Deer Science Archives - Page 25 of 43

3 01, 2017

Texas Unicorn Buck: Biggest Unicorn Whitetail Buck Ever?

admin2020-06-10T09:16:31-04:00January 3rd, 2017|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|Comments Off on Texas Unicorn Buck: Biggest Unicorn Whitetail Buck Ever?

Thanks to our friend Wren for alerting me to the most unique "unicorn buck" ever. I’ve never seen a multi-pointed third beam--5 points--of this size protruding from a buck’s face; this could well be the biggest unicorn buck ever recorded in America! The original post is from the South Texas Hunting Association Facebook page: Our amigo Troy Calaway from TWC Hunt Co. with a very unique buck with a third main beam that grew out between both eyes...congrats on an awesome trophy! So what causes this rarity? Scientists say a unicorn tine is caused by trauma to the front facial bone of a buck, such as a tine puncture from another buck. Strangely, another beam then grows out from there. [...]

28 11, 2016

Pennsylvania Bowhunter Shoots 8.5-Year-Old Buck

admin2020-06-10T09:16:32-04:00November 28th, 2016|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|4 Comments

The Deer-Forest Study blog, written by biologists and researchers from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, is one of my favorites, and I monitor it weekly. Biologist Jeannine Fleegle posted this one earlier this week: A couple of weeks ago, we got a phone call from a hunter reporting a tagged deer. Nothing out of the ordinary about that this time of year. (Note: The PA researchers tag some wild does and bucks every year and monitor their movements with GPS and the like; the tagged deer are legal game, and hunters who shoot and report them get a reward.) When we looked up the tag, we discovered that this buck (11144) was tagged in 2010 as a yearling, which [...]

6 10, 2016

BIG DEER’S Moon/Rut Deer Hunting Guide 2016

admin2020-06-10T09:16:33-04:00October 6th, 2016|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|1 Comment

From Kansas to Virginia to Canada, 90 percent of the adult does will come into estrus and be bred from roughly November 5-20, regardless of moon phase or weather. It’s been that way for decades in the Northern two-thirds of North America, and will continue to be that way forever. Take off anytime from Halloween though Thanksgiving, and you’ll hunt some phase of the rut. Anytime you hunt rutting deer you are going to have a good time, and with the potential to shoot a big buck. But I do believe that some days and weeks are better than others each year, according to when the various phases of the “rutting moon” occur each November. I base this on two [...]

17 08, 2016

Deer Racks: What Causes a Weak-Side Antler?

admin2020-06-10T09:16:46-04:00August 17th, 2016|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|1 Comment

Our friend Danny from Maryland sent this picture and asked this question: Is there any chance this deer’s antlers will eventually even out? Or will he most likely always have an uneven rack based off his genes? He doesn’t appear to have suffered any injury to cause this. The vast majority of whitetail bucks grow even or largely symmetrical and typical antlers. Although the buck in this picture may not appear hurt now, there is a strong likelihood that he sustained some injury earlier this year. “I think the buck in the picture was injured,” says QDMA biologist Kip Adams. “His left antler looks normal, just minus a brow tine. His right antler has a good-sized brow and then 3 stubby [...]

12 07, 2016

Buck with Massive Stomach Growth (Hernia)

admin2020-06-10T09:16:47-04:00July 12th, 2016|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Management, Deer Science|2 Comments

Hi Mike: I found your website and see that you have a lot of knowledge about deer. I'm not a hunter, but love the herd of 9 deer that frequent our yard on most days. I saw on your blog a post about a deer with a massive growth. I am sending this email and pictures of a huge growth that is on one of our bucks. Have you ever seen anything like this? As you can see it is a huge growth/tumor/abscess hanging from his abdominal area. I am hoping you can give me an idea of what this might be. It has been there for about 3 weeks...started out much smaller and over the weeks has continued to grow. He is still [...]