Big Deer TV Archives - Page 185 of 195

8 06, 2015

Study: Wild Cats Cause Disease in Deer

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00June 8th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Predator Hunting|6 Comments

This is an underreported story, but potentially a bombshell. According to The Wildlife Society, free-roaming domestic cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals each year The indirect impacts of cats gone wild on larger wildlife are less obvious, but one of the greatest emerging threats from feral cats is infection with Toxoplasma gondii. A study published in EcoHealth found that feral cats, through their feces, are likely driving infections in whitetails in northeastern Ohio. The study’s authors collected deer samples from a Cleveland park, as well as cat samples from the area. Nearly 60% of the deer and 52% of the feral cats tested positive for T. gondii. Older deer and deer in urban environments were more likely to [...]

2 06, 2015

Deer Science: Bucks With 3 Beams

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00June 2nd, 2015|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Science|3 Comments

Check out the 3rd beam on the left side of this rack, what caused it? A 3rd beam on a whitetail deer’s rack is the result of either non-typical genetics or an injury. If this buck were 5 years of age or older, I’d say the cause was genetics. But he’s younger than that, so the extra beam is likely the result of an injury. QDMA biologist Kip Adams agrees: “That buck injured his antler very early in the growing process that year. If the buck would have survived the season he would not have had a third beam again the following year.” I’ve never shot a buck with 3 beams, have you? Send me a picture.

28 05, 2015

Deer Research: How Bucks Travel

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00May 28th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Science|1 Comment

Ran across a fascinating whitetail study conducted in Oklahoma. Researchers fitted bucks with GPS collars and monitored their movements using a technique called “fractal dimension,” which describes the complexity (crisscross paths) and linearity (more straight lines) of the travels used by deer at various times of the season. The scientists found that in early fall (and again later in the post-rut), bucks stick to relatively small core areas and have complex, localized mazes of movement, which are the result of many short-distance trips during which the deer frequently circle, backtrack and change directions as they move from feed to bed (above left). But come the seeking days of the rut--beginning in late October and running through mid-November--many of those same bucks show less [...]

27 05, 2015

Kansas: Rare 8-Point Doe!

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00May 27th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Science|2 Comments

On opening day of the 2014 Kansas gun season Chuck Rorie saw a nice rack. “I didn’t think much about it; it just looked like a nice buck when I was watching it and I shot it,” Rorie told the Wichita Eagle. “But when I was skinning it I realized something didn’t look right,” said Chuck. “It didn’t have the right private parts.” How rare is an antlered doe like the one Chuck shot last season? Research on the topic is thin, but some biologists have said only 1 in 6,000 does will have antlers. And Dr. Grant Woods, one of the top whitetail scientists in the world, says that number could be as high as 1 in 10,000. Keith [...]

26 05, 2015

World-Record Whitetail: What It Will Take to Top The Hanson Buck

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00May 26th, 2015|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer|9 Comments

It will obviously take one rare and incredible animal to best the 213 5⁄8-inch monster that Milo Hanson shot near Biggar, Sask. 22 years ago. My analysis of the top 200-inch typical racks in the Boone and Crockett book show that the new record typical will have to possess 12 points or more, with the G-2, G-3 and G-4 tines on each antler in excess of 10 inches; an inside spread of 22 inches and likely more; and bases of 6 inches or more, with good mass throughout the 27-inch-plus main beams. The rack will have to be clean and amazingly symmetrical, with few abnormal points and less than 8 inches of deductions. The animal will probably be 5 to 7 [...]