Big Deer Blog

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources did a report on how climate change will impact wildlife. As temperatures warm and winters moderate, the report says there will be "winners and losers" among the state’s mammals, reptiles and birds. How will Wisconsin’s state animal, the whitetail deer, be affected? Good news: Warmer winters will mean less winter kill and higher reproductive rates for deer in following springs, so herds will build back up and be stable. More deer would mean more tags for hunters. Not so good news: Climate change is predicted to result in warmer summers, longer dry spells, and more intense rain events: the perfect environment for the midge that transmits epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD). The theory is that as this disease moves [...]

Some years ago when I was writing a lot for Outdoor Life (I created their Big Buck Zone blog and wrote it exclusively for several years before I moved on to Big Deer) I received a packet of stories from somebody at the "Muzzy 200 Club" (author unknown, but as I recall, an employee of the club at the time). This club, which now appears to be inactive, was made up of an elite group of bowhunters who had killed 200-inch whitetails with Muzzy broadheads. This is one of those stories that I found in my archives, and the first of several that I’ll reprint in coming weeks. We can never get enough classic stories of how 200-inch bucks were [...]

Got this question one time from a hunter named Dave: Mike: One day I was sneaking into my bow stand as quietly as I could. When I got about 60 yards away, I looked up and some guy was in my tree stand, hunting! He waved at me to get away. I didn’t know what to do, so I just stood there. He kept waving and waving me off. I got so damn mad I was steaming. I just left and I felt bad about it and still do. I feel like I wasn’t much of a man that day, but what else could I done? This was on public land. Dave: Stop beating yourself up, you did the right thing. [...]