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
There's never really a saturation point for good advice. It doesn't matter how long you've hunted or how many deer you've taken, there's always something new to learn, especially when the season is dwindling and there are tags to be filled. Here are three late-season hunting tips that have helped me punch tags in the waning hours. Perhaps they'll help you, too. 1. Bitter Isn't Always Better For years, I convinced myself that late-season hunts in below-average temperatures would flip a switch and have me covered up in whitetails. It seldom happened that way. In fact, some of the best late-season advice I've ever received was from the late, great bowhunter Gary Clancy of Minnesota. "Bitter isn't always better during these closing days of deer season," he once told me.…
Here are some photos of a buck I’ve been keeping track of all summer. I’ve been in contact with our regional conservation officer, and he told me that epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) is sweeping through our area this year. In fact, they are comparing this year to 2007 — a really bad year for EHD here. The first photo is from one of my trail cameras in August. The last two photos are from September and October. As you can see, the disease had reduced him to a walking skeleton in a matter of no time. I’m happy to report, however, that we have seen the buck during the past week, and he has made considerable improvement! I’m confident that he will survive this bout, and have taken him off…
Fit to Kill with Brittany Jill Deer hunting can be strenuous on every hunter's muscles, joints and cardiovascular system. Combine this with the fact that America’s hunting demographic is trending older, and it can be a recipe for disaster for the individual who doesn’t take the pastime seriously. Deer & Deer Hunting is proud to introduce Brittany Jill, a kickboxing instructor and personal trainer who happens to be an avid whitetail bowhunter. In the new video series Fit to Kill, Brittany Jill will provide top-end information and instruction for simple, basic exercises related to hunting activities that take very little time and can be performed just about anywhere to help deer hunters become healthier, and ultimately more successful in the field. Look for new episodes every Tuesday on www.deeranddeerhunting.com, YouTube…
LAND of WHITETAIL Upcoming Episodes of Land of Whitetail on Pursuit Channel December 9: “Hunting Open Country” Mark Kayser hunts wide-open South Dakota. December 16: “Island Paradise” Host Mark Kayser chases whitetails around a small, deserted island. December 23: “The Season of Change” Host Dan Schmidt reveals how to plan a season-long deer hunting strategy. December 30: “Finding the Honey Hole” Kansas is full of great deer hunting land. Follow Mark Kayser as he narrows down the best stand options. January 6: “Under Pressure” Dan Schmidt shows the difference between hunting pressured and unpressured deer. January 13: “What’s on the Menu?” Learn all about the variety of food that deer eat, and how to use it to your advantage. January 20: “Hunting Pressure”…
Things were different during the pioneer days. Times were tough. Hunters pursued deer for food, and often cared little about the antlers. But one German immigrant knew he had found something special; special enough to hold onto it and pass it down through his ancestors. Jacob Schowalter was a German immigrant who arrived in Washington County, Wisconsin, in July of 1843. He purchased government land in Jackson Township a month later. While clearing land on his new property, he found a shed whitetail antler. Being from Germany, perhaps Schowalter had never seen a whitetail antler before. He would have been more familiar with roe deer and red stag. For whatever reason, rather than leave it lay, he kept it. Any modern whitetail hunter would do the same. For one thing,…
Ticks are a very common ectoparasite and a multitude of different species have been found on deer throughout North America. Most common, however, are the lone star tick, black-legged tick and the gulf coast tick. Prevalence of the various tick species vary both seasonally and regionally and, at times, can be extremely high, and hunter-harvested deer from these hotspots might seem to be literally covered with these parasites. If you’ve ever come across one of these unfortunate animals, you probably couldn’t have helped but wonder how the animal survived with that many ticks. The reality is that while ticks are very common on the landscape, and most deer have some ticks on them, infestations such as that pictured here are uncommon. Usually, tick epidemics are a function of either a…
