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 [...]

13 09, 2013

New Moon and Deer Movement

2020-06-10T09:23:22-04:00September 13th, 2013|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science, Hunting News|4 Comments

Did the moon phase play a major role in Danny’s shooting of the big 10-pointer “Spike” in Maryland last Friday? Blogging about the hunt, Danny wrote: Maryland bow opener was Sept 6–the morning after the new moon. The wind direction was supposed to be out of the NNE.  I looked back through all the cam pictures I had, and it just so happened the last time we had a NNE wind was the morning after the new moon in August. Spike was at the location I call The Puddle on that very morning. Danny hunted “The Puddle” on September 6 and saw some 18 deer moving at first light, including a bachelor herd of 12-15 bucks. He shot the 164-inch 10-pointer [...]

9 09, 2013

Maryland: Bowhunter Shoots “Spike” on Opening Day!

2020-06-10T09:23:22-04:00September 9th, 2013|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|9 Comments

Danny shot the beautiful buck his wife had named “Spike” last Friday. His story: I had my trail cameras set at three different locations since the middle of June. I studied all the pictures (around 200 of them) I got of Spike. I printed out the moon phases and the wind directions for the past couple months, compared them and tried to come up with a game plan. Maryland bow opener was Sept 6--the morning after the new moon. The wind direction was supposed to be out of the NNE.  I looked back through all the cam pictures, and it just so happened the last time we had a NNE wind was the morning after the new moon in August. Spike was [...]

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