3 03, 2015

Shed Hunting w/Dogs: Know Your State Rules

2020-06-10T09:19:51-04:00March 3rd, 2015|BigDeer, Shed Hunting|2 Comments

From Dan C. via Facebook: Just a heads up to my antler dog friends. Check your state’s regulations about running unleashed dogs on public lands during certain times of the year. In Minnesota (for example) it's illegal to have a dog off leash while on public land, as well as some state forest land, from January through April. This is a protection for winter-stressed deer. Just a heads up, hate to see anyone get in trouble doing something they enjoy. Good advice, thanks Dan.

2 03, 2015

Hunter Shoots Coyote That Attacked Doe!

2020-06-10T09:19:51-04:00March 2nd, 2015|BigDeer, Deer Management, Predator Hunting|3 Comments

This from our friend Adam in Nebraska: Today, I was reminded why I hunt predators. As soon as my buddy Justin hit the caller, a doe whipped her head up from her bed 50 yards in front of me on the other side of the river. Thirty seconds in, as she's analyzing the sound, she turns to look behind her. Out of nowhere, a coyote leaps into the air and pounces on top of her. It latched onto the back of her neck and she stood and started to buck and kick. The coyote lost its hold and the doe ran into the middle of the river. The coyote chased her and stood on the bank yipping at her, where he [...]

26 02, 2015

Southeast Deer Study Group 2015

2020-06-10T09:19:51-04:00February 26th, 2015|BigDeer, Deer Management, Deer Science|1 Comment

This respected group holds an annual conference at which deer biologists and researchers present their recent findings on whitetail biology and management. The 2015 meetings just wrapped in Arkansas. I followed QDMA Tweets from the conference #SEDSG. Here, some of the most interesting new science (followed by my thoughts): --Plants in poor soils contain all the nutrients deer need, just low in quantity, which you can fix. @UTKnoxville's Craig Harper. (Any dirt can grow big deer; that is where lime and fertilizer come in.) --Bucks of all ages/sizes successfully breed, one reason hunters can't change genetics with trigger decisions. Chad Newbolt @AuburnU (Never was a fan of culling bucks anyhow.) Study of buck breeding success at @AuburnU found 13 of 27 sets [...]

25 02, 2015

Petition: Should Michigan Become A One-Buck State?

2020-06-10T09:19:51-04:00February 25th, 2015|BigDeer, Deer Management, Hunting News|18 Comments

I just saw this new online petition that will be delivered to the Michigan DNR and it got me to thinking: Limit buck kill to one per year, end all special seasons…begin hunting with Archery October 1st…change Gun Season to 3 day hunt starting on first Friday in December annually… To put an end, once and for all, to the gross mismanagement of the deer herd in the name of revenues. Too many immature bucks and too many does are harvested annually because of overzealous resource commissioners making laws with revenues in the forefront, manipulation of herd numbers to reach financial goals, and to pander to the insurance lobby. The creation of youth seasons, no age-limit hunting, liberal crossbow rules and [...]

23 02, 2015

Shed Antler Hunting: Check Bedding Areas

2020-06-10T09:19:51-04:00February 23rd, 2015|BigDeer, Shed Hunting|2 Comments

When you’re out in the woods on a shed hunt, pick up a deer trail and follow it for a few hundred yards to a half-mile or more, until you come to a thick and obvious deer bedding area. In late winter that might be a brushy southern exposure that gets midday sunlight, or the east side of a grassy ridge or knoll where deer hunker out of a bitter northwest wind. Back in hunting season you would have stopped, tested the wind and worked the outer fringes of such a sanctuary so as not to spook any deer. But now, plow right in. Montana shed-hunting fanatic Dick Idol told me one time that he finds 60 percent of his [...]

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