Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2023 i Deer & Deer Hunting

Some 60 years ago, cars passing through the small towns of America on the opening day of deer season formed a virtual parade of bucks tied to fenders. Once I began hunting it didn’t happen as often, but I did participate in the ritual on one occasion. And a quick Internet search will turn up vintage black and white photographs of our hunting ng forefathers with deer tied to cars. My favorite might be the all-time biggest New York typical buck, harvested in 1939 by Roosevelt Luckey. The smiling Mr. Luckey is sitting on the front bumper of a car holding his mounted trophy head. (Maybe there was a rule that said a car had to be in the photo, whether or not the kill is fresh from the hunt…

Hunters who find routine and regular success each deer season achieve that not with luck, but with effort. Year-round sweat and strategic planning leads to filled tags. So, as one deer season ends, the next one begins. Here is the off-season scouting mega plan. Think of it as the base, or foundation, for next deer season. WINTER: IN-THE-FIELD SCOUTING Late winter is the best time to conduct post-season scouting efforts. It should begin with digital scouting. Before heading afield, look over aerial and topo maps to learn or relearn the property. Identify key areas of interest. If needed, make notes. And once afield, have a useful hunting app, or physical maps, to keep track of all scouting finds. The first step is locating daytime security cover. Oftentimes, these areas come…

Wyoming Bills Would Hit Nonresident Shed Hunters A bill to keep nonresident shed hunters out of Wyoming for the first three days of the season that begins May 1 is drawing some pushback over concerns about tourism dollars. Wyoming House Bill 123 passed the House on Feb. 6 and has been approved to be sent to the Senate. It would prohibit nonresidents from hunting shed antlers the first three days of the season, giving Wyoming residents a chance to get a head start. Elk antlers found on public lands can yield more than $20 per pound. Additionally, House Bill 276 would require nonresidents age 16 and older to purchase a $21.50 Wyoming “conservation stamp” to be able to hunt shed antlers. If the bills are signed into law, they would…

THE JAKE AND BREEDER HEN WHILE A STRUTTER is by far my favorite all-around turkey decoy, when I hunt on public land, I leave it in the truck. Instead, I pack along a jake and breeder hen combination. I can pack both in the game pouch of my turkey vest, slung over a shoulder in carry bags, or as I often do, in a medium-large daypack (which I use instead of the traditional turkey vest), then cover ground quickly and easily, and set up rapidly with a minimum of movement. And this combination is super deadly. I also like to add another hen decoy to round out the realism. SAFETY FIRST Public-land hunting often means you’ll encounter other gobbler-getters — especially when a tom sounds off, drawing everyone within earshot…

THE GRIP’S THE THING “THE SOUND FROM a pot call goes two ways,” my friend said. “Up, and down. You want the palm of your hand away from the bottom of that call as far as you can, so the sound comes out from the bottom even better than the top. If you palm it, you not only lose half the sound, but your yelps have no ring to them.” To demonstrate, he held his slate up at eye level for me, so I could see the broad swath of daylight beneath it. The edges of the disc were braced on his fingertips, and there was only a slight curve in his digits as they pointed skyward. He was holding the call as delicately as you’d hold your grandma’s favorite…

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WE'RE BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUNS & NO TOPIC IS OFF-LIMITS! Join us every week for a comprehensive audio and video podcast where the white-tailed deer is the star of the show. Expert guests join the virtual deer camp each week to discuss everything from deer behavior, biology and scientific research to herd and land management, hunting ethics, newsworthy events, and hunting tips, tactics and strategies. Hosted by Daniel Schmidt, DEER TALK NOW is your virtual deer camp where no topic is off-limits. Listen on most of your favorite podcast apps, or watch online!…

I was lucky. I didn’t have to think about what would be a good deer gun for me. My dad already had a .357 Max set up with handloaded ammunition on a platform that I had long been familiar with, a T/C Contender. But for a newcomer looking for their first deer rifle, the sheer number of options on the market today is overwhelming. If you’re just starting out, you can drive yourself crazy trying to choose, especially if you don’t know what you are looking for. Here are a few key considerations: LENGTH OF PULL Length of pull (LOP) and stock fit are critical. LOP is the distance from the trigger to the rear of the buttstock. Many hunting stocks are too long for small-frame shooters. This makes it…

There are certain pieces of gear that will make your post-season scouting safer and more effective. While it isn’t necessary to purchase top-of-the-line items, selecting the best you can afford will improve results. First, have a series of maps, or better yet, a high-quality app, which can show details about the tracts you’ll focus on. Having multiple layers is beneficial. Aerial photos and topo maps are the basis of scouting. Other layers are beneficial, too. I’m a HuntStand ambassador, but I used their proven layers long before joining their team. Of course, other apps on the market do the job, too. Select the one with the features that best fit your style. Binos are crucial, too. These are great for seeing deer while scouting, but these are even more valuable…

When’s the last time you heard a bowhunter complaining that his or her bow was too quiet? As in, “I really love how this bow feels, and it’s a tack driver, but it’s just too darned quiet.” The answer, of course, is never – because like having too much money, there’s no such thing. You’re more likely to hear, “My bow seems reasonably quiet to me, but I still had a doe jump the string last season.” Sound travels three to four times faster than the speediest compound, meaning you just can’t beat deer to the jump by delivering faster arrows. Eliminating string jumping’s best accomplished by giving deer less to react to. Compound bows have become progressively quieter each season, most now including some form of factory silencing. But…

Velvet is a rarity on September 25, but that’s exactly what George Cummins saw. A cryptorchid buck that remained in velvet frequented a property he hunted. “Sunfish Valley had been trying to kill this buck for four years,” Cummins said. “They guess the buck to be around 8 years old. Only one other hunter had ever seen the deer.” Destiny decided September 25 would be the final encounter. A mild cold front pushed through, dropping the temperatures into the mid 70s. A southwest wind came with it, which was ideal for hunting the buck. Still, in the hill country, wind can be tricky. “The terrain in southern Ohio is very hilly, on the verge of being mountains,” Cummins said. “This can prove difficult in playing winds in the afternoons when…

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It’s interesting how life goes. I didn’t grow up in a hunting family but somewhere, somehow, along the way hunting became one of my true passions. I think my father had a deep respect for nature, but he worked long hours to support the family and didn’t have the time to enjoy it as much as he would have liked. I can recall only a few family camping and hiking trips to the mountains when he really got away. The same goes for his dad, my grandfather. Looking back on it, I think my first desire to hunt started with my brother, who’s five years older. I was around 13 the August my brother turned 18, the age someone could legally hunt unattended by an adult. Until then, I never…

Growing up on what I consider the edge of northern Wisconsin, with U.S. Highway 8 running through my hometown, the big woods has always had a special appeal to me. Sure, I was about a 20-minute drive from the northern forest, but the smaller woodlots and timber-lined rivers and creeks around Barron served as a fine training ground, until I turned 16. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about paying my way through college by trapping the small beaver ponds pocking the big timber, or striving and often failing at trying to find deer, the big woods has always had a truly special appeal to me since childhood, while being one of the ultimate deer-hunting challenges there is. What follows is how I learned to take seemingly endless miles of…

A major aspect of off-season scouting should be finding new ground to hunt. Even hunters who already have great property access to quality private and/or public lands should be looking for additional ground. Never get too comfortable with the current access, and you’ll rarely find yourself without a place to hunt. Get comfortable, gradually lose access to good hunting grounds, and wake up one season with nowhere to go. This process begins with digital scouting. For public lands, state agency resources are great places to start. Other types of public offerings exist, too. Find lists and maps of public lands. Certain hunting apps, such as HuntStand, offer great public-land layers that show available lands. Old-school door knocking can still work, too. It might take 50-100 doors to get the desired…

AMERICA’S #1 TURKEY RESOURCE SINCE 1992 VALUED READERS, For years, we were limited in the number of pages we could produce in our spring issues. Now that D&DH is once again independently owned, we changed those rules. One of the most notable changes is the bonus section you are about to read. Considering the fact that 64% of D&DH readers also hunt wild turkeys, we thought it was only fitting to tack some extra pages onto this April issue and include this special bonus section. This hand-picked content comes from our sister publication, Turkey & Turkey Hunting. And if you really like chasing gobblers, we have a full 68-page version of Turkey & Turkey Hunting for 2023. It is available in our online store (shop.deeranddeerhunting.com) and on newsstands, so be…

SURE, YOU’VE PROBABLY heard some of this advice before, but even experts can use a refresher, and beginners probably can’t get enough of mouth-calling instruction. Here’s a quick primer. CUTTING THROUGH CONFUSION There’s not much to a mouth call. It’s simply one or several latex or prophylactic reeds stretched over an aluminum or plastic frame and then sealed with tape. However, because you can find seemingly endless mouth-call variations nowadays, novices are often confused when trying to find the “right” diaphragm. Should they use multiple-reed calls or stick with one-reed versions? What’s the best cut; a split-v, cutter call or some other funky variation? Don’t make things too complicated. The first key is finding a diaphragm that fits your mouth. That will let you produce consistent sounds. An ill-fitting call…