Deer Management Archives - Page 49 of 50

18 06, 2013

Buck Science: How Many Big Deer Do You See?

admin2020-06-10T09:23:34-04:00June 18th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|7 Comments

I’ve got a segment on my TV show called “Buck Science” where I talk about some aspect of the deer behavior in the area I’m hunting each week. Let’s make it a weekly segment here on the blog as well, since the more we know and learn about mature bucks, the better we hunt. I dug this first one out of my research files. Tennessee deer researcher Bryan Kinkel says: Reviewing the many trail-camera/observation data sets I have gotten from serious deer hunters and land managers, I have come to the conclusion that it's common for hunters to see 90% of the yearling bucks that regularly use their property. That sighting percentage declines to about 70% for 2 1/2-year-old bucks [...]

10 06, 2013

100-Year-Old “Trail Camera” Picture!

admin2020-06-10T09:23:35-04:00June 10th, 2013|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Management|424 Comments

Jay Graber saw our recent post and picture of “Does Flying Around” and sent this. Fascinating! Mike: That picture is from the book Hunting Wildlife with Camera and Flashlight by George Shiras, a pioneer in nighttime wildlife photography. Peter White, his son-in-law, had a summer home on Whitefish Lake in the UP where some of the photos were taken. Early 1900s. My great-grandparents were the caretakers of that camp. My grandmother's (Ingrid Rundquist) cat was caught in a few of the pictures too and are in the book. Pretty cool, huh? Funny, after all of these years that I've had these books (volumes I and II) with the rich family history, I never tied the century gap together with today's [...]

28 05, 2013

Cougars in Virginia?

admin2020-06-10T09:23:35-04:00May 28th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Management, Predator Hunting|21 Comments

A guy from VA saw this video and wrote me: Hanback you’re from VA, you ever seen or heard about any cougars here? I’ve never seen one here, but I’ve long heard stories from hunters across the state who swear they saw one in the woods. I’ve heard all the conspiracy theories, like “the state knows they are here but won’t admit it.” Some people have gone so far as to accuse the state of secretly releasing cougars into the VA woods. But you hear stuff like that anytime somebody in any eastern state claims to see one. While the VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries mentions the eastern cougar in its species booklet, it never comes out [...]

9 05, 2013

Michigan: Sopsich Buck (182 1/8) New State Bow Record

admin2020-06-10T09:23:36-04:00May 9th, 2013|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|4 Comments

Read the full story at Michigan Outdoor News; here are the highlights: Around Halloween last year in Oakland County, Robert Sopsich, Sr. told sons, Robert Jr. and Danny, that a neighbor had seen a giant buck in a field nearby. The rut was coming on, the bucks were on their feet and they needed to get out in the woods. November 2, Robert Jr. was sneaking along the edge of some pines when he saw the buck walking on the edge of a field. “He was cutting across the field, quartering away from me,” Sopsich told Michigan Outdoor News. “He was walking, then he stopped and I was already drawn back... I only have one pin on my bow – it’s [...]

22 04, 2013

Boone & Crockett Measuring Guide

admin2020-06-10T09:23:36-04:00April 22nd, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|12 Comments

The Boone and Crockett Club’s Field Guide to Measuring and Judging Big Game is a solid reference book, one I refer to a lot. It has good tips and advice for: 1) how to field-judge a buck better than you ever have on the hoof; and 2) how to rough score that rack reliably once you've shot a deer dead and have him back at the house. There's info not only for whitetails and mule deer, but also for antelope, caribou, elk, bears…any big game animal you hunt. There’s even a chapter on judging and scoring a walrus skull if you ever do that :) At $25, a bargain for your bookshelf.