6 08, 2013

Deer Blood Trails: Did You Know?

2020-06-10T09:23:22-04:00August 6th, 2013|BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|2 Comments

Did you know that if you shoot a buck in a few weeks, he might not leave a heavy blood trail? Scientists say that in early fall deer have high levels of Vitamin K, which causes blood to clot quickly. Also, whitetails produce lots of B-endorphin that helps to heal wounds. So two things: Pick your shots carefully (you never want a one-lung hit and especially in the early season). And I recommend a big-cutting broadhead like the Rage; even if you hit a buck a little off, he’ll bleed and you’ll likely find him. Bottom line: If you put any broadhead/arrow in the right spot, through both lungs, a buck won’t go much farther than 60-70 yards, even if [...]

2 08, 2013

Funky Buck on Trail Cam!

2020-06-10T09:23:23-04:00August 2nd, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Management, Deer Science|5 Comments

Martie sent this crazy image and asked if I knew what was going on with this buck’s rack. I ran it by QDMA biologist Kip Adams, who said: “Hey Mike, those are the biggest drop tines I’ve ever seen on a spike! I know his right antler split but I couldn’t resist referencing a spike with drop tines! It looks like he injured both his main beams early in the growing season.  I’ve seen numerous bucks with a similar injury to one side of his rack, but never to both sides that occurred so low on the antlers.  Many times the pooling of blood in the downturned antlers causes them to break and fall off but this guy was lucky to [...]

18 07, 2013

Buck Science: Do Deer Look Up?

2020-06-10T09:23:23-04:00July 18th, 2013|BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|Comments Off on Buck Science: Do Deer Look Up?

I had an old Alabama redneck (term used fondly) tell me one time, “Boy, our deer walk around with their heads back, looking up in the trees, cause so many of their brothers and sisters and cousins have had an arrow run through ‘em!” If you have bowhunted pressured, spooky Southern deer you know what my old redneck friend is talking about. Biologists say a deer’s eyes are oriented to pick up predator movement at or just below the horizon. They say a deer is much less adept at picking up movement above the horizon, so you can get away with more movement in a tree stand than on the ground. Sometimes! But when an 8-pointer or old doe is [...]

16 07, 2013

Deer Pawing at Ticks

2020-06-10T09:23:33-04:00July 16th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Science|1 Comment

My friend Dr. Grant Woods (www.growingdeer.tv) says deer paw at the pests to remove them this time of year: “Deer have difficulty grooming the area behind their head. I have images of deer that have pawed and/or rubbed enough to cut their skin in this area while trying to remove ticks. The secondary infection from this can cause problems.” Ever seen deer licking and grooming areas they can reach in the summer? This could be to pull off ticks. Grant does not know if deer pull off and consume the ticks, as people believe.

27 06, 2013

Deer Shed: Longest Tines Ever?

2020-06-10T09:23:34-04:00June 27th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Science, Shed Hunting|2 Comments

Thanks to extreme antler collector Mike Charowhas for sharing: Mike, how often do you see an official 18-inch G2 and a 15 5/8-inch G3? Dave Boland scored it. Found north of Kansas City, MO right on the KS/MO border. Four points and scores 87 5/8. Just to give an idea how long that G2 is, consider that the non-typical point sticking off the G2 is 4 inches long! Thanks, Mike Two observations: that has to be one of the longest G2 tines ever officially measured on a whitetail; if the other side of that rack scores similarly, and give the buck a 16-inch spread, you’re looking at a 190-inch 8-point! Wow!

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