Blog - Page 254 of 362

21 05, 2015

Wisconsin DNR: No Doe Tags For 13 Counties

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00May 21st, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Management|6 Comments

With whitetail herds struggling or holding their own in some areas of the Upper Midwest, one of the questions being raised: Have hunters been shooting too many does? I suspect we have been killing too many in places, as I talked about in this post last year: For the last 20 years, state game agencies encouraged us to shoot more and more deer, and especially does. Hunters obliged; some guys killed 5, 10 or more. Personally I have never understood why a person would want or need to shoot more than 5 deer in a season; surely that is enough to fill your blood lust and your freezer, and donate a couple of animals to the food bank. But the agencies had [...]

20 05, 2015

Montana: Saga of the Mutt Buck

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00May 20th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Shed Hunting|4 Comments

I used to hunt out on the Milk River every fall with my buddy Luke Strommen, before the epic EHD outbreak of 2011 wiped out the whitetail herd, which is still struggling to recover. For several years in the early 2000s, as soon as I rolled into camp, Luke would start chattering about this one special buck that roamed the river around Vandalia. "Saw the Mutt Buck the other day…guy missed the Mutt Buck two days ago…the Mutt Buck is cool…maybe you’ll get a shot at the Mutt Buck…" Well, I never saw the Mutt Buck (and curiously I never knew how he got his name) and had forgotten all about him, until I ran across this story that Luke sent [...]

18 05, 2015

Deer Science: How Does Have Fawns

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00May 18th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Science|2 Comments

According to a fascinating and ongoing whitetail project conducted by researchers at Penn State, discretion and secrecy are top priorities to a doe about to give birth in May or June. Does split up and avoid contact with other does of their social group. A young doe that will give birth for the first time will seek out a secluded fawning site outside of her core area. An older doe will usually return to the same fawning spot each year to give birth. Most yearling does generally give birth to a single fawn. Twins are common among adult does. The researchers point out that in Pennsylvania where this project is happening, 80% of pregnant yearling does have single fawns; 74% of does 3 years [...]

18 05, 2015

Best Insect Repellents for 2015

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00May 18th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer|Comments Off on Best Insect Repellents for 2015

I went for a hike Saturday and got eaten up by bugs. You’ll be out there shortly, hiking down to the river or camping, and you’ll suffer the same fate if you don’t spray down. While I don’t like to use repellent, you should. Insect bites aren't just itchy and uncomfortable; mosquitoes and other insects can transmit Lyme disease, West Nile virus and other nasty stuff. In the latest tests by Consumer Reports, here are 4 top repellents to use this summer. Non-DEET: Sawyers Fisherman's Formula ($9.99 from Cabela’s), with active ingredient 20 percent picaridin Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, which contains 30 percent oil of lemon eucalyptus. Both of the above non-DEET products repelled mosquitoes and ticks for at least 7 hours, [...]

15 05, 2015

Big-Buck Friday: Manitoba 213” Velvet Giant

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00May 15th, 2015|BigDeer|Comments Off on Big-Buck Friday: Manitoba 213” Velvet Giant

From the BIG DEER archives, one of my favorite bucks all time: Colin Bourrier and his dad, Albert, had been seeing a small buck behind their house all summer. On the second day of Manitoba’s 2007 archery season (August 28) Albert headed off an hour away to hunt a better spot in the bush, while Colin, who had just turned 15 at the time, climbed into a tree stand behind the house, hoping to shoot the small buck. Colin waited, oh, about 30 minutes and here came a buck—not the little guy, but a velvet giant that nobody in those parts had ever seen before! Colin drew his bow and smoked the titan at 10 yards. Albert, a taxidermist, rough scored [...]

Big Deer Blog

Wisconsin DNR: No Doe Tags For 13 Counties

Montana: Saga of the Mutt Buck

Deer Science: How Does Have Fawns

Best Insect Repellents for 2015

Big-Buck Friday: Manitoba 213” Velvet Giant