As I blog this, I look out the window at 10 inches of snow on the ground. It’s 19 degrees…and this is Virginia. I saw where snow is on the ground in 40 of 50 states. In the Midwest and Northeast it’s particularly cold and snowy, and has been for months. No doubt the whitetails there are under tremendous stress, having trouble finding food under deep snow, and fighting to maintain body heat that is critical to their survival. We hunters wonder and worry: How are the herds doing? Two scientists from frozen regions weigh in. "After a tough winter that had a (negative) impact on deer numbers in 2013, this certainly isn't what any of us had hoped for," [...]

Mike, just why do bucks shed their antlers every year?—Joan, Missouri Scientists have 2 theories. Bucks shed racks annually so they’ll have the ability to replace damaged antlers the next year. If a buck had to live his entire life with snapped tines or a broken main beam he couldn’t posture for does or dominance, or spar with rival bucks. A second theory suggests that bucks shed and grow new racks 10 to 20 inches larger in following years to keep pace with their increasing body size and weight as they mature from 2 ½ years of age to 3½ to 4 ½, and so on. Some more interesting shed facts: --Some weeks after the post-rut (December or January) bucks’ [...]

Brian Wallace shot this unique buck in central Alabama last January. The uni was trailing a doe. Just what causes a unicorn tine? How rare is a unicorn buck? Check out one of our newest YouTube video to understand more about these rare bucks!

We recently got a couple more submissions of deer afflicted with the big nose phenomenon, which was first documented on BIG DEER back in 2008. Jeanie sent this picture of a buck that her husband killed near Pauline, SC last November. And this trail camera shot comes from central Texas. As this recent article from QDMA explains, “The swollen snouts of afflicted deer result from chronic (long-term) inflammation of the tissues of the nose, mouth and upper lip… How and where deer acquire the Bullwinkle bacteria is still unknown.” The most common question I get is: “Are these deer safe to eat?” I have always advised NOT to eat the meat of a big-nose deer, and the QDMA article concurs: [...]