Deer & Deer Hunting is written and edited for serious, year-round hunting enthusiasts, focusing on hunting techniques, deer biology and behavior, deer management, habitat requirements, the natural history of deer and hunting ethics
Land management is fun, but it also comes with great responsibility. In our giddy enthusiasm to grow bigger and better deer, many hunters/landowners forget the founding tenant to sound whitetail management: responsible deer densities. A high abundance of white-tailed deer can create dramatic changes in forest understory that leads to irreparable harm to the habitat and future deer hunting prospects. Whitetails can and will change a forest’s understory simply by eating their way out of house and home. This can happen quickly in areas where traditional management ideals clash with so-called quality deer management (QDM) efforts. The problem, as I see it, happens where owners of larger parcels strictly limit the number of hunters on their properties while at the same time adhering to limited doe harvesting (“more deer is…
I just read Jeremy Flinn’s article in the November issue ("CWD Unleashed") and thought it was great! Very well written. In his article the question was asked: “How miserable do we make deer hunting for the future of hunting?” I am a resident of Pennsylvania. Our state erupted in a “deer war” not all that long ago. It had to do with forest regeneration. It concerns me that we may see this unfold at a national level if hunters are force-fed “miserable deer hunting regulations.” I am a deer hunter and land manager. I believe the media is feeding fear to sell this story. Aldo Leopold said, “Habitat that is void of predators is not good habitat." If you have ever read his book, "A Sand County Almanac" you know…
Catch all the exciting action along with expert tips and strategy on Deer & Deer Hunting-TV on Sportsman Channel. Veteran hunters and hosts Dan Schmidt, Gordy Krahn, Mark Kayser and Steve Bartylla scour North America with bows, rifles, crossbows and muzzle-loaders to tackle the highs and lows of the 2015-16 deer season. You’ll get insights from more than 100 years of combined experience along with new gear and insights from veteran guides. Check your local listings for Sportsman Channel air times. SHOPDEERHUNTING.COM Are you getting ready to plant your summer food plots, put out minerals and hang cameras to see what the bucks, does and fawns are doing? If not, it’s time to start thinking about that. ShopDeerHunting.com has a fantastic selection of digital downloads and videos, years of back…
Turning deer hides into buckskin isn’t as difficult as you might imagine. With some basic ingredients and a bit of time, you can create soft and pliable buckskin out of raw deer hides. Each phase takes about a week, but the end result provides another reminder of your successful fall harvest. Last year, we were fortunate to fill our freezer with two deer — one during archery season and one during rifle season: both does. We always try to use as much of an animal as possible and wanted to keep the deer hides rather than leave them with our local deer processor. In the past, we have paid to have the hides tanned into leather and one year we even had the finished leather made into deerskin mittens —…
Icouldn’t help but smile as I listened to Ted recount his season. Having done a habitat improvement and hunting plan for him two years before, I knew his situation well. He and his wife, Angie, own a 40-acre hunting property in my home state of Wisconsin. Their answers to my preplan questionnaire, my own studies of aerial photography of their ground and the phone review process all made it feel like I’d walked the ground myself. Their property is typical of the area. Surrounded by family farms, it’s a mix of about 60 percent timber and 40 percent open ground. Like many clients, they’d already invested many hours and a lot of money in food plots. They were pulling in some deer, but ultimately weren’t standing up to the alfalfa,…
Cut through one side of the tree just far enough to get it to fall to the ground, but not so far that the top is severed from the root system. The remaining connective tissue serves as a hinge, allowing for the continued flow of food and water between the roots and upper branches. The lesser the cut, the more connective tissue remains and the better the odds of the tree’s survival. Not all trees hinge well. Aspens, paper bark birch and most pines have the tendency to snap, rather than bend. Not only does that kill the tree, but it creates a very unpredictable and dangerous fall. A percent of successfully hinged trees is almost always going to die. That should be expected and isn’t a bad thing, because…
