Deer Hunting Archives - Page 133 of 196

4 07, 2018

2017 Maine Deer Kill Highest In A Decade

admin2020-06-10T09:15:52-04:00July 4th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|1 Comment

Deer hunters in Maine harvested 27,233 deer in 2017, the highest total in the last ten years and an increase of 15% from 2016. “An increasing deer herd in southern and central Maine, and favorable hunting conditions contributed to the best deer hunting season in ten years,” said Nathan Bieber, Maine deer biologist. Maine’s deer hunt is broken down into several seasons for firearm hunters, muzzleloaders and bow hunters. Most deer are harvested during the general firearms season (23,288), which started on October 28th and continued until November 25. Bowhunters took 2,099 deer, and hunters took 970 deer during the muzzleloading season. Maine’s junior hunters were also very successful on youth day, with 876 youth hunters taking a deer this [...]

2 07, 2018

What Happens To Ammunition In A House Fire?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:52-04:00July 2nd, 2018|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on What Happens To Ammunition In A House Fire?

One night a few years ago my Canadian friend Grant Kuypers returned home to find his shop and man cave engulfed in flames. By the time the fire department got there, everything was gone—Grant’s truck, ATVs, 70 game cameras, all his hunting clothes and dozens of guns in a safe… Grant said most of his stored hunting ammo had simply burned up; a few cartridges had exploded, as evidenced by holes and dents in the gun safe’s walls. The photo here of burned ammo is from the fire at Grant's. Turns out, this is typical of what happens to ammunition in a house fire. According to this KRCR News report, fire officials say that burning ammo is not as dangerous [...]

29 06, 2018

Some People Are Mosquito Magnets, Are You?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:52-04:00June 29th, 2018|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|1 Comment

Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, says a Baylor mosquito expert. Jason Pitts, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology in Baylor University’s College of Arts and Sciences, studies “host seeking”—how mosquitoes find their next blood meal. He said odor is a major factor why mosquitoes bite some people more often. Female mosquitoes, which bite because they need blood for reproduction, have the ability to smell odor over long distances. “Females are able to track upwind." Once they get that stream of odor, they fly in and out of the stream of odor to orient themselves to try get to the host.” It is not just odor. Heat—at very close range—also is very attractive for female mosquitoes. “Mosquitoes are exquisitely sensitive [...]

27 06, 2018

Whitetail Science: Young Bucks Breed 30% Of Does

admin2020-06-10T09:15:52-04:00June 27th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|3 Comments

For many years biologists and hunters believed that most adult does were bred by bucks 3.5 years and older, a theory I always questioned. In many areas of the U.S., deer herds are overloaded with does, and there are relatively mature bucks 4.5 years and older. So in peak rut, when many does come into estrus at one time, which bucks are actually doing the breeding? According to research published in the Journal of Mammalogy, immature bucks (1.5 and 2.5 years of age) are breeding does at a much higher rate than once thought. In one study, researchers analyzed the DNA samples of more than 1,200 whitetails in 3 different populations (Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma) and found that young bucks [...]

25 06, 2018

DNA Testing Confirms Montana Mystery Animal Was Gray Wolf

admin2020-06-10T09:15:52-04:00June 25th, 2018|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, Predator Hunting|Comments Off on DNA Testing Confirms Montana Mystery Animal Was Gray Wolf

In May a mystery creature was shot and killed on a ranch outside Denton. What the heck is it? Locals buzzed about the possibilities. Some said wolf with weird genetics…others grizzly cub…conspiracy theorists screamed Dire Wolf, an extinct prehistoric carnivore that some people swear still lives…or Dogman, a relative to Sasquatch, a large cryptozoological creature that looks and walks like an upright canid. The DNA results are in and, ho-hum, it was a common old gray wolf. This press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks explains: The canine creature shot in Montana a month ago that captured the curiosity of the nation is actually a gray wolf. DNA from the animal, which was shot legally by a rancher near [...]