Hornady’s Dave Emary, right, was instrumental in the development of the new Hornady Superformance ammunition. I shot this nice South Dakota whitetail on November 20 with this hot new ammo using Dave’s personal hunting rifle chambered in the new 6.5 Creedmoor hunting round.

Hunting whitetails in South Dakota on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation the week before Thanksgiving I had a chance to field test some new ammunition that, if all goes as advertised – and it appears it will – just may change the way you think about hunting ammunition performance.

Thanks to some revolutionary, ultra-progressive propellants, Hornady’s new Superformance ammunition is 100 to 200 feet per second (fps) faster than any other conventional factory ammunition on the market today, achieving this performance regardless of rifle make or style (it works in bolt actions, lever actions, pumps and semi-autos equally well) without increases in felt recoil, muzzle blast, temperature sensitivity, barrel fouling, or – best of all – accuracy degradation.

“The key is in the propellants, which were years in the making,” Hornady’s Dave Emary told me on our hunt. “With it we can take our excellent SST and GMX hunting bullets to another performance level with no downside.” Emary was a key figure in the development of this ammo line.

On this trip hunters were shooting a wide range of cartridges loaded with the new Superformance ammo, including .308, .30-06, .300 Win. Mag., and a new hunting cartridge you’ll be hearing much more about in the coming months – the 6.5 Creedmoor. (In my next blog I’ll tell you more about this exciting new cartridge, with which I shot my deer on this hunt.) Hornady’s Sales & Marketing Manager, Neil Davies, who was also on this hunt, told me that Superformance ammo will be available in virtually all popular hunting calibers by spring, 2010. “We are loading it as we speak,” he said, “and don’t expect any near-term delivery problems.”

For those of you who have not yet hunted with Hornady’s SST and GMX bullets, I strongly recommend you give them a try. The SST features a premium polymer tip for rapid expansion and maximum energy transfer; match-grade jacket that delivers surgical accuracy; and a heavy construction with Hornady’s legendary InterLock® feature that delivers deep penetration every time. The GMX delivers a devastating terminal performance across a wide range of velocities, gilding metal construction, and double cannelures that help reduce barrel fouling. I have killed game with both and can attest to their accuracy and lethality.

I am not one to be overly impressed with so-called industry innovations, but I have to tell you, this stuff appears to be the real deal. I am so impressed I’ll be personally hunting with it a lot this coming year. You can get more information at Hornady Superformance.

We checked The Weather Channel every morning to give us an idea of wind direction before selecting which stand to sit.

OK, it’s well before dawn on day three on my North Texas hunt with my friend, outfitter Steve Rortvedt of Western Outdoors. Steve and are up well before dawn and walk outside. Steve takes a big slurp of java, wipes his mouth, smiles and says, “Wind from the north – perfect for the Cow Pen stand.” Steve explains this is the stand he has shown me the photos from his Moultrie Game camera. Yikes! There were three dandy bucks near this stand, on more than one occasion! And guide Jeff Oglesby has sat in the rifle shooting house 125 yards off the travel corridor scouting and seen them with his own eyes.

Before heading to the Cow Pen stand, I make sure there are no glaring skin patches showing that Mr. Big can see from afar.

I get settled into the 22-foot ladder stand, erected against an ancient cottonwood, well before daylight breaks so I can get nestled in. I am using the Summit Seat-O-The-Pants full body safety harness this season for the first time, and have grown to love its simplicity and security – both welcome in this stand!

It is so quiet I can hear my heart beat. As it is just light enough to see I look over my left shoulder. Holy Buckets! Not 10 yards off stands a monster buck. It’s so dark I can just make out his oversized body and massive antler frame – all one needs to know before your brain screams, “Shoot him!” But he’s too close, and when I move to get my bow off the hook he hears something and bounds off. He circles the stand and, with two smaller bucks, begins placidly feeding 40 yards away. Though he is there for 20 minutes he never gives me a shot – and then two does walk by. It’s the pre-rut and the chase is on. Adios, amigo.

I am heartbroken, yet still pumped. This is a great stand and I’ll be back in the afternoon. Unfortunately, that afternoon the wind shifts from the south, making hunting it again a fool’s game. So Jeff takes me back to the Cattail Stand, a fixed position stand set in a lone cottonwood overlooking lots of CRP transition country between some thick bedding areas and a pair of winter wheat fields that we hunted the evening before. I get settled in and wait, but there’s not much going on. As shooting light fades a fat doe comes by. Steve encourages all his bowhunters to take at least one doe on their hunt, so I raise my Mathews Drenalin and launch a Carbon Express Maxima 350 shaft tipped with a 100-grain Slick Trick broadhead. The shot is just 25 yards, and we have some meat for the freezer.

But all I can think about is the Cow Pen stand tomorrow morning. Will Big Daddy come back?

Come back next time and see.

Outfitter Steve Rortvedt, left, and guide Jeff Oglesby do lots of pre-scouting to make sure hunters are set up in good areas both by glassing a lot and using trail cameras.

OK, week one of the rut didn’t go so well, all I saw were 2 ½ year olds in NE, no shooters. So I followed it up the second week of November  by heading to hunt with my buddy Steve Rortvedt and Western Outdoors, a

The Moultrie trail cameras showed some really good bucks at several stands. Want to hunt this one?

guy I hunted with two seasons back and arrowed a net 150 11-pointer. Steve and wife Angie run a small, buttoned up operation near McLean, Texas, just off historic Route 66 in some of the most beautiful hunting country I have seen anyplace. Their leased land features a great mix of winter wheat, alfalfa, and corn interspersed with brushy creek bottoms thick with big cottonwoods. In addition to a huge whitetail population, the ranches hold magnum numbers of Rio Grande gobblers (you can take them on your bow license with an inexpensive stamp) and as big a crop of wild bobwhite quail as I have seen anyplace in the U.S. in recent years. The Rortvedt’s take quail hunters, too, and I hope to be one of them this year. Oh, and did I mention the bass and panfish ponds? And the food?? Steve’s wife, Angie, makes sure place is definitely not on the Weight Watchers program!

So Steve and guide Jeff Oglesby helped me work several different stands the first two days. We fought warm weather, weird winds, and all sorts of strange conditions. Steve had lots of pix of some very nice bucks on his Moultrie game cameras, so there were lots of good stands to choose from, the only real determining factors being the wind direction, and Lady Luck.

She frowned on me for two days. And then, she smiled. Sort of.

Come back next time and find out what happened.

The Knight & Hale Pack Rack proved itself in Nebraska this season by bringing in several nice bucks for both Robb and fellow outdoor writer Patrick Meitin.

If you’ve read my stuff for long, you know that I am something of an “anti-gadgeteer.” I try and only carry equipment afield that works, is simple and reliable, and in no way will hamper my chances. I am also a big believer that when whitetail hunting, the best thing you can do is plop down in the place, remain as unobtrusive as possible, and remain patient and vigilant until your chance occurs.

So this past week in SW Nebraska I broke out one of the new Knight & Hale Pack Rack rattling calls and gave it a try. Conditions were great – end of October/first week of November, mornings at or just below freezing, light winds. Bucks were starting to scrape and chase, the ideal time to try and rattle one up.

I’ve never been a fan of real antlers for rattling when bowhunting. They’re bulky, a pain in the petunias to pack in and use, and when hunting in an exposed location – a common occurrence – it is easy for deer to spot white antler and hand movements. It’s also a nightmare to try and hang antlers quickly, grab the bow, and make the shot when a buck comes charging in. The palm-sized Pack Rack is the antithesis of real antlers, fitting into daypack easily, simple to use with a minimum of motion, and a snap to hang when the action is hot. The question was, would the tone bring ‘em in?

I used a Pack Rack a lot this week, and can tell you the thing brought in bucks as well, of not better, than real antlers ever have for me – and not just the little guys. At $24.99 suggested retail, it’s no wonder it is the hottest selling deer call in America right now.

There is still a lot of good rattling time left. Check out your local dealer or visit Knight and Hale's Website and pick one of these puppies up. You won’t regret it?

Outdoor writer Patrick Meitin took this nice 8-pointer the first week of November near Arapahoe, Nebraska. The rut was just ramping up and hunting was great!

OK, I’ve set myself up for failure yet again. Once again I’ve told myself, no 2 ½ year old bucks just because I have to “punch my tag.” That’s what I did last year, and ended up dry for the entire year – even though I could have shot a bunch of bucks in several states.

Week one this year was hunting Marvin’s lovely farm near Arapahoe, Nebraska. Mike Mattly, Public Relations man extraordinaire for Pradco, and fellow outdoor writer Patrick Meitin were there as well. We hunted October 30-Nov. 5. Conditions were excellent – mornings or just below freezing, afternoons in the upper 50’s-low 60’s. Marvin grows lots of corn and soybeans, and the corn was still up – and so many of the deer were living right in the middle of it.

In a nutshell, we saw classic pre-rut activity – lots of younger bucks chasing, with the older guys hanging back. We tried lots of things – rattling with the Knight & Hale Pack Rack, using lots of Code Blue scent products (Scrape Mate seemed to really work well for us this week), sitting in new Summit climbers, ladder stands, and fixed position stands, and even setting up the Run & Gun ground blind. Patrick took a nice 8-pointer the last day, but Mike and I both went dry – but not for lack of trying. I passed nice 2 ½-year old bucks daily, as did Mike. I just had the feeling that had we been able to hunt another week I would have smashed a big deer. I saw some tracks that were almost as big as my size 9’s, and would love to have seen the buck that made them. But as luck would have it, another hunt calls. As I write this I am on my way to hunt with my buddy Steve Rortvedt near McLean, TX.

Those of you in the Midwest should be seeing hard chasing over the next couple of weeks. When Lady Luck smiles and you tag a good deer, why not share it with me? Send me a picture here and I’ll post it on the blog. Good hunting!

I killed this Iowa buck in early December a few seasons ago when the moon was bright as can be.

Are you the kind of buck hunter who believes the full moon absolutely destroys your chances at shooting a good deer?

This deer season the moon will be full November 2 and December 2, with the New Moon (the dark of the moon) November 16 and December 16. That means the days with the least amount of moonlight will occur November 12-22 and December 12-22. In contrast, the brightest nights with the most moonlight will occur October 26-November 9, and November 24-December 11.

My own experiences with the moon phase thing have left me something of a disbeliever that brightest, moonlit nights adversely affect my hunting. I have had some of my best luck on days when the moon was quite bright. Conversely, I have had some crappy days on the dark of the moon.

This year I’ll be hunting a very good spot in SE Nebraska from about October 29-November 5, and a honey hole in north Texas November 7-11. On both occasions the moon will be bright as a beacon. I’ll also be gun hunting a new spot in South Dakota November 19-22 and a favorite spot in SW Kansas November 24-December 7 or so. Again it will be pretty bright outside. Admittedly, because of my job I cannot always pick and choose my hunting dates according to the moon phase, but I can assure you I would not be spending the bulk of the 2009 season hunting when the moon is bright if I thought it would crush my chances.

What do you think? Do you have any hard data to back up your feelings on whether or not the bright moon wrecks, or helps, your hunting? Drop me a note here so I can share your experiences with others.

You can be sure I’ll be reporting to you about mine both right here and in the pages of upcoming issues of Whitetail Journal magazine.