BigDeer Archives - Page 236 of 343

3 06, 2015

Photo: Copperhead Swims On Water

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00June 3rd, 2015|BigDeer|6 Comments

If you have been on the blog long, you know how much I hate snakes, any kind of snake. While this photo from Eco Wildlife Solutions freaks me out, it’s caption does share some valuable information: If you encounter a snake on top of the water like the snake seen above, this is a good indicator of a venomous snake. Both Copperheads and Cottonmouths fill their lungs with air prior to entering the water causing them to float high in the water. Common water snakes swim with their bodies under the water so they can dive after fish. You need information like this because I’m getting reports of more copperheads than usual in many regions this spring, including in my home state of [...]

3 06, 2015

Only in Alaska: Girl Shoots Grizzly, Goes To Prom

admin2020-06-10T09:19:37-04:00June 3rd, 2015|BigDeer, Predator Hunting|1 Comment

This spring on prom Saturday, most kids were having pre-event dinners and get-togethers with family and friends. But 15-year-old Cassidy Kramer of Kotzebue had different plans. Led by her father, Lance, Cassidy and her 10-year-old brother hopped on snow machines and went bear hunting in the mountains along the Noatak River. Lance told KTUU Anchorage Channel 2 that predator control is important to local families, with moose populations declining in the area’s Game Management Unit 23. “It’s important to go out and get bears in the springtime,” Lance said. “We always try to get a spring bear every year.” Two hours or so into the hunt, Cassidy got her chance. She took aim, fired and hit a bear. When it stopped rolling down a [...]

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 [...]