Jared Mills may not be a household name in the whitetail world. His YouTube channel doesn’t have a massive following; it’s approaching 25K subscribers, and at the time of this writing he’s posted 43 videos (almost all in the last 12 months). But you’d be wrong to assume he’s a newcomer to the whitetail space. In truth, it’s just the opposite.

Jared Mills worked for several years with Bill Winke on Midwest Whitetail, and his presence on that channel increased dramatically after Winke sold his southern Iowa farm (and Midwest Whitetail) and relocated to the northern part of the state to do his own thing. Jared stayed to co-host Midwest Whitetail for a couple of years, then finally decided to branch off on his own (just prior to the 2022 deer season).

If you follow his relatively new channel, you’ll immediately notice that his videos are different. He’s self-filming, but that doesn’t make him unique. It’s the quality of his deer footage and his storytelling that sets him apart from the rest.

For me, I appreciate that he understands how blessed he is to pursue whitetails in southern Iowa on some of the best big-buck property on the planet. Instead of filling multiple tags with bow and gun throughout the lengthy season, he tries to punch a tag on his own terms.

Example: If you go back and watch a good number of his videos from late 2023, you’ll see him targeting a particular ancient buck — described by Jared in this video as the biggest bodied deer he’s ever seen (below). The area sets up decently for a natural ground blind in the cedars, so he tries to get the job done with his recurve (no sights). Whitetails leave the thick cover to visit a food plot, before eventually heading to a larger destination ag field. Several times Jared could have shot the old buck in the food plot with his compound, but it was always just a touch too far for his recurve. FYI: He also could have bought a gun tag and killed the deer. He never let an arrow go from his recurve at the buck, but the footage he captured of that buck and other deer from inside 50 yards was remarkable.

I’m not the only one who appreciates Jared’s hunting approach. I checked out the comments about the specific video highlighted below and here are some of my favorites.

• Jared is the guy who buys his favorite candy bar at the gas station and eats it nibble by nibble in front of his buddies over the course of several months. Jared reply: That's pretty good. When you only get a few months of the year to eat candy bars, it's good to savor it!
• I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't care if you take another deer, I’ll still watch every one of your videos just to watch the excellent footage. It's like being right there with you!  Congrats on ol’ Happy. Hope you get out and chase the gobbler birds with the recurve this spring.
• I’m glad to see someone else appreciating this video the same way I did. What a production.
• I was thinking the same thing! I’ve never seen snow/ice on antlers like that before. Breathtaking.
• Thank you for not saying “Smoked him!” or “Let’s go!” like everyone else on YouTube; thank you, Jared, for being original.

Blizzard Buck at the Buzzer!

To describe the Jan. 9, 2024, video below, Jared wrote:

On the second to last day of the season, we finally get the weather I'd been hoping for, and more. In a crazy day full of blizzard conditions, I have an incredible hunt. This is as good as it gets when it comes to beautiful scenery and deer behavior in the snow. To top it off, as the door was starting to close on the season, one of the big mature bucks I was looking for made his way through the deep snow into bow range. As always, the final hunt is just a small part of it for me, the story and journey is everything. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the hunts leading up to this one, and thank you for all the support. I appreciate all the regular viewers and subscribers and wish everyone a great 2024. The offseason starts now! And if you have certain things you want to see in the offseason videos, comment and let me know!

Teaser: If you’re too busy right now to watch the entire 20-minute video, fast-forward to the 5:54 mark to get a taste of Jared’s hunt. Crazy!