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Early Season Archery Whitetails – WTA Top Picks

Jason Berger
|  
  • Jason Berger
Species: Whitetail Deer
Location: United States

Looking to archery hunt big whitetails? Take advantage of the early season and extend your hunting season without sacrificing quality? Early season whitetail hunting can be very rewarding and provide great opportunities to hunt trophy class bucks in their summer patterns. WTA has picked our top 5 early season destinations with dates available starting September 2020.

Kentucky

WOW, NEW FOR THE FALL 2020! This is the one you have been waiting for. Semi-guided early season velvet whitetail hunts in the bluegrass state. Our outfitter has access to approximate 50+ private farms managed for trophy deer. The guides will do all the work to set you up for success. This is one of our top picks for any archery hunter looking for an early season destination.

Kentucky Semi-Guided Velvet Archery Whitetails

Nebraska

This destination offers archers a unique opportunity to hunt Muley’s and Whitetails from the same lodge! High shot opportunities and outstanding quality can be found in the Panhandle of Nebraska. Nebraska is a crossbow friendly state and this outfitter has an abundance of some of the best hunting properties in the west. September 1st is coming fast, give us a call today.

Nebraska Archery/Crossbow Trophy Whitetail's Muley's

North Dakota

This long-time, small, family run operation has been hosting WTA customers for over 20 years. Consistently producing high shot opportunities on P&Y class bucks annually. 5 Star First Class Lodge and an abundance of trophy class deer make this a bucket list hunt. You will want to come back for more.

 
North Dakota Archery Whitetail Deer Hunting

South Dakota

South Dakota is known for its world class pheasant hunting but did you know it’s also a sleeper state for producing monster whitetails? WTA longtime outfitter has put together a package that you can hardly resist. This is one of the best valued hunts in the Midwest. The archery season starts September 1st. Give WTA a call before these savings slip by.

South Dakota Archery Whitetail Guide

Wyoming

This region of WY has one of the highest populations of whitetails in the west. Alfalfa fields literally load up with hundreds of deer daily and stands are strategically placed on travel corridors. As WY is a crossbow friendly state and leftover doe tags are usually abundant, this makes it a very attractive destination. The WY Draw Deadline is June 2nd so give our TAGS team a call today.

Guided Wyoming Whitetail Archery and Rifle Hunts

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New Zealand: A Spring Paradise

New Zealand: A Spring Paradise

The end of winter in the Northern Hemisphere gives me the itch to travel. I often visit Uganda to chase buffalo, before coming home for Spring turkey season. But this year, I switched it up. My wife, Alka, and I headed south to New Zealand for the last few days of February. We hosted two groups of hunters at two of WTA’s top outfitters and we all enjoyed a wonderful trip.

New Zealand offers endless opportunities for non-hunting companions while delivering a world-class hunting experience. Both lodges where we stayed had dedicated hosts who organized daily activities for the non-hunting guests. Shopping, visiting wineries, sightseeing in Mount Cook, jet boating, and many other activities filled the schedule. Once our hunts wrapped up, the guys joined the ladies on several of these excursions. I especially enjoyed spending a day exploring Mount Cook and an afternoon on the jet boat.

After flying to New Zealand and clearing customs, we caught a short flight to Queenstown. Queenstown is beautiful, situated on a lakeshore with steep mountains dropping straight to the water, making for postcard views. The local food scene is excellent. Alka and I tried multiple restaurants, checked out local shops, and rode the skylift to the top of the mountain. It was nice to have a day or two to acclimate to the 13-hour time difference.

We went to our first lodge, got settled in, visited the rifle range, and then had an incredible dinner.

Alka isn’t really a hunter. She has taken a few animals, and somehow I talked her into hunting a red stag. We got out at daylight with our excellent guide, Victor, when the stags were roaring. We looked at a couple of groups and crept over a ridge to glass into a creek bottom. We found stags roaring, fighting, feeding, and moving all over.

We finally decided on a beautiful red stag with a tank of a body, heavy mass, great crowns. And you could tell he was old. He was also dominant. The others gave way whenever he came near.

After a couple of hours, our stag bedded with another away from the others, and we decided to make a move. Victor expertly maneuvered us down into the thick creek bottom with the wind in our faces. Eventually, we moved within 100 yards of where we thought the stags were. After a while, the other stag stood up and repositioned. When he bedded again, Victor wanted to shift for a better angle. We ended up at 65 yards and could see our stag’s antler tips.

We waited 3 hours for the big guy to get up. We roared, threw rocks, raked brush, but he was tucked in and didn’t budge. Finally, in the early afternoon, Victor raked some brush, roared loudly, and the stag stood. Alka quickly got on the .30-06 and with a couple of shots an inch apart to the shoulder, the big stag dropped. Celebration time!

Alka got a super experience with lots of stag action, a great stalk in close, and then the nerve-racking wait for the 525″ stag to stand up and offer a shot.

Over the next few days, our group of hunters took some incredible stags and fallow deer. Toward the end, a few of us wanted to hunt tahr in the southern Alps.

I cannot describe how beautiful and rugged those mountains are, and seeing them from a helicopter is an experience not to be missed. My hunting partner and I both scored on nice bull tahr the morning we went out, and then the chopper pilot took the ladies up for a quick ride to show them the beauty and majesty of the southern Alps. It was a morning none of us will ever forget.

Learn More about this Hunt

Alka and I then packed up and transferred to our next lodge, where we met four other couples, including our good friends Russell and Cindy. Russell and I were going to hunt together, as we have all over the globe, and again, the ladies had a full palette of fun excursions planned.

During the first afternoon, we saw a number of great stags and some incredible fallow. What really excited me was seeing and hearing bugling elk. We returned for a 5-star meal (Be ready to gain weight in New Zealand!) and prepared for the next day. 

Just after daylight, we were on stags and moving around the hills and canyons, glassing and enjoying the views and the number of animals. One of the hardest parts of hunting there is choosing the stag you want to pursue. There are so many, and they are all so different, it’s sensory overload. There are wide, heavy, drop tines, typical frames, and every other antler configuration imaginable.

While glassing some stags in a wallow across a canyon, I spotted a big bull elk up on a ridge. He was so regal standing on the skyline, I kept coming back to him with my binos. I must have talked about him non-stop, because my outfitter and guide Shaun finally said, “We can go after him if you want, but he is about a mile away, and it’s all uphill.” I told Shaun I was ready to go if he was, so off we went, trekking up the mountain.

When we got to the top, we couldn’t find the bull. Huge rock formations blocked us from seeing a number of areas, so we slowly moved from rock to rock, carefully glassing, until we found the big bull on the third set of rocks.

I quickly set up and Shaun ranged the bull at a bit under 300 yards, moving away. Shaun has suppressed Gunwerks rifles available for his clients to use. I knew with that setup, the shot should be easy if the bull presented a good angle.

After watching him for a few minutes, the bull swung around, giving me a quartering away shot, and I tucked one in behind the shoulder. The big guy was done. When we got to him, he was way bigger than I thought, with 54″ beams and a huge frame, the 7×7 stretched the tape to 397″. I was ecstatic!

That afternoon, I went along with Russell on an exciting stag hunt where we got in on two great bulls. After a lot of maneuvering, they stepped out of a bedding area at 70 yards, and Russell hammered a beautiful stag with great crowns and kicker tines off both sides. Getting in close on these huge stags is an absolute blast.

The other guys in camp were laying down some great animals as well. On our second-to-last day, we all decided to go with the ladies for a jet boat ride up a glacial river, a short hike, and then a winery stop for apps and drinks. It was a fantastic day of seeing incredible scenery and relaxing with old and new friends.

On our last morning, Russell decided to find a good elk. An hour or so later, we found a big bull working a wallow. Russell and his guide made a stalk, Russ got on the sticks, and the next thing Shaun and I saw through our binos was the big heavy bull tipping over. What a great way to end our superb hunt!

We all headed back to Queenstown in the afternoon, had a great dinner at the Botswana Butchery restaurant, and then it was one sleep and a long flight home.

…
Gunwerks Long Range University | WTA Team Experience

Gunwerks Long Range University | WTA Team Experience

There’s a major difference between simply shooting a rifle and building a repeatable process that works under pressure in real hunting situations.

That was the biggest takeaway when the Worldwide Trophy Adventures team attended the Gunwerks Long Range University L1 and L2 courses in Cody, Wyoming. What started as an opportunity to sharpen our shooting skills quickly became something much bigger: a deep dive into confidence, communication, ethics, and the complete shooting system.

At WTA, we spend our lives helping hunters prepare for meaningful hunts around the world. We talk constantly about tags, gear, outfitters, strategy, and opportunity. But eventually, every hunt comes down to a single moment behind the rifle. That’s where Long Range University changes the conversation.

More than Just “Long Range Shooting”

A lot of hunters hear “long range shooting” and immediately think about distance. The course focused far more on consistency, process, and decision making than simply stretching the range.

The Gunwerks instructors repeatedly emphasized that successful shooting is about understanding the entire system:

  • Rifle
  • Optics
  • Ballistics
  • Environment
  • Wind
  • Shooter fundamentals
  • Mental process

That holistic approach was eye-opening, even for experienced hunters and shooters.

Several members of the WTA team came into the class with years of hunting experience and a solid understanding of rifles and optics. But one theme surfaced almost immediately: many of us had developed bad habits over time, simply because we’d never received formal instruction.
By lunchtime on the first day, most of us were already identifying flaws in our setup, body position, and shot process.

Honestly, that was one of the best parts of the experience.

Building Confidence through Process

Confidence is one of the most important elements in hunting. When doubt creeps into your mind during a critical moment, things tend to unravel quickly. Long Range University focuses heavily on eliminating uncertainty by building a repeatable process.

The course blended classroom instruction with live-fire range sessions, translating concepts immediately into practical applications.

Topics included:

  • Rifle setup and maintenance
  • Zeroing procedures
  • Ballistic profiles
  • Wind reading
  • Spotter/shooter communication
  • Prone shooting fundamentals
  • Shooting from improvised positions
  • Tripod and support techniques
  • Real-world hunting scenarios
  • Ethical shot evaluation

One of the most valuable lessons was learning to manage instability instead of fearing it. In the field, hunting shots rarely happen from a perfect, benchrest position. Hunters must adapt to terrain, weather, awkward angles, and time pressure.

The instructors did an exceptional job of simplifying complex concepts into practical, understandable instructions. Nothing felt overly tactical or intimidating. The focus remained on building ethical, capable hunters.

Real…
Arizona’s Deer/Sheep Deadline: That’s a Wrap on the Draw Season!

Arizona’s Deer/Sheep Deadline: That’s a Wrap on the Draw Season!

The Arizona deer and sheep deadline on June 2 marks the end of another application season. There are a few minor draws and point-only periods coming up, but the major deadlines have passed and the draw results have been posted. I hope this is your year to draw an awesome tag! If not, you’ve built another valuable bonus point for your future. That’s the name of the game!

If you successfully drew a tag, you received a call from your dedicated WTA TAGS consultant informing you of your good fortune. If you drew a tag and haven’t booked with an outfitter, this needs immediate attention. WTA’s owner Mark Peterson said it best: “After finally drawing a great tag…don’t screw it up at the end…hire a reputable outfitter!”

Arizona Deadlines

Arizona has a staggered deadline for its limited-entry big game tags. June 2 marks the deadline to apply for deer and sheep tags. For deer, we’re talking about mule deer and coues deer. And for sheep, desert bighorn and Rocky Mountain bighorn are both available.

Mule Deer vs. Coues Deer

Applicants in Arizona are restricted to one deer application. The state considers two choices on the application. You can utilize two mule deer choices, or two coues deer choices, or one choice for each. For example, first choice mule deer, second choice coues deer.

Consider this quick, low-level consultation when deciding how to apply for deer in Arizona. Arizona boasts the best mule deer hunting in North America. It is truly the land of 200″. However, these deer reside in a handful of units with VERY limited non-resident tags. This is a tag you may never draw in your lifetime.

Arizona also boasts the best coues deer hunting in the West. Early hunts in October and November can easily be drawn with 0–3 bonus points and we offer highly successful adventures with our TAGS-endorsed outfitters. The more sought-after late coues hunts in December are more difficult to draw, but the tag can be drawn within 8 years, hopefully sooner.

Desert Bighorn vs. Rocky…

Find the outdoor adventure of a lifetime.

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