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Articles by Ryan Fair
Ground Blind vs. Tree Setups: Late-Season Pros and Cons
Late-season deer hunting has a way of making every decision feel more important. The rut has faded, food becomes the center of attention, and most deer have already seen enough hunters to keep them on high alert. Add in shorter days, cold wind, snow, changing travel patterns. The setup that looked perfect in October may no longer be the best way to spend an afternoon. Comfort matters more now than most hunters like to admit.
GOYOJO GRL335 Thermal Scope Review: A Lot of Thermal for the Money
Thermal hunting used to have a pretty steep price of admission. You could either spend a pile of money on a good unit or buy something cheap and quickly figure out why it was cheap. Thankfully, that gap has started to close. We are seeing more affordable thermals that have features hunters would have paid considerably more for just a few years ago. The GOYOJO GRL335 falls right into that category.
Ballistic’s Best Hunting Edition 2026: Waterfowl Shotguns
Waterfowl hunters can argue shotguns about as long as they can argue decoy spreads, duck calls, and whether that last mallard was really at 40 yards. Everybody has a favorite. Some guys have been carrying the same shotgun for 20 years and would not trade it for anything. Others want the newest gun on the market with oversized controls, adjustable stocks, recoil-reduction systems, and finishes built to survive a season of mud, ice, and boat rides.
Climbing Methods Explained: Sticks, One-Sticks, and Saddle Hunting Systems Compared
The first time I carried a full saddle setup deep into public ground, I thought I had built the perfect lightweight system. Until I reached the tree, dropped my pack, and realized most of the bulk came from my climbing sticks. The saddle and platform packed small, but four sticks attached to my pack had spent the walk-in catching brush and bumping limbs. Mind you that was several years ago and sticks and packs have come a long way since then.
Hunting From the Ground: A Mobile Approach to Early Season Whitetails
Ealy season whitetail hunting does not always require climbing 20 feet into a tree and sitting over the same trail every evening. Some of my favorite early-season setups are the ones I can carry in, hunt once, and remove without leaving anything behind. Permanent stands still have their place, don’t get me wrong. I use them every season, especially in locations where deer movement is consistent, and my access is clean. However, early autumn can be a different kind of hunt.
Sight Setup for Hunters: Multi-Pin vs. Single-Pin in the Real World
Bow sights are one of those pieces of gear that hunters can argue about all day. Some guys swear by a fixed five-pin sight and will never change. Others like a clean single-pin slider and don’t want anything cluttering up their sight picture. Then there is the growing group of hunters running three-pin sliders, trying to get the best of both worlds. When it comes to what’s best, the truth is, there isn’t one perfect bow sight for every hunter.
The Mobile Advantage: How Saddle Hunting Let You Hunt Fresh Sign Instead of Old Habits
There are trees I have hunted so many times that I could probably walk to them in the dark without a light. I know where the roots are, which limbs need trimmed, and where a deer will disappear if I do not stop it soon enough. That kind of familiarity can be useful. But it can also make a hunter lazy. As a hunter if a stand produces a good buck one year, we keep returning to it. Before long, we are not hunting what deer are doing anymore. We are hunting what they did three seasons ago.
Whitetail Deer Movement After the Season Opens
(Photo submitted by the author) Have you ever noticed from your trail cameras or scouting that as soon as season opens whitetail patterns switch dramatically? This is especially noticeable in areas that experience a lot of pressure. The average hunter is not going to take hunting as serious as most. They tend to wait until the day before season opens to get treestands hung and are for sure sitting in a tree opening day.
Tree Saddle Hunting 101: What Every New Hunter Needs to Know Before Leaving the Ground
Tree saddle hunting can look a little intimidating the first time you see it. A hunter is hanging off the side of a tree, leaning back into a rope system, feet on a small platform, bow hanging nearby, and somehow looking comfortable doing it. For someone who has spent most of their hunting life in ladder stands, hang-ons, or box blinds, it is easy to look at a saddle setup and think it is too complicated. The truth is saddle hunting does come with a learning curve.
Built Not Bought Part 3: How to Build a Hunting Arrow
By the time you get to this point, the bow should already be close. In Part 1, we talked about setting up a bow at home and getting familiar with the basic tools. In Part 2, we moved into timing, paper tuning, rest movement, and making small adjustments without turning the whole process into a guessing game. Now comes the part that gets overlooked more often than it should: the arrow.
Why You Should Hang Deer Stands Months Before Hunting Season
Deer stand set up isn’t just dragging a stand in and attaching it to the straightest tree. There is a big difference between hanging a deer stand and setting up a place to kill a deer. Anybody can fumble around in the woods the week before opener, sweat through their shirt, cut half the woods down, and call it good. I have done it before, and most of the time it feels rushed, because it is rushed. You end up picking the tree that is easiest instead of the tree that is right.
Abu Garcia Revo X VoltiQ: A Better Way to Learn a Baitcaster
Learning to use a baitcaster comes with a certain amount of headache and frustration. You make a few decent casts, start feeling confident, and then one bad swing leaves the spool buried under a bird’s nest. Now instead of fishing, you spend the next five to ten minutes sitting on the boat deck or edge of the bank picking line out of the reel. For most bass anglers this is almost a rite of passage, but that does not mean it has to be.
Built Not Bought Part 2: Taking the Next Step in At-Home Bow Tuning
In Part 1, we talked about getting the foundation right. A clean work area, a bow vise, basic measurements, and understanding what your bow looks like before you start changing things. That is where every good tune starts. Part 2 is where we take the next step. This is the part where a hunter can start doing more than just checking screws and making sure the peep is straight.
Cutting for Cover: Using a Chainsaw to Create Better Whitetail Bedding Areas
There are a lot of things hunters do in the summer months to get ready for deer season. Trail cameras get hung, food plots get sprayed or planted, and stands get checked. But one of the most overlooked tools for improving a hunting property is a chainsaw. Food gets most of the attention, and for good reason. Deer have to eat. But cover is what keeps deer comfortable. A mature buck might hit a food source after dark, but where he spends daylight hours usually comes down to security and cover.
July Deer Prep: Trail Cameras, Mock Scrapes, and Stand Strategies
I’ve always believed deer season never really ends. It simply shifts into the next phase of whitetail preparation. While many hunters wait until September to dust off their gear, hang stands, and check trail cameras, I believe some of the most important work happens months earlier. For me, deer season really starts gaining momentum in July. That doesn’t mean I’m stomping through the woods every weekend or putting unnecessary pressure on every corner of a property.
Heavy vs. Light Arrows: What Actually Matters on Whitetails
If there’s one bowhunting argument that never seems to die, it’s the heavy arrow versus light arrow debate. One guy swears speed kills. Another says you need a heavy setup capable of blowing through the shoulder and burying in the dirt on the other side. Social media only pours gas on the fire. Everybody’s chasing numbers, charts, and formulas trying to build the “perfect” whitetail arrow. Truthfully, I think a lot of hunters overcomplicate it.
One Lake, Two Plans: Chasing Bass and Crappie in the Same Day
Some days I head to the lake with one species in mind whether it be practice for an upcoming bass tournament or filling the freezer with tasty crappie. Other days, I’d rather keep my options open. Those are the days when chasing bass and crappie in the same day makes the most sense. If one bite slows down, the other one can save the day. It keeps you moving, keeps you thinking, and usually keeps the rod bent. Bass and crappie live in the same water, but they don’t always use it the same way.
Gear Check for Summer Fishing: Rods, Reels, and Line That Perform
Summer has a way of telling you really quick whether your fishing gear is actually dependable or not. Long days on the water, heat beating down on the deck, constant casting, fish buried in grass, and sudden afternoon storms all put equipment through a pretty serious test. If something is going to fail, summer is usually when it happens. I’ve always felt like this time of year separates gear that simply looks good online from gear that actually performs when you lean on it day after day.
Morning vs. Midday Bass and Crappie Fishing: Changing Tactics as the Sun Gets High
If there’s one mistake I see anglers make over and over, it’s fishing the same water the same way all day. Fish don’t operate on our schedule. They move with light levels, changing water temperatures, bait activity, and pressure. If you stay locked into one pattern from sunrise to noon, you’ll usually find your bites slowly start to die off as the day goes on. The better move is to understand how bass and crappie reposition as the sun climbs, then adjust to catch them.
Barnett T-Rex Crossbow: Power and Precision for Modern Hunters
Every year, new crossbows hit the market claiming more speed, better technology, and game-changing features. Some live up to the hype, and some fall flat on their face. When Barnett released the Hyper Raptor T-REX, it caught my attention because it looked like more than just another model variation of the Hyper Raptor series. It looked like Barnett was trying to build a serious hunting crossbow that combined speed, compact handling, and practical features hunters would actually use.
Sitka Enters the Angler Space: A Full Review of the New Fishing Apparel Line
For a long time, Sitka has earned its spot in the hunting world. If you’ve spent any serious time chasing whitetails, waterfowl, or turkey, you may have worn it, or at least hunted with someone who swears by it. Their gear has always been about systems, not just pieces. Everything has a purpose, and it all works together flawlessly from the hats to the boots. So, when I heard Sitka was releasing a line of fishing apparel, I couldn’t be more excited. Fishing gear is a different animal.
Boat Control Meets Technology: Pairing Trolling Motors with Humminbird Units
Boat control is one of those things every angler deals with, whether they realize it or not and it can take up more of your time then you may think. You can find the fish, have the right bait tied on, and know exactly how to fish it, but if you can’t keep the boat where it needs to be, it can get frustrating in a hurry. I’ve spent plenty of days fighting the wind, drifting off spots, and wasting time trying to get lined back up for the perfect cast only to drift off the X before I can execute.
Mapping Matters: Why LakeMaster Charts Change the Game
If you’ve spent any serious time on the water, you already know one truth about fishing: the fish live somewhere specific, and sometimes it can be a challenge to find them. They don’t just roam aimlessly waiting to be caught. They relate to structure, depth changes, current breaks, transitions, and seasonal movement routes. The challenge has always been figuring out exactly where those places are before wasting half the day searching.
GOYOJO GRS225RF Thermal Optics with LRF Review: Big Features Without the Big Price Tag
Thermal optics have come a long way in the last few years, but for most hunters, the price tag has always been the biggest barrier to entry. You start looking into thermals with range finding, recording, and solid image quality, and before long you’re staring at a price north of two or three grand. Until the introduction of the GRS225RF from GOYOJO. This isn’t some bare-bones budget scope.
Hunting Wide Open Terrain: Why the Ghost Blind Works for Turkey, Coyotes, and Deer
There’s a certain kind of spot every hunter has walked past and thought, “Man, if I just had a little cover right here.” Maybe it’s the edge of a picked cornfield where gobblers like to strut just out of range. Maybe it’s a wide-open pasture where coyotes hang up at 200 yards and refuse to commit. Or maybe it’s a ridge top with just enough sign to matter but not a single tree wide enough to hang as stand from. For years, those places were more frustrating than they were useful.
Reading the Woods for Sign: Trails, Beds & Scrape Clues to Find More Sheds
The rut may be long gone, but if you know how to look, the woods are still talking. You just need to slow down and pay attention. Post-rut sign isn’t loud or flashy like it is in November. It’s more subtle. Worn trails that don’t look like much at first glance, beds tucked into overlooked spots, and scrape lines that are fading but far from irrelevant.
Field Edge Setups: Using Decoys to Pull Gobblers Out of Open Ground
If you’ve chased spring gobblers for any amount of time, you’ve been here before. A bird answers every call, cuts the distance, blows up into full strut, and then, hits the edge of a field and locks up just out of range. He’ll stand there gobbling his head off, pacing, drumming, putting on a show for what feels like forever, but he will not take those last few steps. It’s one of the most frustrating scenarios in turkey hunting, and honestly, it happens more than most guys care to admit.
4 Proven Turkey Decoy Setups You Need for Midwestern Toms
When birds are fired up and competition is high, the classic hen-and-jake combo becomes hard to beat. (Photo courtesy of Working Class Hunter) Midwestern spring turkey hunting has a rhythm all its own. The woods are often tighter, the terrain flatter, and the birds, especially mature gobblers, can be very cautious, especially when approaching decoy setups.
Spring Food Plot Planting Window: Clover, Oats, Radishes & Brassicas
Spring food plots aren’t about hope. They’re about timing. Every year I see guys get the itch the first 60-degree day in March. They hook up the ATV and spreader fill it full of seed and get to work. Sometimes it works. But more times than not it doesn’t, or at least not to its full potential. Spring planting across the Midwest is a narrow window game and if you miss it, you’re fighting cold soil, stunted growth, or seeds that never see the light of day.
How to Build a Shed Hunting Map Like a Pro
A good shed season doesn’t start when you lace up your boots and head for the first south-facing slope you can find. It starts weeks earlier, behind the screen of your phone or computer, building a plan. If you’re serious about finding more antlers this spring, you need to treat shed hunting like you would a November rut hunt. The guys who consistently pick up bone aren’t just wandering the timber hoping to get lucky.
Boost Fall Deer Hunting Success by Making Mock Scrapes Now
This buck was checking a scrape that I had established three years ago in February. I set the stand up to have a perfect shot to the scrape and was able to capitalize this fall. (Ryan Fair photo) It may feel like you just put your deer-hunting gear away for the season, but it's time to start thinking about next season. Believe it or not, the groundwork for late-summer and early-fall hunting success should be laid while snow is still on the ground.
Automated TEM Reveals Intercrystalline Correlations of Conjugated Polymers
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a powerful tool for characterizing chain packing and nanoscale structure in polymers. (1−3) Imaging using TEM led to insights on the factors that govern adhesion, (4) yield strength, (5) thermal response, (6) phase behavior, (7) permeability, (8) and electrical conductivity; (9) microscopy can also connect nanostructure and functionality of conjugated polymers in various organic electronic devices.
Make the Most Out of Late-Season Deer Opportunities
Weather changes greatly affect winter deer patterns. Before the worst of a snowstorm arrives, deer often move during the day to feed. (Shutterstock photo) The late season poses many challenges for deer hunters that aren't necessarily present in the early season or during the rut. There's the cold, the wind, pressured deer, a lack of cover, and the list goes on.
Field Tested: Best Duck Hunting Gloves
If you’re anything like me, you hate wearing gloves in the duck blind. It is a pain in the you know what to feel your trigger or push that little orange button to call the dog back with a pair of gloves on. But with today’s advancements in gloves, it’s easier to do these tasks while staying warm and dry. But how much thought do you put into the gloves you wear when making your selection?
Field Tested: Sitka VentLite GTX Boot Review
When it comes to hunting boots, I feel it can be one of the items most hunters overlook or try to go cheaper, thinking they can get by. Have you have ever been in a tree stand with cold wet feet in 20-degree weather, if you have you know where I’m going with this. Nothing can ruin a hunt faster than cold, wet feet. For this reason, I believe every hunter should have a few pairs of quality hunting boots for all different hunting situations, one for warmth and one that’s waterproof.
How to Master the When, Where and How of Using Scents
Whitetails live and die by their noses. They use them to find food, smell danger and communicate with each other. Because of this, several manufacturers produce scents designed to play on a deer's sense of smell. Knowing how and when to use some of these products to your advantage may be the difference between scoring on a target buck this fall and not. An array of scents is available to hunters, and these can be used in a wide variety of ways.
The Marvelous Magic of Springtime Whitetail Mineral Sites
Many whitetail hunters often view springtime mineral sites as unnecessary. By the time March rolls around, most major hunting seasons are over, turkey season is arriving shortly and fishing in many places is picking up. I've heard all these excuses in the past, but none of them truly justifies forgoing a mineral site in the spring. Mineral sites not only benefit you as a hunter; they also can play a vital role in a whitetail's overall health.
How to Trap More Raccoons This Season
There are several different ways to trap raccoons, but one of the easiest and most effective is using dog-proof traps. Suitable for both beginner and advanced trappers, these simple traps, when placed in the right spots, work very well. If raccoons have become a problem on your property and you need to manage the population, familiarize yourself with dog-proofs and get to work. Dog-proofs are basic devices featuring a cylinder-type trap with a trigger inside.
NC Medicaid's Early Experience with a Hospital at Home Program During the Public Health Emergency
During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), NC Medicaid allowed approved hospital facilities or systems to provide acute hospital care at home. Originally a program designed for the Medicare population, offering coverage of care provision for significant illness outside of traditional inpatient settings is one example of how Medicaid programs across the country rapidly evolved to meet the challenges of the pandemic.
Complete Guide to Saddle Hunting
In recent years, saddle hunting has become a game-changer in the realm of mobile hunting. Saddle systems are usually incredibly lightweight, and they let you get in almost any tree you want. In my opinion, a saddle is also the safest way to hunt from a tree because you're securely attached to it from the moment your feet leave the ground. While their perceived complexity causes some hunters to eschew saddle systems, the process of using them is relatively straightforward, and quite effective.
NC Medicaid’s Early Experience with a Hospital at Home Program During the Public Health Emergency
During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), NC Medicaid allowed approved hospital facilities or systems to provide acute hospital care at home.1 Originally a program designed for the Medicare population, offering coverage of care provision for significant illness outside of traditional inpatient settings is one example of how Medicaid programs across the country rapidly evolved to meet the challenges of the pandemic.
Cold Sintering Enables the Reprocessing of LLZO‐based Composites
All-solid-state batteries have the potential for enhanced safety and capacity over conventional lithium ion batteries, and are anticipated to dominate the energy storage industry. As such, strategies to enable recycling of the individual components are crucial to minimize waste and prevent health and environmental harm.
Use the Ground Game to Outwit Post-Rut Bucks
This article is featured in the December/January 2024 issue of Game & Fish Magazine, now on sale at newsstands across the country. Click here to subscribe. Some of the season's best deer hunting can occur during the late season. Deer herd up and feed heavily, often moving well before last light. The right food source might even draw multiple large bucks into one area. However, hunting the winter months can also be tough.
Choosing the Best Waders for Duck Hunting
As an avid waterfowl hunter there are few things that are as important as a good set of waders. We use them to get to some of the roughest parts of the water, in some of the coldest water and in some of the most extreme conditions. All while expecting them to keep us comfortable and dry. We ask a lot from our waders but when spending your hard-earned money, you should ask a lot.
Must Haves from 2023 ATA Show
This year’s archery trade association show did not disappoint. It seems like there is never enough time to see all the new products and talk to all the vendors. From bows to broadheads, cameras to camo, below is a recap of some of the most noteworthy items seen from this year’s run-through. Crossbows Barnett has been a leader in the crossbow world for a while now and that’s for good reason; they always deliver state of the art quality products. For 2023 they are releasing the Hyper Raptor for $599.
Improve Small Properties To Help Hold Deer
We have all been there. You’re checking trail cameras and it never fails: Somewhere in the middle of all the photos of squirrels and does, you see a photo of a great buck. It also never fails that this picture is occurring well after the legal shooting light. If you’re anything like me, you hunt small properties no bigger than 50 acres. This means more than likely that buck is spending his daylight hours somewhere other than on your property. But that’s something we can change.
How Spring Planning Helps Assure Fall Bowhunting Success
Mineral sites are an important part of a whitetails diet from bucks to fawns. Taking These Steps Now Can Help Achieve a More Successful Fall Hunt I once heard it said that deer season is never over. As time goes by, I realize that this is very true. The main part of deer season is in the fall, and nothing beats chasing a mature Whitetail in November. But there are lots of steps to take in the off-season, and especially in the spring, to help you capitalize in the fall.
SIMULATING THE SENSITIVITY OF UNDERGROUND VENTILATION NETWORKS TO FLUCTUATING AMBIENT CONDITIONS
SIMULATING THE SENSITIVITY OF UNDERGROUND VENTILATION NETWORKS TO FLUCTUATING AMBIENT CONDITIONS Ryan Fair, Jean van Laar, Kristy Nell, Diaan Nell, Edward Mathews Abstract The weather directly impacts ventilation systems, especially large industrial systems found in underground mines. Underground mine ventilation systems have high cost implications that add to the financial strains and uncertainties of future mining operations.
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