Here on the blog, I am documenting as many big-nose deer as I can. Thanks to Susan for information on this latest Bullwinkle from summer 2022: Mike: I knew what a Bullwinkle was because I have a friend that has a big-nose buck over in Dallas County, AL. Once mine showed up I started reading articles and ran across yours. One of the big-nose bucks harvested in one of your articles was in Furman, AL. That is where mine is at too. I know from reading that the buck’s swollen stout is a bacterial infection and doesn’t appear to spread. We all want our deer to be as healthy as possible, so whatever I can do to help with any [...]

You shoot a buck with your bow and get on the trail. At first the sign looks great. But if you see the buck’s running trail--blood spraying out onto leaves and grass--slow to a walking trail—smaller and smaller droplets of blood that fall straight down to the ground--stop and back out immediately! That deer is NOT double-lunged and on death run; rather, he took off but now is slowing down and likely looking for a place to lie down. Back out and give him time (2 to 5 hours) to do just that. Chances are when you come back, you’ll find him dead in bed not too far away. Most bowhunters get overly excited and don’t wait nearly long enough [...]

If you haven’t tried a fixed-blade knife with a gut-hook, you should this season. Roll a buck or doe onto its back and use the knife point to make a small incision in the white hair and abdominal wall of the lower belly. Turn the knife over, insert the sharp hook into the slit and zipper the animal open up to the sternum. With a hook, there’s no exposed knife tip to pierce a deer’s paunch and make a mess, or clip your finger. Be careful and wear rubber gloves. Once you’ve finished the incision and rolled the big bubble of innards out of a deer, you can put leverage on a sturdy fixed knife, which is typically 8 inches [...]