Hunting white-tailed deer is not only challenging, but it is exciting as well. For centuries, hunters have gone whitetail hunting for food, but more recently deer hunting has also involved sport hunting. In addition to recreational hunting, hunters and landowners have begun to implement intensive whitetail deer management programs to improve the health and quality of the deer and habitat found on their properties. When it comes to whitetail deer hunting, all hunters are looking for techniques that will make them more successful. Whether it be bagging a deer or bagging a mature buck, whitetail deer hunting is a challenge.
The white tail deer is the most sought after big game animal in the world. Whether you are a bow or gun hunter, you are always looking for things you can do to increase hunting success. The savvy hunter will look for these little bits of information to better his or her odds at bagging that all important game animal. Most of us think of deer season all year long. Some of us live it all year long, and some only live it during deer season.
Whitetail hunting tips range from simple to complex, and often times do make a difference in ones hunting ability. However, the most important tip in the world will only make a difference, if the hunter can understand the relevance to the hunt and why it makes a difference. In all my years of deer hunting the best advice and tip that I could give any hunter, is to get first hand experience of how and why these animals live and react to the circumstances around their natural habitat.
Although a hunter learns the most when out in the field, the information presented on this site will help you better understand whitetail deer and whitetail hunting. Whitetail deer are creatures of habit, and once the habits are learned, the hunt usually is more exciting and often times more successful. Learn all you can at every encounter and you will become more successful at whitetail deer hunting.
Whitetail hunters sometimes encounter deer with warts or lumps on the skin. These bumps do not hurt the deer since they are usually non-cancerous tumors called either fibromas or papillomas. In both cases, the warts or tumors are caused by viruses. The difference between the two is that fibromas grow either from the skin or from the layer beneath, while papillomas grow only from the skin.
To a hunter, both lumps will look dark-colored and hard to the touch. These external warts generally do not cause problems for afflicted animal, but they are not pretty to look at. Deer hunters often think the meat is inedible because of these tumors, but that is not the case. Since lumps are usually found only in the skin, not in the muscles, there is generally no problem.
However, there could be tumors located inside a deer’s body, such as on it’s organs, that could be cancerous and the venison should be discarded. While whitetail hunting, do not be overly alarmed if you come across an animal with external tumors because they are not uncommon.
There is nothing in the world that I love more than whitetail hunting. There is something about it that I really enjoy, and it’s not all about hunting season. In fact, I get just as much fun getting ready for deer season. I don’t own a huge tract of land, although I am lucky enough to have 134 acres on which I’ve been able to implement my very own whitetail deer management program. I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons over the years about deer behavior, what deer eat, and what they need.
In the end, for those landowners and hunters that are serious about managing deer populations, we should want to create the best whitetail habitat. For this is where quality hunting opportunities are literally born. The real secret that I’ve determined when looking at properties where individuals want to improve the deer herd is finding and enhancing the most limited habitat element. It’s easy to concentrate on one single facet of habitat and provide a whole lot of one thing, but they need it all! Read More…
Question: Hello, my 11 year old son is in the 6th grade and he is wanting to do a science fair project on the stages of white-tailed deer antler development. Would you happen to have any pamphlets or pictures you could send him in the mail? We would like to display them his project. Any help would be greatly appreciated. He is all excited and can’t wait to do this project. He loves whitetail hunting!
Answer: Interesting. Someone else also emailed me today about their 9 year old son doing a similar project on antler growth in whitetail. You can use these photos showing antler growth in deer from this site that show the stages of antler development.
Question: I have a piebald whitetail doe in my area. When she mates, will she have piebald fawns? I have talked some hunters, but no one seems to know for sure. What do you think her chances are of having more spotted deer?
Answer: Genes are funny things and they can recombine during conception to form either normal looking fawns or piebald fawns. It all depends on the buck and his gene composition. However, since the doe is piebald, my guess is that there is about 25% chance her fawns will be piebald right out of the gate. Read More…
Question: I live in southeast Minnesota and I only want to shoot mature whitetail deer on my land, but I’m new to whitetail deer hunting and don’t really know what I’m doing. I have had my trail camera out and have seen 2 nice bucks. One is a 2.5 year old deer I believe and the other is younger. I was wondering if I could send you some pictures of them and have you age them for me and give me some hints on how to do it? Our bow season opens September 19th and I don’t want to have one of the bucks walk under my stand and shoot him just to find out that he is not a mature deer. Your help would be appreciated.
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