Got this report the other day from our friend Wren. Note: All these deer came from free range with native browse and local genetics, from a property with a MLD management program. Having hunted low-fence ranches with similar programs down there in the past, I cannot tell you enough how impressive these bucks are: (Wren’s 158” 9-point) Mike: We are still hunting hard down in South Texas, it has been a very good year for racks, and our management program on the ranch combined with a couple of "wet" years really has shown great results. Our harvest plan called for taking 152 deer this season, spit evenly between bucks and does.  Due to some very wet weather and the cycle [...]

Jesse T. sent this picture of the velvet buck he shot during the 2014 rifle season on a small farm in northern Missouri. “I have both sheds from the previous year and haven't a clue why he never shed in 2014,” Jesse said. “The buck didn't get injured, but his testicles were pea sized.” I have posted often on stag bucks over the years, but this one is different. According to the QDMA, a birth defect known as cryptorchidism causes a buck to carry velvet antlers beyond the normal velvet-shedding date of late August to early September. In extreme cases both testicles remain in the abdominal cavity and never descend into the scrotum. The normal production of testosterone is diminished, and the [...]

A team of British medical researchers says that people who drink moderately, exercise, quit smoking and eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables each day live on average 14 years longer than people who adopt none of these behaviors. Hmm, I figure that would give me a good 12 years to try to kill that elusive drop-club giant. While I got one with a drop-tine in Kansas two years ago, I still long for a big drop-club buck. Not a bad if belated resolution for 2016: Clean up your act and shape up so you can live and hunt longer.