He said he felt like he’d never seen so …, In early July, QDMA member Robert Newcom of Kentucky saw a fawn hanging out in a quarter-acre clover patch, so he repositioned a nearby trail-camera to see if the fawn would come back. To save energy $$, use a ThermoCube. I had yet to see his body well enough to put an age on him. How often should you …, Can you name a fellow hunter who says that bucks with weird antlers should be “culled” for the benefit of the herd because they’re somehow “inferior”? These deer feet, for making deer hoof gun racks will measure between 10 inches and 12 inches long, measured around the curve (L) of the foot. Help us secure our deer hunting heritage. The photos on this page …, There are many things you might find while roaming the woods this winter and spring, from shed antlers to potential new stand sites, just to name a few of the fun ones. Well, despite the fact it’s 86 degrees outside as I write this and my calendar says the current month starts with the letter “S”, my email inbox and the world of social media says it’s here. Where Do Northern Deer Find Water in Winter? I am in no way a culinary expert, but I am fortunate …, Prescribed fire improves deer habitat, and if it’s practical where you hunt, you should learn to burn. It’s not tine length or count. This 50 acre hunting property will have the best deer hunting in the neighborhood after implementing the habitat improvement projects outlined in this video. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at some of the research I found most interesting and useful at the annual conference. This leads to a discussion of how many does to shoot, since “adequate” could mean a lot, a few, or no does at all, depending on the situation. The last thing you want is to invest your valuable time and hard-earned money on a food plot only to …, Eastern hemlock trees are a valuable part of whitetail habitat in much of the eastern United States. Compare that to 41 percent of duck hunters and …, Do you believe the list of attributes a buck must possess to be a successful breeder is long or short? It’s no surprise why. However, yearling buck harvest remains high in some areas, and hunters in many areas are working to …, Every hunter likely has a friend or family member who is a non-hunter, if not several. 79. Yes, I said parachute! These dietary improprieties create weak hoofs that are readily exposed by the the bare hoof. Protect both newborns and bulbs with a Heat Lamp Guard. I interviewed six shed-hunting nuts from the Midwest, Mississippi River Valley, Deep South, Appalachian Mountains, Northeast, and the Northern Great Plains. Stay out of your favorite stand until November (or whenever the rut happens to peak where …, Each fall, many yearling bucks will strike out from the range where they were born, mostly in a straight line, onto ground they have never seen before. The last, and probably the most fun, method of deer aging is on the hoof. Chinese water deer make small hoof prints (slots), about 4cm long. If you were to ask any hunter what factor is most limiting to fawn recruitment where they hunt, chances are they will say coyotes. Fawns Die Even Without Predators, 10 Weird Whitetails Join The Freak Deer Collection. But that’s about all we know. Kevin James' NASCAR-centric sitcom landed on Netflix Monday, highlighting the goofier aspects of Cup Series racing. Whether they want to be self-sufficient in providing their own food, more fully enjoy the outdoors, or have other motivations, most of them do not come from traditional hunting backgrounds. My trail-cameras had documented several different bucks traveling the edge of a swamp, through the funnel I was hunting, and out …, Donnie Draeger used to believe in culling deer to improve antler genetics. Matt Ross, the smiling QDMA ambassador, asked if I’d like to try some venison. Notes on dew claws: You can use deer and small elk dew claws for decorations and the ends of drops as well as other things. Pull the Skin Loose. Which Deer Visit Feeders and When? Deer Hoof Gun Rack. Having a good mentor really shortens the learning curve, and that’s one reason QDMA places such a high importance on being a mentor …, Questions about growing quality food plots are nothing new for QDMA’s phone lines and e-mail in-boxes. The most important age to protect is the easiest to spot. $4.79 $ 4. It’s not a guess. Social media is exploding with pictures of shed antlers, and Whitetail Properties’ annual Shed Rally has become a big event. The objective of the Enclosure Program is to regulate enclosures containing white-tailed deer by conducting annual inspections and issuing permits as defined in 40 MS Admin Code Part 2, Chap 8 - Rule 8.2. Yes, deer hunting is our passion, but is it worth risking permanent injury or death? They trailed the Atlanta Falcons by 21, and no team had ever overcome such a deficit to win a Super Bowl. …, I am a hunter. An Open Letter to the Guy Who Can’t Eat Horns, Ask QDMA: How To Hunt a Buck With a Split Home Range, VIDEO: For Better Food Plots, Adjust Your Disk Angles, Don’t Let Mosquitos and Ticks Ruin Your Hunting Season, Feral Hogs Are Spreading, But You Can Help Stop Them. This Video Reveals How Much. . We are receiving more and more questions from hunters who want to grow food …, With archery deer season quickly approaching, there is no better time than now to make sure that both you and your equipment are ready for opening day. Being a hunter was the most …, I had just begun my first job with a forestry consulting company when, one late spring day, I followed my boss through the woods with a scale stick and a paint gun, prepared to mark timber for sale. As you did here, you wrote yours first. We could almost staff a full-time Department of Mysteries just to respond to queries …, White-tailed deer are the most important game species in North America. In order to create a deer hoof rattle, you have to remove the hoof from the toe bone of the deer. In the never-ending pursuit of the ultimate hunting property, mast production is common to the conversation. Use a sewing needle and some nylon thread to neatly sow the skin and hoof on to the form. My deer stepped out third: a …, Chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer is a serious matter. But I’ve come to realize that great deer …, As deer hunting seasons close around the nation each year, some wildlife agencies in states that are fighting outbreaks of chronic wasting disease (CWD) gear up for an effort to fight the disease through a technique known as post-season “targeted removal” or “targeted culling.” There is much misinformation about this approach, and deer hunters need …, On December 30, NDA member Jay Thompson got a chance to pull memory cards from his trail-cameras in South Carolina, and the photo you see above stood out for obvious reasons. It turned out, however, that after meeting my neighbor and sharing my passion for deer hunting, we actually had similar interests …, Editor’s Note: Eight years ago this week, NDA member Phil Bancroft of Florida nearly died while preparing food plots for hunting season. However, when it comes to mentoring new hunters – youths and adults alike – I’ll argue their first hunts should not be for deer. Great for a man-cave or cabin or above the fireplace if you have an understanding spouse. Bobcats. When is Peak Rut? In fact, a Mississippi hunter sat in his stand and watched one die of the brain-destroying disease on January 21. It’s not a rehash of old, accepted wisdom. Learning about your quarry be it deer, hogs or turkey or predators is a good thing. To put it simply, clovers are a very versatile deer forage. But …, In mid-to-late winter and early spring on the 38 acres Elaine and I live on, I perform many of the typical tasks NDA members do: look for sheds of the never-seen buck that made all those huge rubs, conduct various timber stand improvement (TSI) tasks, cut firewood, and do something atypical – gather two wild …, There are few, if any, wild game animals we know so much about as the white-tailed deer – that’s what makes it surprising when new information comes to light about this species with which we are fascinated. Pawpaw. How the New Public-Land Hunting Media Has Changed the Way I Hunt, Now You See Him: 9 Things We Know About Deer Excursions, How to Bottleneck a Buck During the Rut: 3 Maps, Historically High Numbers of Americans Approve of Hunting, Recover From Food Plot Failure by Planting a Salvage Plot, Jerky or OCP? Over the next 18 hunting seasons, we shot 299 deer on 700 acres – 249 were antlerless (210 adult does and 39 fawns) and 50 were antlered bucks, and we collected harvest data from every …, Over his career as a wildlife biologist, Joe Hamilton of South Carolina has aged tens of thousands of deer jawbones, and whenever he encountered a jawbone that strayed from “normal,” he saved it. Discover (and save!) Continue reading and see for yourself all these 48 illogical and crazy “DiWHYs” that you would never think really exist! So, why exactly do bucks grow them? How to Choose Wisely, The Case For and Against Summer Deer Scouting, 10 Essential Tools for Home Deer Processing, Fawns are the Fix for Most Deer-Hunting “Mistakes”, Empty Shelves Full of Opportunity…to Recruit New Hunters.