Our Hunting Philosophy
It’s all about the tradition, the experience, and the positive atmosphere.
Our Philosophy on Deer Hunting Makes for Your Great Hunting Experience
To create an atmosphere of friendliness and fellowship, where our staff and guides are part of the hunting experience, and share in the successes or failure of the hunt. To do the very best we can, knowing that a lot of the time our efforts will be defeated, that there is always more to learn for both guides and hunters alike and that it should always be fun!
Our philosophy on deer hunting has created a unique atmosphere and resulted in many trophy whitetail enthusiasts from across the country coming back year after year to meet old friends who they only see once a year.
A deer hunting camp is supposed to be fun, one of friendship and camaraderie. We do not want anyone to feel they have to prove themselves, only that they are a good sport and enjoy themselves. When the misses and screw-ups can be as funny and interesting as the successes, then a hunting camp is at its very best. Every year we meet new people who will come back again and again, and every year we lose some people who think the week was a failure because they did not get a deer.
Trophy whitetail hunting is a hard, mentally punishing sport where a person is faced with defeat day after day and sometimes season after season. There are expert hunters and novice hunters, but lady luck can shine on the worst and shut out the best, and sometimes she will do it for what seems an unreasonable amount of time. It is inevitable we get hunters that arrive in good spirits and within a few days become upset because they have been unsuccessful.
If there is any sport in which a person should not equate having a good time with success, it is trophy whitetail deer hunting.
Whitetail deer are probably the greatest big game animal on the planet. There is absolutely no animal more challenging to bag under fair chase rules than a trophy whitetail buck. For most people, it is a once in a lifetime event. With this in mind, it only makes sense to approach the hunt as a good time and the bagging of a trophy deer as a bonus.
When you hunt with Northern Outdoors it is assumed you will not shoot an antlerless deer. We do not shoot does regardless of whether you have a permit or not. Hunting is an important part of our lives and we do everything we can to ensure its long-term viability. Although not a strict policy, we also encourage our hunters to pass up all spikes, forkhorns, and small basket-racked bucks.
During the past five years, our hunters have passed up dozens and dozens of small-racked bucks and, as a result, we are taking more and more wall hangers. The trophy bucks displayed on our site are proof of the success of this effort. If we had been harvesting these deer when they were yearlings, they wouldn’t be on the site this year.
Some of our hunters have been with us for years, and enjoyed outrageous success while others have suffered total failure. What has mattered to the best of them has been the experiences, the stories, the events, and the camaraderie.
Over the years we have seen it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is the sportsmen and women that make it all worthwhile. Those who can exhibit grace, dignity, and a sense of humor when they lose as well as when they win. They are what a hunting camp is all about, and it is for this type of hunter that Northern Outdoors runs its hunts.