22 10, 2013

BIG DEER Report: Best Moon & Rut Days 2013

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00October 22nd, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|6 Comments

Mark Drury and I compared notes again and came up with our 5th annual prediction of the best days to shoot a monster in the 2013 rut. Any year, the first week of November, when bucks rub and scrape like fiends and troll for the first receptive does, is a great time to hunt for a big deer. If you take off this week, you ought to hunt all day every day, because you never know when you might see a shooter. But with the moon new and dark this November 3 and then waxing crescent, bucks should be most active at daylight. Get on stand extra early and hunt the mornings extra hard. The first week of November “will [...]

1 10, 2013

Bowhunt a Culvert

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00October 1st, 2013|BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|1 Comment

Bill wrote and talked about bowhunting an urban zone near Indianapolis: One of my best stand sites backs up against the interstate. Weird being in that tree before daybreak and hearing all those cars and trucks going behind me. But it turns out to be a great travel route. They (the deer) go from park property on the other side of the interstate, follow a creek under the interstate and move through the property. Two 10 pointers and a good-sized 8 were taken last year. Bill hits on a killer bow tactic. A bridge access or box culvert beneath a busy interstate or a lonely rural road is a great deer funnel. Whitetails are like us; they take the easiest, [...]

26 09, 2013

EHD Strikes Montana Deer…Again

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00September 26th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Science, Hunting News|4 Comments

Montana wildlife officials say that more than 100 whitetail deer have been reported dead in the west Missoula Valley, in and along the Clark Fork River. “People are seeing healthy looking deer fall over dead,” said Vickie Edwards, FWP wildlife biologist in Missoula. FWP personnel have collected blood and tissue samples from a number of affected deer and are awaiting the results of laboratory analysis, but most certainly the cause of the death is epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD). Montana hunter Toby Bridges posted this picture from the area: “Along maybe 10 miles of river, there has been a near 100 percent loss of whitetails. If you cruise along that stretch with windows down, you will smell the death all along [...]

19 09, 2013

When Do Buck Racks Go Downhill?

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00September 19th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Science|1 Comment

Most of us will never see a 9.5-year-old buck in the wild, but if you did here is what his rack might look like. This funky rack came off a buck that lived his whole life in an enclosure and died of natural causes, so his age is documented. They tell me that just a couple years before his death, this buck wore a nice, typical 10-point rack. According to QDMA biologist Kip Adams, wild bucks grow their largest set of antlers between 5 and 7 years old. The racks start going downhill immediately after that and can regress very quickly due to bucks’ teeth wearing down, impacts from previous injuries and overall old age that impacts their health. How long [...]

17 09, 2013

September Tactic: Grunt a Buck

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00September 17th, 2013|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|2 Comments

A few years ago in September Taylor Fitzpatrick traveled to the Milk River in Montana to bowhunt with our friend Luke Strommen. The then 19-year-old Taylor climbed into his tree stand super early one morning, about 3:30. The air felt great, 42 degrees cool, and the full moon hung in the sky like a big pie. Taylor began seeing deer in the moon glow, moving back to their beds for the day. A 10-pointer that would score 155” walked beneath his stand and got him fired up. The sun came up hours later and he kept seeing deer. A buck with hard, fresh antlers cut across a corner of a distant alfalfa field. Taylor raised his call and floated some [...]

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