Although fall hunting seasons are but a distant thought at this point, now is the time hunters should be thinking about finding and locking down properties to hunt. Finding properties with good deer traffic and good odds of success can be hard to find, and they often come at a premium. Typically a hunter seeks out a property with substantial acreage so they have more ground to work with, more places to hang stands and place blinds, room for food plots, a property large enough to have food, water, and cover. Roger says big properties with all the bells and whistles are great, however he emphasizes that small tracts of land shouldn't be discounted as second rate or not worth your while. Rewinding back to the beginning of his hunting career, Roger says he was invited by someone to go out and hunt their 10-acre tract of land in northern Oklahoma. Learning that the piece of ground was but 10-acres, Roger says he kindly dismissed the invitation and wished the person well. At the end of the season he checked in with that hunter and was shocked to find out that the small piece of land produced two great bucks that the hunter had tagged. Digging further into the mystery of what made this small property such a whitetail mecca, Roger says he found out that the land was surrounded on all sides by seldom hunted properties. Furthermore, from a terrain perspective, the topography of the land, which included a small creek drainage, all funneled directly through the 10-acre piece. From this experience Roger says he changed his mind about a few things, one of which being you don't need a great big piece of property to kill deer. You just need the right property. Seek out parcels of land that butt up to larger properties, hunt fence lines, find small pieces of ground with the right terrain features - regardless of how small the chunk of dirt is, when it's in the right spot you can kill deer.

Although he is a prolific whitetail hunter, Roger also enjoys small game hunting. Recently he spent several days hunting squirrels with his granddaughter and he talks about how excited he was to be a part of that experience. He also talks about some of his most memorable rabbit hunts throughout the years. In particular, Roger says a lousy deer hunt in South Dakota turned into an amazing couple of days of rabbit hunting and ultimately has proven to be one of his most popular television episodes ever. That episode followed Roger as he was bowhunting for deer in September in South Dakota. Roger says he decided to head down into the river bottoms to see if there were any cottontails hiding out, and to his delight, there were loads of them. Taking aim with his bow, Roger says he was able to shoot a bunch of cottontails on the heels of his failed deer hunt. However, the action wasn't quite over. That night a freak winter storm rolled through the area dumping 12-inches of snow and as a last minute hunt, Roger borrowed a shotgun and shells and went out to try his luck with some jackrabbit hunting. When all was said and done, 25 jackrabbits fell to the borrowed shotgun. It was non-stop action, he says, and a lot of fun.

Regardless of the game being pursued, Roger's enthusiasm for the outdoors and hunting hasn't dulled in 34 years. His passion encourages and excites those that watch his programs. Roger says he will never forget how long and hard he had to work to accomplish the things he has today and notes he knows just what it's like to not be successful. He talks about his first squirrel, first rabbit, first big buck and the challenges he encountered along the way. Persistence and patience is key, he says. For years his dream was to someday be able to shoot just one big trophy whitetail deer and now that he has made that dream a reality many times over, he keeps pushing forward.

Listen in as Roger talks hunting small tracts of land, small game hunting, what continues to drive his enthusiasm for hunting and his new show, "Roger Raglin On Target" on Sportsman Channel, Tuesdays at 7:30 pm ET.

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