Deer Science Archives - Page 21 of 44

12 09, 2017

Maryland Boy’s First Bow Buck

admin2020-06-10T09:16:10-04:00September 12th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Science|3 Comments

From our friend Danny, who has been watching hundreds of deer and more than 30 bucks all summer: I set up a tent blind a few weeks ago at a spot where I saw some deer hanging out. My nephew Colby decided he would try it out. He passed a few bucks the first night he hunted it, but he was able to get it done the other evening. Colby had shot several deer previously with rifle and crossbow, but he decided it was time for a compound bow. He saved up his money and bought his first bow last spring. He practiced all summer and it paid off. Hope he doesn't think it's always this easy! Around 7:40 that [...]

6 09, 2017

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD): Should You Eat The Deer Meat?

admin2020-06-10T09:16:10-04:00September 6th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|Comments Off on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD): Should You Eat The Deer Meat?

Map: Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance This fall you shoot a whitetail or a mule deer in an area where CWD is known to be present in the deer herds. How do you handle that deer…should you eat the meat? Research has shown that in an infected deer CWD prions may be present in tissues and body fluids, including blood and muscle, but they are most prevalent in the brain, eyes, spinal cord, lymph nodes, tonsils and spleen. Thus, it is recommended that hunters in a CWD area wear gloves and bone out harvested deer (or elk). Take extra precautions when cutting around or handling organs where CWD prions are most likely to accumulate. Biologists [...]

1 09, 2017

How Deer React to Extreme Hunting Pressure

admin2020-06-10T09:16:10-04:00September 1st, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|Comments Off on How Deer React to Extreme Hunting Pressure

Researchers at the University of Georgia put GPS collars on 13 does and monitored them during a period of extremely heavy hunting pressure with deer dogs. Every doe hung out and hid in her core area until the dogs got too close and the heat too intense. The does then ran a mile or so out of their familiar area and found thickets where they could shelter in place. Deer are crepuscular, wired to move at dawn and dusk every day. Once the sun started setting and the dogs and pressure ceased for the day, every doe got up and made its way back to its core area. Every doe was back home within 12 hours. What it means to [...]

22 08, 2017

2017 EHD Tracker: Outbreak Spreads in Kentucky

admin2020-06-10T09:16:10-04:00August 22nd, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|2 Comments

Jeff sent me this picture via Twitter of 3 more bucks dead from EHD in eastern Kentucky. This update out of Pikeville reports a “significant outbreak,” and that authorities are responding to incidents at the rate of “1 dead deer a day and sometimes up to 3 dead deer a day.” What is especially troubling about this occurrence of EHD is that it started so early, in late July, and it might not end till October, or whenever the first hard frost kills the midges that bite the deer and transmit the disease. I have not heard any other reports of EHD across the country. Let’s hope it stays that way, but let me know if you hear of an [...]

18 08, 2017

How Will the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse Affect Deer?

admin2020-06-10T09:16:11-04:00August 18th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|Comments Off on How Will the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse Affect Deer?

On Monday August 21 a total solar eclipse will arc across the United States for the first time in 99 years, providing a rare sight for tens of millions of people from Oregon to South Carolina. We humans are prepared for this event and looking forward to it. But what will the deer and other animals do when the moon blocks the sun and darkness descends and the temperature drops in the middle of just another day in their lives? Truth is, nobody, even the scientists who live for a 100-year event like this, really knows. While there is scant scientific info from eclipses in past years and decades, there are a lot of anecdotal stories—monkeys flipping out in the [...]