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ARTICLE INDEX | Why I write

"Confessing a passion for whitetails and wild turkeys, combined with his professional knowledge as one of the leading animal behaviourists, Othmar is widely regarded as an authority on hunting tactics for these two game species. Othmar's articles are widely published in magazines, newspapers and the web based media across the U.S and Canada."

Here I post a selection of articles for your reading pleasure and as writing samples for editors and publishers. Enjoy!

Article Index
Chose from category:
Columns & Op-Eds.| Deer Hunting | Turkey Hunting | Product Reviews

Deer Hunting Articles
More deer hunting knowledge is available from the whitetail deer courses and seminars offered by Othmar Vohringer.

	The Four Factors of Deer Movement -Scouting for Early Bowhunting Success- I still remember the first day I went scouting in anticipation of my very first bowhunting adventure. That was 17 years ago. To say I soon became frustrated would be an understatement. The only thing I knew for sure was that I had to scout much differently from the way...Read more
	Reflecting on the deer hunting season Many years ago I made it a habit of keeping a detailed journal of my hunting activities. I include information about everything: the weather conditions, wind directions, time of sunrise and sunset....Read more
	Understanding the rut While most hunters think that the rut is an event that only takes place a few days or weeks, a number of rut phases lead up and follow the actual rut, the peak rut. All of these phases involve sexual activity and are part of the rutting process....Read more
	Field aging bucks Here is a quick and easy guide on how to field judge a whitetail deer buck’s age. There are some basic body "shapes" that help identify a buck's age, but you kind of have to "read between the body size."...Read more
	Making sense about deer scent Two basic types of commercial scent are marketed: Attractant scents and masking scents. Attractant scents come in two varieties, sexual attractant scent and curiosity attractant scent. Sexual attractant scents contain doe or buck urine interlaced with various glandular scents and hormones....Read more
	Cornfield bucks On a cold and blustery November morning in 1996 I sat in my tree stand located on a narrow bench of a steep slope from where I had an excellent view of deer activity. At the base of the slope was a large cornfield....Read more
	Choosing the right treestand for the perfect ambush Over ninety percent of hunters prefer hunting from treestands and quite rightly so. Hunting from an elevated position will get the hunter above the sight and smell of an animal. Hunting from a treestand, unlike other methods such as stalking and deer drives, is a low impact method ...Read More.
	The best time to kill a buck While it is true that trophy bucks can be taken at any time during the hunting season, there are times during the hunting season that are better than others. A look into the trophy record books shows that most mature bucks are taken in the late winter. And for good a reason....Read More
	Post-rut hunting tips A common mistake made by hunters is to think that after the rut most of the big bucks have been shot. Nothing could be further from the truth. The late season can be a very productive time to be out in the woods as the Dave Voorhees buck (photo) proves. He took his monster buck, scoring 170 B&C...Read More

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Turkey Hunting Articles
More turkey hunting knowledge is available from the turkey hunting courses and seminars offered by Othmar Vohringer.

	Not quite close enough (Why gobblers hang up and how to deal with it) Any person that is hunting North America’s most popular game bird for a season or two had to learn to deal with the frustration of a big tom hanging up just outside the effective shooting range. The majority of these birds are the older wiser toms....Read more
	Turkey calls 101 Turkeys are, like most birds, very vocal creatures. Like humans using their language to communicate with each other so do turkeys. They make a variety of sounds to relate messages to each other or “show” emotions. A smart turkey hunter knows what these sounds are and their meaning...Read more
	Top 11 turkey hunting tips Don’t start out with aggressive calling first thing when calling to a gobbler. Start off with soft clucks and purrs. If that doesn’t seem to work, go into some medium volume yelps. If that still doesn’t get him, try some cutting and aggressive yelping...Read more
	Scatter a turkey flock and score (Fall hunting tip) One of the easiest methods of scoring on a fall turkey is to scatter a flock of birds and then wait for the flock to assemble again. Here are three tips of different flock scatter tactics that have produced time and time again...Read more
	Show him what he wants to see - or hide “The tom came over the crest and then just stood there about a hundred yards away and kept looking in my direction. No matter how much I called he wouldn’t come any closer.” This and similar complaints I hear quite often from turkey hunters...Read more
	Music to a toms ears With each yelp, purr and cluck from my raspy slate call the tom answered back with a thunderous sequence of gobbles. Every time he gobbled he came a few yards closer. I was quite confident that it would just be a matter of time before the tom would walk around the corner...Read More
	The pros and cons of diaphragm calls The diaphragm turkey call has been around for many years but became really popular about ten years ago. The first type of these calls were made by hunters looking for a different call that didn’t involve movement to coax a tom closer for the last few steps needed to get a good killing shot...Read More

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Product Reviews
About product reviews: The product reviews published here are subject to my product review policy. If you would like me to write your product review please read my product review policy or contact me by email

	Final Approach Eliminator Cargo Blind I’ll admit it. When I hunt I like comfort. Especially when I hunt ducks and geese, which involves hours of sitting motionless in often wet and cold weather conditions. One aspect of hunting waterfowl that I never liked much is sitting in cold....Read more
	Heirloom Game Calls - Good Game Calling Begins With Quality Calls I am fascinated with calling animals to my stand by mimicking their own sounds. There is a special sense of achievement and thrill in calling a trophy whitetail buck by producing the sounds of another buck or a doe in estrus. Having a gaggle of geese or ducks flying overhead and then turn around...Read more
	Field Dress -Dress in Style T-Shirts with nice hunting and fishing motives are one of my favorites. It is difficult for me at times to find something that suits my style and is non-offensive to people that do not hunt...Read more
	Magnet Gun Caddy The Magnet Gun Caddy is one of these rare “Wow” moments and as with most of these exceptional products the genius lays in the sheer simplicity of the design that fulfills a real need. I lost count of how many times I came back to the truck from a hunting or fishing trip with both hands full of gear...Read more
	Black Bear Hunting Encyclopedia One way to be successful at bear hunting is to learn more about bears and hunting tactics. I just happen to have read a good book written by someone who knows a thing or two about the subject. A fellow British Columbian, Justin Ott, has just published a book called “The Black Bear Hunting Encyclopedia”...Read more
	HS strutt Ring Zone Turkey Calls There is no question about it that good calling is an essential part of turkey hunting success. The emphasis in the former sentence is on “good calling” as in getting the right sound and perfect pitch. Turkeys have been called to a great deal by hunters. They have learned to distinguish between a real turkey sound and almost real turkey sounds...Read More
	The Venerable .30-06 Springfield The other day someone asked me an interesting question. “If the .30/60 cartridge would come on the market today would it have a chance to become a success with the hunters?” With all the hype about magnums and super magnums these days, this is a very interesting question...Read More
	Pflueger Supreme XT Spinning Reel Pfluegers flagship reel Supreme XT comes in four sizes. With this real you know you have a real winner. A lightweight magnesium body and rotor are constructed around nine corrosion resistant ball bearings, a one way clutch bearing and sealed drag make for an incredibly smooth retrieve....Read More

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Columns & Op-Eds.
To Editors:Should you be interested to syndicate my columns or having me write a outdoor column for your newspaper/magazine please contact me.

	A muzzleloader by any name is still a muzzleloader So what’s up with the argument that modern in-line muzzleloaders are unethical? There is no such thing as an unethical hunting tool. Guns are tools without a brain and without feelings...Read more
	The economics of hunting Here are some interesting figures published by the Congressional Sportsman's Foundation:34 million Americans hunt and, or fish. Together these sportsmen and women pour 76 billion dollars annually into the economy and give 1.6 million people jobs...Read more
	The science of hunting and the good old days Today hunting is all about science and modern technology. Hunting has moved from a simple outdoor activity to a space age technology driven race to sell hunting-success promising products....Read more
	Where I stand on crossbows For as long as I can remember this issue has been festering among archers. The Internet forums are full of heated controversy between the vertical and horizontal archers. What puzzles me most is seeing how some archery organizations feed this controversy...Read more
	Merritt ice fishing derby - family fun times The weather was perfect with a blue sky and brilliant sunshine and by 10 o’clock in the morning the lake was crowded with over 260 people. It was particularly encouraging to see so many children and families in attendance...Read more
	Aprils fool day shot -Where modern times meet with history Over the Easter weekend the Nicola Valley Charcoal Burners held their 15^th annual April Fool’s Shoot at the Nicola Valley Fish & Game Club (NVFGC) range. In the 15 years of its existence this event has become one of the major gatherings for traditional muzzleloader...Read More
	Wings over Canada - How waterfowl became a prominent feature of Canada We take it for granted when we see large numbers of ducks of all shapes and sizes congregating in city ponds, marshes, wetlands, and lakes or geese flying overhead in their characteristic “V” formation on their journey south....Read More

To read my bi-weekly newspaper outdoor columns visit the MY STAND Blog.
To read my regular column on the BC Outdoors magazine website go here.
If you're interested in syndicating my columns for your publication or would like me to write a outdoor column for your newspaper, magazine or website please contact me.

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DISCLAIMER: The opinions I express in the articles are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of my sponsors, affiliates, magazines, networks or companies I work with. It's Othmar Vohringer straight talk and opinions shaped by a lifelong of hunting and observations.
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I welcome assignments from hunting magazines, newspapers, web-publishers and outdoor product manufactures. Please send for queries and requests by email.

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