology allowing you to view your photos remotely. This isn’t something completely new, but it looks like it’s been done in a good way w/these cams.

Confessions of a Mediocre Shot, and Some Thoughts On How To Get Better – Big Buck Zone: Some helpful tips for improving your ability to make consistent shots with a firearm!

Wolves and Deer Hunters: A New Year – Deer & Deer Hunting: Some thoughts on the recent announcement from Minnesota that they’ll be launching a wolf hunting season in 2012 and how this might affect deer hunters as well.

Illinois Dream Buck – Main Frame 8 Scores 160 Plus – Big Deer Blog: A story of a giant 8 pointer killed in Illinois. Sure would love to see one of these next year!

How Weather Conditions Effect Hunting – Growing Deer TV Blog: As always, Dr. Grant Woods has some great insight into whitetail behavior, this time in particular it’s relation to weather. Very interesting.

The moment I pull up new trailcam pics on my computer is always a tense one. The anticipation, the excitement, the hope that maybe a monster buck will finally show its face. Last night was no exception, as I excitedly pulled up my laptop and began scanning through my latest batch of photos. Although no new monster buck showed up, I did get a few new pics of a buck I’ve been thinking might be hit list worthy. And now with these photos, and the new angles they provide, I can confidently say that this is the best buck on my farm right now and most likely is 3 1/2 years old. With that being said, he’s on the hit list for the last few days of the season. But if I don’t get a crack at him, it won’t be all bad, because I’d be thrilled to see what he turns into next year!

So given all of that, I need some help naming this buck! His most unique characteristic seems to be his left side, which is essentially one big main beam with a brow and then a very small G2. Kind of reminds me of a spear or something, but I’m counting on you guys to come up with a better name idea than that.

So lets hear it! Post your name ideas in the comments!

With holiday celebrations under way last week I took a little time off, so I have to apologize for missing this past week’s “Friday Morning Mashup”! That being said, to make up for it, I’ve put together a belated list of top hunting articles for you today! Most of our whitetail seasons are winding down, but the great reading material available online is certainly still in great supply. Read on for some great tips and encouraging stories from across the whitetail world.

Late Season Tactics: Find the Right Food – Big Buck Zone: It’s simple, but so true. Hunting the food sources is the name of the game during these final days of the season. And if you still haven’t had success, this video has a few more good tips for ya.

Potential Record Breaking Typical Taken In Illinois – Whitetail 365: The latest possible record book buck has been taken in Illinois and it’s a supposed 228 typical!

Saskatchewan Monster Typical Buck – 203″ – Mike Hanback’s Big Deer: Speaking of big typicals, here’s another giant coming from Canada. Wouldn’t you like to see one like this before the seasons over?

Wisconsin Bowhunter Completes 4 Year Quest for Drop-Tine Buck: A great story of persistence and how hard hunting can get the job done.

For me and I’m sure many of you, the rut can be a roller coaster of incredible highs and terrible lows. But it’s those incredible emotions that, in the end, are what bring us back out to the deer stand year after year. Hope you enjoy the video!

I last hunted this past Sunday evening, out of the same treestand I’d seen Six Shooter from earlier this year. Over the course of the evening sit I saw a good number of does, but not a single buck. Seems like I was just there a day early! A few days after that hunt I drove my truck out to the trailcam on the edge of the field late at night and pulled the card. What did I see? Several bucks munching on the BB2 in front of my camera in broad daylight!  So that being said, hopefully this weekend I can be on stand at the right time and maybe one of the better bucks on my property will make the fateful mistake of stepping out.

I certainly hope you’re all seeing some good bucks and maybe even putting one down on the ground. Make sure to shoot us an email if you do, we’d love to share your story.

But without further adieu, read on for several of the best blog posts of the week from the deer hunting web!

No Sign Strategies for Bucks – Ask Winke – Petersen’s Bowhunting: Here are some great tips from Bill Winke on how to hunt bucks, when you can’t find traditional sign!

Q&A With the Pro’s: Mechanical and Fixed Blade Broadheads - Bowhunting.com: Very interesting interview with Chris Kozlik of New Archery Products, in which the merits of fixed vs expandable blade broadheads are discussed.

Filming Your Hunts – HuntingNet.com: A few helpful tips on filming your hunts!

A Buck Named Flyers – MidwestWhitetail.com: Here’s a great story from Bill Winke as he discusses the journey leading up to his son killing a giant buck named Flyers!

The Many Ways We Hunt – The Ethical Hunter (Deer and Deer Hunting): An interesting update from Deer & Deer Hunting as they discuss the creation of a new show, that will highlight how average every day americans really hunt. They’re looking for opinions and suggestions for what you’d like to see, so make sure to head over and give some feedback!