Big Deer Stories Archives - Page 63 of 113

28 04, 2017

Whitetail Dispersal: How and Where Button Bucks Find Home Ranges

admin2020-06-10T09:16:29-04:00April 28th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|2 Comments

In the early 2000s researchers with Penn State University College of Agricultural Sciences captured and radio-collared 543 bucks, 454 of which were less than 1 year old when captured in the winter. Of particular interest: How and where the young bucks would “disperse” in the summer and fall. In this Deer-Forest blog post, the researchers explained: Dispersal is a one-time movement from a natal (where born) home range to a different adult home range. For our research (and most studies) we say an animal disperses if there is no overlap between natal and adult home ranges. So what did they find? *About 75% of the bucks dispersed as 1-year-olds. Half the dispersal occurred in spring (May-June) and the rest in [...]

26 04, 2017

How Spring Floods Affect Deer

admin2020-06-10T09:16:29-04:00April 26th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Predator Hunting|Comments Off on How Spring Floods Affect Deer

This week a low-pressure system has brought steady rain and localized flooding to the Carolinas, and today it’s moving up the East Coast. Late April and especially May is also when floods are common along the Mississippi and other rivers and streams in the Midwest. How does all this spring rain and flooding affect the whitetail deer? The good news, biologists say that rising floodwaters of river and creeks won’t kill many if any adult deer, though it will displace the animals for days and perhaps weeks. But the deer will filter back into their habitats and core areas once the waters recede. While pregnant does will move out of rising water now and for the next few weeks, the [...]

18 04, 2017

How Deer Antlers Grow

admin2020-06-10T09:16:30-04:00April 18th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|Comments Off on How Deer Antlers Grow

In April, as the days continue to get longer and daylight increases, new antlers begin to grow from buds that form on the pedicels on a buck’s head. Typically within a month, main beams and brow tines begin to sprout and split off. A month or so later, in early June, second and third tines will form. Throughout early summer, the fledgling racks grow fast and furious. Antler tissue is the fastest growing tissue known to man. Beams and tines may grow a quarter-inch or more per day, the process driven by a buck’s hormones and the photoperiod of the days. According to Missouri scientist Dr. Grant Woods, a buck’s rack will show most of its points by mid-June, though [...]

14 04, 2017

Indiana: Teens Arrested For Setting Deer On Fire

admin2020-06-10T09:16:30-04:00April 14th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|4 Comments

From indystar.com: Fulton County officials have arrested one person and are looking for another in connection with the death of a deer that was found burning alive on the side of the road last month. Christopher Hodges, 18, of Mentone, was served with an arrest warrant Wednesday and faces one felony count of torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal…. An arrest warrant also has been issued for Mark Shepard, 20, also of Mentone, on the same charge. I thought I had heard it all, but… Investigators say Hodges and Shepard were driving along in a 1994 Camaro when they struck the deer. They allegedly turned around, went back to the still-alive deer, poured gas on the animal and set it on fire. [...]

12 04, 2017

Tennessee: Tucker Buck #1 Non-Typical Whitetail Ever!

admin2020-06-10T09:16:30-04:00April 12th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|1 Comment

The Boone and Crockett Club recently confirmed that a buck shot in Tennessee in 2016 is the highest-scoring non-typical whitetail ever shot by a person. Hunting with a muzzleloader on November 7, 2016, farmer Stephen Tucker shot the massive deer in Sumner County (full story click here). Its official entry score into the Boone and Crockett records is an astounding 312 0/8. Justin Spring of Boone and Crockett said, "What makes this particular deer special is an entry score of 312 0/8 on only a 149 1/8-inch typical frame, which includes a modest inside spread of 14 1/8 inches. That's 162 7/8 inches of abnormal points." The Tucker Buck had 22 scorable points on the left side and 25 on [...]